The heathland of the Nordheide

Highly motivated we planned our tour towards Lüneburg Heath for April 2nd, and suddenly we ended up with 130km to go. A lot of loose surface but also some tarmac ahead of us. Well knowing that we will certainly be hungry on this tour and due to the only open stores (supermarkets) would be completely overcrowded because of the Easter holidays, I baked small pizza buns to take with us the day before. Nothing is worse than being hungry on the road. I just like to be prepared.

So Saturday morning, after breakfast, at about 2° Celsius around 8:30 a.m. we started our day.
 
We rode through the Hafencity – pretty relaxed this morning, as a large part of the streets were closed off and security guards were standing around everywhere. Supposedly a film shoot took place here, of which we have seen nothing, but plenty of people took the chance to shoot here for YouTube or for Tik Tok – who knows.

We then passed the futuristic “Elbbrücken” subway station. Architecturally, this one really looks impressive. From there crossing the old Elbbrücken, which contrast nicely with the new subway station, yet a beautiful site every time, both the bridges themselves and the view across the river towards the Landungsbrücken.

We passed through Wilhelmsburg along small empty streets and paths, past garden clubs (of which there are quite a few here) and old beautiful houses. The remains of an Easter fire lingered in the air and there was one we passed. The wood was still all smoky.

To cross the Süderelbe we had to go over a highway bridge. The water below us sparkled in the sunlight and we briefly watched the kayaks going underneath us in the water. At the end of the bridge a stairway led into the green and along a beautiful path. In the belief that we had to ride along there, I carried my bike down and we took a few pictures to then realize that this was not the right way and I had to carry my bike back up. Climbing stairs with a bike is always a lot of fun. Not.

Now it was finally time for a break! Of course I (we) was hungry, but I also desperately needed a place for a pee break. Luckily we found a perfect place for both, in a small path with a wind turbine and no people anywhere in sight. We were looking forward to the delicious pizza buns only to realize disappointingly that these were somewhat dry. However, still better than having empty stomachs. Relieved and slightly satiated, we continued on our way.

Slowly more and more nature was around us: the Seevetal. The path led along the Seeve. The Seeve springs between Handeloh and Undeloh and flows, after winding 40 km through the Geest, into the Elbe. There were several meadows full of horses and we passed through a small forest with a nice wooden bridge and right behind it an old stone bridge was waiting for us, the viaduct railroad bridge over the Seeve near Jesteburg.

Heading in the direction of Undeloh, we rode through a beautiful forest area. In a hut we found greetings from Udo (whoever Udo was) and an artistically designed place to stop. The light and the forest had a magic all their own.

When we finally reached Undeloh, the heathland opened up. Although not very much was in bloom at this time of year, the view across the heath is always beautiful. We wanted to take a break and for this we had a place in mind that was listed as a highlight on Komoot, a bench with a view overlooking the heath. However, thanks to the beautiful sunny day it was, the benches were all occupied by hikers or other cyclists. Hence, for the time being, no rest for us. Our cravings for food had to wait a little longer. And so we continued to follow the path through the heath, which became a small single trail with some roots. A beautiful ride. Eventually we found an empty bench for us and I was finally able to eat something. A little exhausted from the few meters of altitude that we are simply not used to. But that’s the way it is when you live in such a flat region. Every little bit of a hill becomes a challenge.

The route continued over cobblestones and sandy paths. We had to use our strength well, we were at just under 70km and basically already back on the way home, very close to the Seeve on a single trail and through the beautiful Büsenbachtal.

Reaching exhaustion with the desire to only go home, we rode through the Brunsberg nature reserve and then on through woods near Buchholz and Rosengarten.

Unfortunately, there are hardly any pictures of the rest of the route here. As Björn mentioned (time and time again), every single part of his body that was hurting, and each and every little hill that we had to climb, was draining all of our energy, I was already dreaming of something delicious to eat on the couch back home. We pushed on only to get home quickly. 

No later than at this point we were more complaining than enjoying the surroundings and the beautiful nature. But sometimes that’s the way it is. We have been very ambitiously approaching the route minding that we have not ridden so many kilometers at a time for quite a while. Most likely, we also felt the just under 800 meters of altitude directly. We are just real flatland folks. 

