Riding a well-known circuit helps you judge your fitness as you recover from illness or injury, this time I went just a wee bit further adding a known section of forest trails and new gravel (new to me). I rode through the Hainberg Forest, across the old Panzer base at Kerstlingeröder Feld, followed by the… Continue Reading
Latest in: Kerstlingeröderfeld
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I managed four rides in April, and this was my first in May. Near the end of March I caught something which I doubt was the Covid-19 virus, and I just couldn´t get rid of it. I had felt rotten in late March, felt better two weeks into April and then felt bad once more.… Continue Reading
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Sadly, many events have fallen afoul of the Covid-19 pandemic. Cancelled were my two favourite road races Paris Roubaix and the Strade Bianche. I had also been looking forward to pedalling the Pavédemark on April 12 a tribute to Paris Roubaix. The Pavédemark hosted by Brelinger Berg Night and Day features a course with pave… Continue Reading
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Quiet roads, very few cars – no motor car hassles (one annoying BMW driver) and lots of people including children enjoying the fine weather. I must be in another country, wait, I am! My UK feed is full of stuff about cyclists being slagged off for riding and there seems to be so much scolding… Continue Reading
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A final scouting ride for the All Along the Watchtower ride (number 10) started in the Hainberg Forest and then I rode along the old medieval city wall (starting at the closed theatre) to pick up the start of the intended ride at 4.3km. The route will start at the Jewish Memorial dedicated to those… Continue Reading
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I had cleaned my bike to perfection and after one ride I was back to square one! This is the longer 66km (11 km more) version of the Gutingi Strade Bianche ride ridden in homage to one of the best road races on the calendar and it follows the presently off-colour white roads of Göttingen.… Continue Reading
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Almost everything is closed here in Germany because of the Covid-19 Pandemic sweeping the world and many are working from home or just having no work. Lots of people are taking their children for a walk or cycle or like me riding bikes. Most seem happy to be social distancing, but I fear that unless… Continue Reading
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We took a short ride at a gentle pace to allow us to soak in the sunshine (Scouting All Along the Watchtowers 8). We stopped a lot for this very purpose. (I even wore my white summer MTB shoes) When we first moved from London to Göttingen our first rides were at Kerstlingeröderfeld, a large… Continue Reading
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Now part of the ´Göttingen Stadtwald´ Natur Park and open to all, Kerstlingeröder Feld and a large area around it was once a major front line Nato/Bundeswehr Panzer Base. The Panzer Grenadiers based there would often respond to increased alerts by driving just 15km to the Iron Curtain to face the combined might of the… Continue Reading
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A day away from the mud and rain, this ride was 50km of riding the ´black stuff´ at a laidback pace. There were quiet rolling roads and interesting villages with a hint of sunshine making it all rather special in an ordinary sort of way. We went past the Friedland Denkmal riding into a strong… Continue Reading
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OK, don´t tell anyone that I scouted a section of All Along the Watchtower on foot, but in my defence, it was hard on the legs and the terrain was challenging at times. Despite no pedals to turn I must admit it was fun. What was cool is that I found another warte, this being… Continue Reading
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TourThe sun was shining for a second day and we needed no coaxing to ride again to enable us to soak up the warmth to help recovery from a bug. The proposed All Along the Watchtower gravel ride has taken yet another new turn with the possible introduction of the Rosdorf Warte atop the Wartberg.… Continue Reading
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I long ago realised, as the wonderful Slits punk band said, that I am a “Weekend Warrior, Bread and Butter Hunter” thus I tend to find my modest pleasures close to home etc… So, having been off the bike for over a week we turned once more a trip to buy cat food into a… Continue Reading
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OK, so how do places get named? This crossed our minds when we got to the Lumpensammler Buche or Rag Collectors Beech. The German language can be fun, but don´t ask Mark Twain because he would have told you that it is “awful”, I rather would say that it is confusing. Today, the ride took… Continue Reading
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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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A little while ago I embraced the dark side and put away my cyclo cross tyres and opted for gravel specific rubber instead. Making this paradigm switch in my head reminded me when I first embraced cyclo cross and also rode the Paris Roubaix sportive. Tyre choice has always been a lively subject for discussion;… 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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