This day the weather offered sunshine, with most of the recent snow fall having thawed and the temperature was just above zero. Having been off my bike since mid-December and this being my first ride of 2021 it felt hard, not quite a ´Retreat from Moscow´ as per Napoleon in 1812, but still tough enough… Continue Reading
Latest in: History/Life – Geschichte & Leben
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DE “Es war minus 20 im Jahr 2010” Ich denke, es ist kalt in Göttingen, seit vielen Jahren in London zu leben! Die 35km Tour umfasste Asphalt und 19 Gravel-Teilabschnitten. Besuch Warteberg and Rosdorf Warte unterwegs. Temperatur 3.0. ENG ´It was minus 20 in 2010´ is a common response to me when I comment on… Continue Reading
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DE Ich nahm mir eine Auszeit von meinem Fahrrad und es war für mich von Vorteil, mich auszuruhen, nachzudenken und das Fahren zu verpassen. Trotzdem war es großartig, wieder in die Pedale zu treten. Ich fühlte die Kälte auf dieser Fahrt entlang des Leine-Tals. 44km – 28 gravel sectors – Gravel-Teilabschnitten. ENG Enforced periods of… Continue Reading
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March 2019 saw me in my new home city in Central Germany and a year on we are living in a time of a pandemic. Covid Home – Letter One – Letter Two – Letter Three – Letter Four – Letter Five – Letter Six – Letter Seven It felt a little dismal to see a… Continue Reading
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We rode to the old Internal Border at Kirchgandern just outside of Göttingen to eat cake and to recall the events of June 17, 1953. June 17 is also the date that marks the start of the 2020 Grenzstein Trophy which is the toughest of tough rides along the now defunct Internal Border. On June… Continue Reading
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March 2019 saw me in my new home city in Central Germany and a year on we are living in a time of a pandemic. The snippets below are observations and go hand in hand with my letters from Germany. Letter 1 – Letter 2 – Letter 3 – Letter 4 – Letter 5 –… Continue Reading
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March 2019 saw me in my new home city in Central Germany and a year on we are living in a time of a pandemic. Covid Home – Letter One – Letter Two – Letter Three – Letter Four – Letter Five – Letter Six – Letter Seven The current political eye watering back drops to… Continue Reading
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March 2019 saw me in my new home city in Central Germany and a year on we are living in a time of a pandemic. Covid Home – Letter One – Letter Two – Letter Three – Letter Four – Letter Five – Letter Six – Letter Seven My new home city of Göttingen is twinned… Continue Reading
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We had good cause (under the social distancing rules) to visit Goslar in the Harz Mountains. Goslar in the Harz Mountains is a town containing an amazing array of fantastic mediaeval and post medieval buildings. Although the Harz were hit hard by Allied bombing during World War Two Goslar was spared – the Nazi´s went… Continue Reading
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March 2019 saw me in my new home city in Central Germany and a year on we are living in a time of a pandemic. Covid Home – Letter One – Letter Two – Letter Three – Letter Four – Letter Five – Letter Six – Letter Seven German Chancellor Angela Merkel has coined a new… Continue Reading
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March 2019 saw me in my new home city in Central Germany and a year on we are living in a time of a pandemic. Covid Home – Letter One – Letter Two – Letter Three – Letter Four – Letter Five – Letter Six – Letter Seven Living with Covid-19 and the new normal was… Continue Reading
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March 2019 saw me in my new home city in Central Germany and a year on we are living in a time of a pandemic. Covid Home – Letter One – Letter Two – Letter Three – Letter Four – Letter Five – Letter Six – Letter Seven The idea that Germany is full of jack… Continue Reading
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March 2019 saw me in my new home city in Central Germany and a year on we are living in a time of a pandemic. Covid Home – Letter One – Letter Two – Letter Three – Letter Four – Letter Five – Letter Six – Letter Seven I have been struggling with a thought –… Continue Reading
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March 2019 saw me in my new home city in Central Germany and a year on we are living in a time of a pandemic. Covid Home – Letter One – Letter Two – Letter Three – Letter Four – Letter Five – Letter Six – Letter Seven A year ago (March 26, 2019), I went… Continue Reading
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A road cycle ride south of Göttingen took us through an area that had born witness to the ravages of one of Europe’s most savage wars. In spring like weather, we pedalled out to Jühnde on what we thought would be tarmac only, but we took a shortcut and therefore rode a big chunk of… Continue Reading
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Almost every area will have something that has been abandoned with some long since forgotten and rubbed away. On this short gravel ride, we passed two lost villages, at Kerstlingeröder Feld and Omborn. The first was badly hit during the Thirty Years War (which devastated the German speaking states) and what was left was then… Continue Reading
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With weather forecasts saying that we were in for another summers day I wanted to do something a little bit bolder just in case we plunge into the darkness of winter next. I elected to ride to the Grenzmuseum Schifflersgrund near Bad Sooden-Allendorf on the Hessian-Thuringian border. This would take me past iconic places that… Continue Reading
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We rode mostly on the road linked together with gravel sections to the southern geodetic meridian stone placed on top of a hill by Carl Friedrich Gauss in 1819 at Friedland. The gravel climb up along an old pilgrim’s route was leg breaking (20% in places) and we felt quite dizzy by the time we… Continue Reading
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We took a steady road spin out to the Hanstein Castle this day and we rode out of Goettingen along the A38 cycle path (the place to catch so many local riders) past Friedland, across the old East German border and then onto rolling country roads to Rimbach. The cobbled climb up to the castle… Continue Reading
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Two 430 metre hills dominate the approach to Goettingen from the south east and upon each a castle was built. We spun out along a mix of gravel, cycle paths and road, which included my favourite the Kopfsteinpflaster Carrousel to seek out the Burg Alte Gleichen (castle). Just after the carousel we approached the Alte… Continue Reading
Velo Klubhaus 