In total, we had 7 ½ hours of moving time and were on the road a little more than 10 hours.  Nevertheless, this route was beautiful and worthwhile in any case. We’ ll definitely ride it again.

ROUTE DETAILS

Join Komoot and ride this route yourself.

by Bjørn Lexius

Wittmoor & Tangstedter Forst

After a ride to the West of Hamburg on Saturday, we found ourselves back on the sofa at night, talking about where to go to on Sunday. Like it does kinda often it ended up with “no clue, what do you think?” So we decided for a direction, North it was this time.

We opened up Komoot and started clicking and compiling our route. I knew from talking to a friend that he liked the Wittmoor and the Tangstedter Forst a lot, and as none of us had been there yet, this was going to be part of our route for sure. Added some other spots as well and ended up at around 70km.

The next day, Sunday, we got up at around 8, had breakfast and then left home. 

The first part of our route led us along the Alsterwanderweg, first in the city, then slowly leaving the city behind. As it was already around 9:30/10ish the path was already quite packed with people. Runners, people walking their dogs, you name it. It was still nice, but could have been more fun with less people around (if we had only gotten up earlier).

I can’t really remember where this spot actually was, but that red wall attracted me and so we had to stop for a quick photo or two.

The first spot that we took a short break to have a snack at was the Hummelsee, located in the Hummelsbütteler Moor. We had been there a few times and this time we decided to only have a look at the Müllberg and not to go up like another time before.

After that short stop we rode on to the Wittmoor, a really beautiful place, that I definitely want to go back to again to take more photos. Haven’t taken too many this time as it was also pretty crowded, but on a Saturday and an earlier time of day it should be just awesome. What a beautiful place.

Next up on the menu: Tangstedter Forst. 

What a beautiful place as well. A huge forestal area. even if there were also many people around, it didn’t feel that way as there’s plenty of choices when it comes to paths. Definitely a place we NEED to go back to as well.

We took another short snack stop at the Wilstedter See or Costa Kiesa as the locals call it. It normally is a quite crowded swimming spot, but it’s closed due to the Corona pandemic. So. besides us there was just one family and an older lady who was actually going for a swim. Much respect to her as the water must have been pretty cold still.

Our ride continued on to pass through the Henstedter Moor, but before we were able to enter the Moor, we had to pass by 5-6 trucks of the local fire department. We were wondering why they were around, but nothing obvious to spot. As the firemen were just preparing to leave, we rode on.

Just a few minutes later one could smell smoke and the smell of something burnt. Just a few hundred meters on we could see it, and it was saddening. Parts of the moor were totally burned. The trees still mostly looked ok, but most of the ground turned black. It was a weird thing to experience. It was sad on one hand, but visually looked interesting, so took the opportunity to snap a few frames and while doing so, talk about how that might have happened. (As I’m typing this I just found out, two teenagers tried to prepare food with a camping gas stove, it tipped over and started the fire. As the press states “However, the youths prevented worse by immediately calling the fire department themselves and, when the police and fire department arrived, ruefully reported their mishap.” So, at least that. But that’s definitely a reminder to all of us enjoying the outdoors to treat them with respect and take safety measures at all times.

We rode on following along train tracks for some time on beautiful gravel, crossed another forest and passed by another small moor area before heading back into the city following the Kollauwanderweg, entering the Niendorfer Gehege and heading back home.

ROUTE DETAILS

Join Komoot and ride this route yourself.

by Bjørn Lexius

Nuclear Power Plant & Industrial Ruins

It’s Sunday, 8 o’clock, we knew we wanted to go ride our bikes today, but had not yet made a plan where to. I had two options in mind: for the upcoming Orbit360 series two tracks had been planned in the Hamburg area. Since one of the tracks included a place we had already ridden many times, the Holmer Sandberge, we decided to go for the other one. Our friends Johanna & Timo had scouted this track and I had seen interesting photos of it. But since we didn’t want to ride 190km, we replanned the track and made ourselves a barely 100km variant.

After having breakfast, at least for me since Jana didn’t really feel like eating a lot this morning, we were about to get ready. Well… Jana was. I myself first had to go on a quest for my socks. Do you know this situation? You’re searching the drawer for the pair of socks you’re looking for, but you just can’t find ’em. You’re looking again and again and all of a sudden the socks appear right in front of your eyes? How blind can one be? Anyway. Let’s just download the route to the Wahoo and off we go.

