May 24, 2023 to May 26, 2023
Weiberg - Thonse
Stage 20
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Now that I was almost trusting the Trail again, I had been following all of the paths too. The hills in this part of Germany are not large and paths are usually a ride able surface, so apart from dodging mud, or making a wrong turn, I was spending almost 100% my day following the GPS line.
Until I left Paderborn. The Trail cuts across military land, and today was a live firing day on the range. I was politely advised that beyond the safety question, there were significant fines for bypassing the security barrier.
I asked G. Maps for a route toward Blomberg (my location for the night) and then let Gerry convince me he could take me back to the Trail. Mistake. We ended up within 500m of the point we'd departed from. A 45 minute loop to nowhere, thanks Gerry.
The old city gate at Blomberg is impressive, but as the town is/was at an important trade cross road, it has been burned down several times, and the gate is the oldest thing remaining (to be fair, it dates from the 12th century, so is quite old)
After a night in a lovely spacious apartment, we set off into another cold, grey morning. The paths were really nice, through forest and crops, away from traffic and reliably ride able.
In Bad Pyrmont I rode through the most perfect alley of trees I've ever seen, and in Hamelin I didn't see either rats or a piper. The forest at Kollnischfeld gave lovely riding and my last two significant climbs in Germany. It is mostly flat from here to Skagen, so it appears I'm in the final stretch.
My hotel both advertises and runs a restaurant, so with just 40km to the end of Stage 20 (193km, 1970m climbing) I'm well fed and will ride through Hannover tomorrow to complete the stage at Thonse.
Riding through Hannover was a real treat - I saw so little of the city scape I hardly knew I was in a large city. The Trail wound along wooded trails for just under 20 km with only road crossings and the number of commuters to alert me to being near an urban centre.
The Dohrener Turm demanded I take a photo - so like Repunzel's place it may have been the muse for the fairy tail.
My 202km and 1910m elevation gain may have been close to EDT on paper.
Today's ride: 202 km (125 miles)
Total: 4,183 km (2,598 miles)
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