Northern Hesse likes to call itself the home of the Grimms. Because of the Brothers Grimm, who worked in the region and whose children's and house fairy tales are largely located there. Even if you haven't been read to from Grimm's fairy tales for a long time, you will certainly remember that in addition to frogs, wicked stepmothers and robbers, a fairy godmother would occasionally float by and usually give you three wishes.
After a few kilometres through this beautiful low mountain range landscape in the Kellerwald-Edersee region, racing cyclists will wish for one thing above all else: Please, dear fairy godmother, stop motorbikes thundering along the small district and country roads!
There are supposed to be really nice people among motorcyclists, but as a racing cyclist you need them as much as a flat tyre. They have come from all over, from Hamburg, Berlin, Denmark and Holland, to ride the winding and scenic roads in Waldecker Land. Perhaps they have also travelled here from the nearby Sauerland region because several roads there have already been closed to motorbikes, at least temporarily. Good idea, that would be a start, say Michaela Wiesemann-Siebert and Wilfried Siebert from the Waldhotel Wiesemann, who have been annoyed by the roaring noise on the shores of Lake Edersee for years. My wishes certainly seem to have been granted. After the motorbike freaks roared past every minute at the beginning, there were far fewer as the day progressed.
Fresh air in bags
Bad Wildungen lies south-east of Lake Edersee. Patrick Lange, who came third in the 2017 Ironman World Championship in Hawaii, comes from there. He jokingly refers to the area as "Hessian Siberia" - because the climate is somewhat harsher than in southern Hesse. But apart from that, the triathlete, who matured into a world-class athlete in his home region, is full of praise: "Anyone who wants to shift down a gear in their head but really rev it up on the bike will feel right at home here." Langes Heimat is an area where foxes and raccoons say goodnight at dusk. An area where you would love to bag up the fresh air and take it home with you. An area where you could mistake the tractor tracks in the fields for art and where the half-timbered houses sometimes look as if Little Red Riding Hood is about to stroll out of the front door.
You can find the complete travel report and the GPS data for these tours in the download area below:
- TOUR 1: National Park Tour (99 kilometres, 1,380 vertical metres, max. 12 % gradient)
- TOUR 2: Railway cycle path (111 kilometres, 1,400 metres in altitude, max. 14 % gradient)
