The first turn of the train wheels broke the stiction holding me to my home because in the past two years plus I have not ventured away. Although I have explored my new home in Göttingen with enthusiasm my last big journey was when I moved from London. The Covid pandemic being a strong reason… Continue Reading
Latest in: tour de energie
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DE – Gö Strade Bianche (66km tour), mit Gö Grupetto Partypace Schließ´ die Augen und stell Dir vor, Du seist in der Toskana, und mach´ sie erst am Ende der Radtour wieder auf. Im Staub zu reiten war poetisch. Danke an alle, die auf mich gewartet haben! ENG – Gö Strade Bianche (66km route), with Gö… Continue Reading
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A ride in celebration of the Strade Bianche race held in Tuscany, Italy. This tour featured the ´Weißen Straßen´ of Göttingen plus concrete, dirt, asphalt cycle paths and public roads. I began the Strade Bianche de Gutingi at the Gö velodrome and 51 gravel sectors followed. The route took me along the Leine Valley north… Continue Reading
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We ventured away from the Dransfeld Ramp (an abandoned railway) and rode into the Börl Valley via the village of Hetjershausen (the village well survives) to the west of Göttingen. In Groß Ellershausen the Lindenhof pub still stands and this was frequented by the first German Chancellor Otto Von Bismarck and poet Heinrich Heine, and… Continue Reading
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DE Heute regnet es nicht und so haben wir dieses Zeitfenster genutzt, um Goosegog Kuchen zu reiten. 47km – 16 gravel sektors. ENG It has been raining almost every day lately, but there are windows of opportunity when it remains dry and on this day, we took advantage of this to ride to Besenhausen to… Continue Reading
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(Lost villages) It´s good to stop and think… I did that, at what has become a regular riding spot for me. In my first week of moving to Germany I sat on a bench at Kesterlingrodefeld and wondered at what I had done. I was now an immigrant. Käthe KollwitzI began this ride at a… Continue Reading
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DEDer Waterkoud dem Sonnenschein und die Felder sind voller Bienen, die sich von der lila Phacelia ernähren ENGAfter a week where the Leine Valley felt if it was being suffocated by Waterkoud, a Dutch word for wet hanging cloud, it was therefore a surprise to wake up on Saturday to find a strong sun shining!… Continue Reading
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The Iron Curtain was a political and physical division created after World War Two splitting Europe into East and West. I rode my gravel bike to visit an abandoned bunker part of what was once the German Internal Border erected to enforce this schism close to the city of Göttingen. Salt the Fields?After the war,… Continue Reading
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Some Like it Hot, wie der Film andeutet und wo könnte man besser sein als in einem deutschen Wald. ENG Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemon liked it hot in the movie of that name and today temperatures were at above 30 degrees. So, where better to go than to a lake or into… Continue Reading
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I freestyled my way out to the old DDR border at the Dreilländereck where the federal states of Lower Saxony, Hesse, and Thuringia meet. It was a good opportunity to consider that Lower Saxony is 75 years old this year and was created by the Allies post World War Two in what was a huge… Continue Reading
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DESuper begehbare Schotterwege, blühende Frühlingsblumen und Kuchen! Wunderbar!!! ENGWonderful! I rolled out of my home and five minutes later I was on the gravel unlike my years living in Central London. Finally, the late blooming spring flowers are coming to life bringing colour to the white roads of Göttingen. We rode sections of what became… Continue Reading
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DEEine Schotter-, Betonweg- und Asphaltfahrt mit Ray, mit der Dransfeld Ramp und vielen Schotterstrecken. ENGWe mixed asphalt, betonweg and gravel on this ride meeting Ray at the Leine River under a railway bridge, come graffiti art gallery. Once assembled we headed along the Dransfeld Ramp, now a cycle route and which had previously been part… Continue Reading
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DEEine kurze Hommage an das GP Herning ´Straße´ Radrennen Ende Mai mit 37 Kilometern Grusvej (Schotterstraße). ENGA short homage ride to the GP Herning ´road´ cycle race held at the end of May and which features 37 kilometres of Grusvej (gravel road). The Ride – 33kmI started in the Hainberg Forest climbing up to the… Continue Reading
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Inspired by Tro-Bro Léon and the Strade Bianche I allowed my whimsy to lead me onto the Gö ´ribinou´ and in my-head I was soon ´racing´ both of these cool road events. In the Breton region the word for farm track is ribinou and in wider France they might be called gravé or chemin de… Continue Reading
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DEEine Nach-Covid-Impfungstour und wir haben es einfach gehalten. Warmer Sonnenschein ist gut. ENGWith plenty of antigens in our veins after vaccination and feeling a few side effects, we rode a tour close to home along well-known gravel sections. It was a joy to ride, and the sun was shining!!!! I have heard that April 2021… Continue Reading
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I am a cycling fan and I have done all I think possible to be as Belgian or Dutch as I can, I have drunk Belgian beer, eaten Belgian chocolate (lots of), scoffed Stroopwaffles (Netherlands) and frites I am yet to match a Belgian or a Netherlander in being either. I have also ridden many… Continue Reading
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Presenting no obstacle to our free movement this gravel and road tour saw us cross several active and defunct borders. In my head recently has been Peter Gabriel’s song ´Games Without Frontiers´ (1980) where he talks about a subject that resonated strongly with me on this ride. He refers to several political themes kindled by… Continue Reading
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The Kopfsteinpflaster Carousel tour in reverse. It feels special to ride the roads of the Low Countries made famous by such races as the Tour of Flanders, Fleche Wallonne, Liege Bastogne Liege, Amstel Gold and Gent Wevelgem. But almost wherever you live you can find cool roads and this ride sees the Kopfsteinpflaster Carousel stand… Continue Reading
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DEBrot und Wilhelm Busch feierten auf dieser Fahrt. ENGBrot and Wilhelm Busch celebrated on this ride. The RideWe started with the cobbled climb of Zieten Terrace, onto Panzerweg to the high ground of Kesterlingrodefeld and then we dropped down a great gravel trail to Mackenrode where we rode a silky-smooth asphalt road to Waake (the… Continue Reading
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Can I replicate the cycle road race routes of Flanders in Göttingen? Although the short answer is ´not easily´, I can nonetheless pay my respects to the Flemish (or Wallonia) theatres of cycle sport even if there are so few substantive stretches of cobbles to ride in the Göttingen region. One notable race is the Gent Wevelgem semi-classic which actually starts… Continue Reading