Since we wanted to exit the city on the eastern side, we first had to cross it, but luckily this is not quite as annoying on a Sunday than on other days. Via the Oberhafen connection we headed out via Moorfleet and the Allermöher Wiesen in the direction of… Wait, stop, first there was this tree lying across the path, but somehow lying is the wrong way to put it, it was hanging over the path, not low enough to just climb over it, not high enough to just walk under it. What seemed to be easier for Jana in comparison, for me was the first reason to moan about what this is all about. I pushed the bike underneath, took the camera off my back and then somehow crawled underneath in a squatting position. Must have looked pretty ridiculous to outsiders.

Soon after, we stopped for the first time for a small break at a lake near Neuallermöhe.

On we went through Neuallermöhe, artificially created, somehow boring, but in some way also quite nice, at least the houses with access to water and a canoe in the garden. Quite nice. Did I take a picture? No, of course not. 

Missed the exit briefly, turned around and then crossed under the highway on a narrow, dark footbridge. And then continued on gravel.

Shortly after, we entered the really beautiful forest around the Dalbekschlucht. Where there is forest, there are trees and where there are trees, there…? That’s right, there are trees on the paths. And not too scarce. In addition, a really mini mini mini brook.

The last climb we pushed the bikes up, as it was kind of nasty. First a nice downhill on gravel, then a 90 ° turn and it goes uphill. Unfortunately, people were standing in the middle of the turn at that very moment so we had to slow down to 0. That day Jana was already struggling with her allergies and breathing, so we took a short break after the climb. She had her vegan jerky all to herself. For some reason, I just can’t enjoy these.

This was followed by a really beautiful stretch of forest with ups and downs. Wonderful. I would have wanted to stop at pretty much every corner and take photos, but we wanted to keep going.

In retrospect, I would have liked to spare myself what followed, but I was probably too impulsive on the road that day. Somewhere in Geesthacht a muscular guy from his car lectured me that there was a bike path. While I confirmed I was aware of this, to his request to use it then, out of reflex, I replied with a “shut the fuck up” and so it ended up with him offering me, as to be expected, to punch me in the face. Fortunately for me, he then probably had another thought and drove off. But I wasn’t sure until the point where our ways separated, at the next intersection, whether he would not consider it again. Well, I was lucky and maybe next time I will just be quiet or find a more diplomatic answer…

Via a mile-long private road, we then went to the next pause location: the Krümmel nuclear power plant.

The Krümmel Nuclear Power Plant is a German nuclear power plant in Geesthacht. It was taken into operation in 1983. The reactor was the world’s second largest of its type in commercial operation. Since 2011 it is shutdown due to popular demand.

As we stood above the power plant it was not a queasy feeling, but it was a strange feeling in some way.

Having taken a break, we went on through the forest in the direction of Besenhorster Sandberge. Not without getting into another short conflict with an SUV driver who felt that the road belonged to her. Somehow this was not my day in conjunction with people in cars. Anyway.

I was very curious about the Besenhorster Sandberge, because there are still parts of the ruins of a former dynamite factory. I had seen them on photos and absolutely wanted to shoot a few photos there, too. 

Unfortunately, it was relatively busy and other photographers with models were at work there. Thus, both the quiet and the space to take more photos was not given. Anyway, we can always go there again. 

The scenery as a whole is very fascinating, because nature is reclaiming the area here. The buildings were covered with greenery on the roofs during the Second World War to protect them from attacks, but now even trees can be discovered on the roofs. Really interesting.

After the somewhat longer break in the Sandberge, we headed back towards Hamburg. As beautiful and relaxing the old Marschbahndamm is, because you just ride for many many miles without any cars through greenery, it can also be boring, because you just ride straight ahead for what feels like eternities. Perhaps this monotony also led me to complain more about my tired legs and pain in the back. The camera on the back is just not always so optimal. Let’s see, we will test alternatives.
 
There’s not much more to tell about the way back and we didn’t take any more photos. .

