I finally rode the long haul up to the Gleichen Hills hindered just a wee bit by fallen trees across the route. The Gleichen Hills can be seen from a long way off and although almost all the castle on the Neu Gleichen has been rubbed out – the closely adjacent Alte Gleichen features a… Continue Reading
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The intention was to kick off the next scouting ride for the All Along the Watchtowers ride where I last left off and make the climb up to the Gleichen Hills and their castles. I would then return to Göttingen via the final watchtower at Diemarden. Alas, when I showed someone my route and outlined… Continue Reading
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Many horses seemed to be laughing with us and not at us as we respectfully passed them by. It was a day for broad grins and smiles. Helmfried and I met at the velodrome and then followed our noses, deciding which way to proceed by simply picking the coolest looking trail. It was tough at… Continue Reading
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We rode out of Lower Saxony into Thuringia on a cold day in more ways than one for the former East German state. This must have been a recovery ride for Josh Schenk who has plans for some great rides in 2020 and he led us out to the old internal border which is now… Continue Reading
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After the steady ascent of the cobbled climb through the Zieten Terrace (nee barracks) I began where I left off scouting a gravel ride that features local castles and watchtowers etc. Last time I visited the Grona (now just a monument stone) and the almost intact Plesse Burge (castles) plus the Dreckwarte and Die Rieswarte… Continue Reading
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It rained and it snowed (more like sleet) and I got cold and wet scouting ´All Along the Watchtowers´ an idea for a gravel burgen (castle) ride. I started at Judenplatz where once stood a synagogue which was burnt to the ground in 1930´s by the Nazi´s, a fitting place to start my ride of… Continue Reading
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Gravel/Road RideAfter the successful screening of the film For the Love of Mud the evening before five of us met at the velodrome on what was a cold day. Being dry there was little chance of black ice. When I comment on the weather to locals, they often remind me that it can reach minus… Continue Reading
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It was great to meet up with Gunnar, Helmfried and Josh at the velodrome to ride the Strade Bianche de Guthingi. Sadly, Gunnar had to leave us early on as we three continued onward. Both Josh and Helmfried are a mine of local information and I think Helmfried is right to rename the ride the… Continue Reading
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Apart from travelling during the evening when I lived in London, I cannot recall the last time I rode a bike in the dark. In London it wasn´t real darkness because of the street lighting etc. so I can say today I was riding in Bible Black for the first time in many years. I… Continue Reading
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The mud out on the trails was pronounced and I haven´t been as dirty or as cold as this for a long time – sorry bike for putting you through the mire. But it was very Roubaix/Strade Bianche out there and of course deep down I loved it. I repeated the ride I had undertaken… Continue Reading
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Burgundy and brown, not to everyone’s taste but to me they look cool. More importantly it would seem that I have finally embraced the dark side, out have gone my skinny cyclo cross tyres and I have now opted for a pair of Panaracer Gravel King´s. I have fitted a 38 to the front and… Continue Reading
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My last ride of the year was dictated by only a short period of time being available to me and this was true of my Christmas. I went looking for more gravel sections for Gö Strade Bianche and I spent a lot of time going back the way I came after a trail would just… Continue Reading
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At the Battle of Jena–Auerstedt (1806) Napoleon Bonaparte defeated a combined Prussian/Saxony Army and occupied the 460 states that made up ´Germany´ at the time. Napoleon subsequently reduced the myriad of statelets once overseen by the Holy Roman Empire (Austria) to just 32 and he made his younger brother Jerome monarch of Westphalia, which included… Continue Reading
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My final ride of the Autumn 2019 as we move into Winter. It is warm in Göttingen, but rain is forecast and at the end of December we could see the temperature plummet to minus 5/6! What is good for the morale and the reason why people have celebrated this time for centuries is because… Continue Reading
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A brand-new bike was inducted into the world of gravel riding this day when we were joined by gravel debutant David who was riding a very clean and new Cannondale Top Stone. It didn´t take long for the Love of Mud to draw us onto the wet stuff and we hit what in summer is… Continue Reading
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On this reconnaissance I missed out much of the gravel known to me so that I could check out new sections for Gö Strade Bianche and this meant a few dead ends and U-turns. Although I love the challenge of riding in mud, I don´t love it enough to force me to walk! Gö Strade… Continue Reading
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The plan was to have been to meet Bernd Kaminski in nearby Moringen but German railways once more didn´t play nice and his train was so badly delayed he had to go home. With the sun shining and all set to ride we decided to do a wee bit more reconnaissance for Gö Strade Bianche… Continue Reading
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After a week off the bike because of a cold it was great to be back on the road, well, on and off road. This first ride of December was a reconnaissance for a cunning plan we are hatching and thus there were lots of stops to take pictures and time lost as new roads… Continue Reading
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The public roads and landscape along the Leine Valley near Gö remind me of Picardy and Northern France. Any further resemblance is lost because the villages look different (although familiar) and rather than cobbled (Roubaix) farm roads they are gravel. Also the hills along the Leine Valley are natural whilst in Northern France they can… Continue Reading
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Although no rain has fallen for a few days everything is wet and mist hangs low over city and country (making the denkmal at Friedland very moody looking). This ride began with a 23-kilometre pedal with Gunnar Fehlau taking in tarmac only, although dirty. After Gunnar had to return to work, I continued opting to… Continue Reading
Velo Klubhaus 