ROUTE DETAILS

Join Komoot and ride this route yourself.

by Bjørn Lexius

Festive 500 / 2020 – AN EXPERIENCE REPORT

// FESTIVE 500

DAY 1

0 of 500km

Since the morning was pretty rainy, we decided to stay in bed a little longer. Afterwards we had our Superfood Bowl for breakfast and got ready for the ride.

64 km were on the plan for today. Our route took us through small wooded areas, nice empty trails full of puddles and deep mud. However, as long as we didn’t get stuck and had to push our bikes, we really had a lot of fun riding through mud. Some more than others.

One can imagine how the bikes and our gear looked pretty quickly then. It’s been a mud fest. Luckily there was no more rain all day.

We headed back towards home in the dark, and it was starting to get a little chilly for us, since our feet were getting wet and cold.

Just outside our front door, we noticed when looking at the Wahoo that not 64km but only 53km were on the meter. WTF?!?! Well, so we did a little extra lap and had at least 60km showing on the meter. We have to catch up a few km in the next few days then.

Once we got the rough dirt off the bikes, (thanks you little brave low pressure cleaner) we moved into the warm. Along with us on our clothes still came a lot of dirt into the apartment.

Now our stomachs are stuffed, all body parts are warmed up again and it’s time to relax on the couch. Already looking forward to Day 2.

// FESTIVE 500

DAY 2

60 of 500km

Today we got up early, as the forecast had given us bright sunshine, despite the cold and tiredness at the same time. We headed off in the direction of Sachsenwald. According to Komoot we expected a: “Heavy gravel tour. Very good condition required. On some passages you may have to push your bike.”

What can we say, our “route builder” ruffle didn’t actually do us any favors. It was super beautiful in the forest, but the trails were a real challenge.And so we moved forward quite slowly between mud and tree roots – although it was also fun, but what it showed us: you are not able to do many kilometers if you ride at the same pace at which you could also push the bike. Yet, actually the Cannondale Topstone Carbon Lefty 3’s great suspension and its 47mm 650b tires still helped us a lot today. 

After 5 hours of riding, we had 75km on the speedometer, had been on the road for over 7 hours, had frozen feet and empty stomachs. It was a really long day, now we are exhausted and looking forward to a movie and the couch. What’s up for tomorrow? We still have to figure that out. Definitely one thing, though, keep going. 

// FESTIVE 500

DAY 3

135 of 500km

Since yesterday our route led us through strenuous terrain, today the plan was to ride as many “flat” kilometers as possible. 

Unfortunately we didn’t feel really fit after yesterday, we were tired, had some muscle ache and furthermore Björn’s right knee was hurting. So the new, fast and mostly flat route was just right for us today. Fortunately, there was no rain this time and the wind only hit us from sideways at first. However, on the way back we had to fight against some headwinds. As well as against the cold that slowly crept through our clothes.

We could hardly wait to get back home, we really had enough of wind, cold and aching knees. Nevertheless, we covered just about 72 kilometers and were thus able to do 40% of the #festive500.

Now we’re going to relax our muscles and knees and have a rest day tomorrow. That means more kilometers on the other days – we’ll see what comes, but for now we have to listen to our bodies and give them the time to recover.

// FESTIVE 500

DAY 4

202 of 500km

Completely exhausted, tired, sensing parts of my body that I haven’t sensed in ages. Today’s rest day is obviously much needed. How one can feel so limp after some cycling is a mystery to me. An even bigger mystery is, what does my body want from me? And this … knee…

Jana also feels a bit tired and has slight muscle soreness, but compared to me, she seems to be in top shape.

// FESTIVE 500

DAY 5

202 of 500km

After our rest day yesterday, we felt ready to start day 5 of the #festive500 this morning. Our muscles have been grateful for the rest. We rode the same route that we rode the day before yesterday, since we were much faster there than on pure gravel roads, except for the headwind. Maybe not the most exciting option, but a good choice nonetheless. 

After the first ten kilometers, however, we had to stop because Björn’s rear wheel lost air. So we had to re-pump and continue. A few kilometers later, the pressure was gone again and we knew we had to take a closer look. So we found two holes. As we ride tubeless on the Cannondale bikes, we were hoping for the holes to seal on their own. Nope. Clearly not with completely dried up sealing milk. Damn. So switched to an inner tube. We lost a lot of time because of this, but at least we rode on without any problems afterwards. Björn’s knee started to complain every now and then, but it wasn’t as bad as on the last ride. 

// FESTIVE 500

DAY 6

281 of 500km

Buddy, can we go out and ride tonight…?

No, unfortunately not, Lefty. My knee is complaining again and on top of that I pinched some nerve yesterday and my back is hurting. 

So: sofa so good. 

Jana rode a solid 40km on Zwift next to the sofa. Being a good husband, I supported her mentally and with refilled bidons.

I want to get out again… But I have to listen to my body.

// FESTIVE 500

DAY 7

321 of 500km

It’s day 7 of the #festive500 challenge and as I write these words, I’m lying on the sofa with my leg resting up. Things with my knee have not changed, so that’s it for the challenge for me. However, as I am not alone, I have this wonderful woman by my side. She has reached 387/500km and has just dropped the idea of doing the remaining kilometers tomorrow on Zwift in two stages. I have nothing but admiration left for her. Yes, it’s not cold and windy inside, but with the monotony on the turbo, I would never do more than 2 hours of riding on it. 

I’m very curious to see if Jana will pull this off tomorrow. Let’s see, maybe we’ll share something with you folks. I strongly believe in her and if it doesn’t work out, she will still have ridden as many kilometers in that 8 day period as never before.

// FESTIVE 500

DAY 8

387 of 500km

I, on the other hand, decided to finish the remaining kilometers on the rollers on Zwift.

Happy New Years. Day 8 of the #festive500 and thus the last day. Unfortunately Björn could not continue, his challenge was over after 280km. Thanks to his painful knee. But you have to listen to your body. 

So this meant: 120km left to go. 

Indoors, my longest ride so far was 50km. Although you are not exposed to the elements, riding outside is a bit more exciting and diverse.

Totally motivated I rode the first 61km, ate a piece of cake and started the second ride. 

After 4 1/2 hours of riding I was done. 

Finally, with 511km, at least one of us mastered the challenge. We are both proud of ourselves – because we have not done that many kilometers in a row before and I have only really started cycling this summer.

Let’s see if we will try again next year, in any case we are looking forward to a 2021 with lots of time on the bike!

by Bjørn Lexius

1st time on an E-Bike: Testing the Specialized Turbo Creo SL EVO in the field

I still remember Jana one day telling her mother on the phone that I now own a new bike and her mother asked “An e-bike?” At that moment I looked at Jana with outrage: ” Excuse me? Is she trying to insult me? Tz!” After all, I had only been riding my fixed gear bikes for the last 8 or even more years. Me…? An E-Bike? never!

So, when Concept Cycles Hamburg recently invited us to test the new Specialized Turbo Creo SL EVO for a weekend, we said yes, after all. However, we were actually quite curious about such an E-Bike.

On Friday evening, after Jana’s work day in the agency had finished, we picked up the bikes at the agency at Concept Cycles Hamburg. The two Specialized Turbo Creo SL Comp Carbon EVOs were already waiting for us, fully charged and ready for the ride at sunrise on Saturday morning.

However, before we begin to tell you about the ride and our impressions of the bike, let’s have a few details about the bike itself…

The Turbo Creo SL Comp Carbon EVO is based on the same frame set as the Turbo Creo SL Comp Carbon E-road bike and comes in two different finishes: Satin Sage Green/Black and Gloss Navy/White Mountains. Our favorite clearly is the green bike and luckily we had this one for testing.

The heart of the Turbo Creo SL Comp Carbon EVO is the SL 1.1-E motor with a maximum support of 240W, powered by the 320Wh battery located in the down tube. Specialized states the maximum range at 120km, but this can be extended by another 60km with an optional range extender.

The Comp Carbon version of the bike is equipped with a 1×11 Shimano GRX 810 group set and brakes, I am already familiar with this group from my Canyon Grail CF SL and like it a lot. Specialized has installed Praxis cranks.

Integrated in the steering-tube is the Future Shock 2.0 system, it is adjustable in the intensity of its damping by a knob on the stem and offers 20 mm “spring travel”.

Specialized has also equipped the Turbo Creo SL EVO with a X-Fusion Manic dropper post with 50 mm travel.

Standard equipment includes 700 x 38 C Pathfinder Pro tires on DT Swiss R470 Boost wheels. The front axle is 110mm wide and the rear axle is 148mm wide. The frame allows maximum tire widths of 700 x 42C and 650b x 50 respectively.

The Specialized Turbo Creo SL EVO

IN THE WILD

The alarm rang at 6am on Saturday morning and after coffee and some banana with peanut butter and pretzel sticks we left home. We had recently been allowed to discover the Himmelmoor on another ride and wanted to return there again. 

Because we absolutely wanted to be there in time for sunrise (which we still couldn’t do because we just dawdle sometimes), we didn’t change the pedals as planned. (Never say “Oh it will be alright !!!). 

So we were on the probably simplest flat pedals that Specialized has to offer. A dream, if you are riding with click shoes on them. Well, next time we know we’ll finish it in the evening for sure. 

One thing we noticed right away on Friday evening: the Specialized Turbo Creo SL EVO is really light for an E-Bike. We couldn’t find exact information about the weight, but carrying the bike to the 4th floor was no problem at all. This was also our impression again on Saturday morning. 

The support was not so spectacular on the road, but away from tarmac the support was more noticeable in my opinion, as usually you would need a lot more power from your legs to reach the speed on gravel. I can’t say it wasn’t fun to whip around that way.

Once we arrived in the moor, we were rewarded with beautiful light and sunshine, first a quick snack, a few photos and then onwards. Here we already noticed, the bike attracts attention. And with reason. It is truly a beautiful bike and the greatest thing about it is that it doesn’t scream E-Bike at the very first glance. Until one notices or hears the engine. It is noticeable, but not disturbing. Since this was our first time on an e-bike, we lack the comparison to other engines out there.

Jana, who usually rides a Specialized Diverge Base Carbon with Future Shock 1.5, was very impressed with the adjustability of the Future Shock 2.0 while riding, the suspension was noticeable on cobblestones and on bumps and helped to make the ride more comfortable.

I was very impressed by the quiet and direct shifting, maybe I should readjust mine on my Grail. 

Needless to say, we couldn’t be spared a flat tire, but thanks to the thru axles the replacement of the inner tube was done quickly. It is hard to judge if this is a direct argument against the tires or if Jana just had bad luck. On her Diverge equipped with Pathfinder tires she had no flat tire so far.

Let us now come to…

CONCLUSIONS

We are not quite sure what the purpose of the Specialized Turbo Creo SL EVO would be for us. For a moment I had the thought that I could enjoy the bike for bike packing tours, but it lacks mounting points, because apart from two bottle cages and fenders nothing else can be mounted. I am familiar with this from my Canyon Grail CF SL, but the dropper post takes away the option of a saddlebag as well. In addition to that there is the range of 120km, so if I want to ride longer distances, I have to add the extender and thereby lose one of the two locations for water bottles. 

Jana already mentioned during the ride that the bike is fun for her, but could never replace the feeling she has when she is riding a bike using solely her own power. At least not as long as she is still fit enough for it. 

by Bjørn Lexius

Welcome to Ride Punk Ride

Moin (this is how we say “hello” here in Hamburg) and welcome to www.ridepunkride.com. This is our place on the web, where we want to write about everything that is connected with cycling in our lives. So far we only did this via our Instagram profile, but we wanted more. As much as we both like Instagram and spend quite a bit of time there, whether for private or professional purposes, there are some things about Instagram that we don’t like that much. Instagram as a platform is just very limiting, whether it’ s about image formats (you should hear our discussions, that an image looks much better in landscape format, but then is displayed too small on Instagram to draw attention), about the length of texts or just which photos get attention and which ones just don’t “work” on the platform. With this website we are solving all these problems for us, because we can write more detailed about things that would otherwise be overlooked on Instagram. We can share more photos and share them in reasonable size and quality. Plus, having something to work on with each other is fantastic. After all, we share a passion for cycling and also for photography and social media. So why not try to get more out of it?

Along with this website we are making plans and thinking of ideas for what’s to come and this could all be quite exciting. To start new projects is always something great and in this crazy year 2020 we thought we should use the time to do so.

We are happy to have you here.

// Jana & Björn

by Bjørn Lexius