A quiet curse escapes David Jung's lips. With recognisable effort, he heaves his carbon racer uphill. His pedalling slows down, his upper body works hard, Jung rides in serpentine lines. "Can't do it any more," he says, gasping for breath and adds with a pained smile: "I don't remember it being that steep." The "Wall of Wiblingwerde" is the name of the narrow little road that hides inconspicuously between woods and meadows. Jung told me that the ramp is an insider tip: 650 metres, with an average gradient of 14 percent. At the nastiest point, my speedometer shows a whopping 24 per cent gradient. "It really gets into your legs," he gasps, still gasping for breath at the top. Especially when the bike has been standing in the corner for a while.
As a working father of two children, he doesn't get out on his bike as often as he used to - and that can take its toll. In addition to a few pretty reservoirs and river valleys, the thousand square kilometres of the Märkisches Sauerland also have a number of tough and sometimes long climbs in store. "No problem in the past as an elite racer. I had one or two KOMs here (King of Mountain; virtual award for the best time on a climb on the internet platform Strava; editor's note)," says Jung. It doesn't help that his bike is still equipped with the old racing gear ratio of 53/39 and 11-23. That's why, after the ramp, he shows me a terrain on which he now prefers to ride: the flat river valleys in the region, where it rolls better.
The Lenne valley is one of these. Coming from the Hochsauerland, the Lenne crosses the Märkischer Kreis and flows into the Ruhr near Hagen, south of the Ruhr area. The valley is sometimes a rocky, narrow gorge, sometimes a green meadow. Many sections are worth seeing and easy to cycle along. Unless it's rush hour. Since the A45 motorway near Lüdenscheid was closed due to bridge damage, the region has been complaining about significantly more traffic. "I avoid Lennetal and Lüdenscheid in particular in the afternoon. It's better to be in quieter areas then," recommends Jung. While the construction work for a new motorway bridge near Lüdenscheid is likely to take years to complete, there are fortunately numerous remote stretches of road where you hardly ever encounter a car. Take the dreamy airfield in Altena-Hegenscheid, for example. Apart from the red and white windsock above the hangar, nothing moves here. The golden rays of the afternoon sun gently outline the green plateau above the Lennetal valley. A few cows graze in a pasture next to the road, the wind plays softly with the fence. Otherwise, silence reigns.
The world as a guest?
It is this idyllic setting, the rugged beauty of the low mountain range, the lush vegetation and not least the mountains that attract many to the region. And the proximity to the conurbations on the Ruhr and Rhine is a locational advantage. Last year, the Sauerland welcomed 2.3 million guests, and Jörg Scherf has observed an upward trend in cycling tourists in particular. "Cycle tourism is booming here," says the insurance entrepreneur, who also runs the third-class professional team Saris Rouvy Sauerland. "A lot is happening here," says Scherf, who used to ride for Team Gerolsteiner. He is observing how more and more hotels and guesthouses in the Sauerland are discovering cycling for themselves, with their own bike cellars, guided tours, maps and bike hire. The broad basis is there, says Scherf, but he wants more and dreams of a highlight: after successfully hosting the German Championships in 2022, the Tour of Germany will follow in August - and, if Scherf and his colleagues have their way, perhaps even the Cycling World Championships in 2027: "We have the space, the terrain, the possibilities, the knowledge and the tradition to organise such an event - together with the surrounding regions, of course." If his dream comes true, steep ramps like the Wiblingwerde wall will soon no longer be an insider tip.
Märkisches Sauerland - Information
Journey
Railway
The journey from Cologne to our Iserlohn site takes just under an hour and a half: It takes three hours from Hanover and the journey is also by ICE to Hagen and by Regional-Express to Iserlohn. From Frankfurt am Main, you can take the IC 2320 to Iserlohn-Letmathe in just under three hours without changing trains. To take your bike on the ICE, book a bike ticket (9 euros) and a parking space reservation; the bike ticket is also valid on local trains.
Car
Iserlohn is located on the A 46 motorway, just over 200 kilometres from Frankfurt am Main (you have to leave the A 45 at Lüdenscheid because the Rahmede viaduct is closed) and 360 kilometres from Hamburg.
Food & Drink
Westphalian cuisine also characterises the Sauerland: restaurants with regional cuisine serve Westphalian broad beans, home-made brawn, farmer's omelettes or meat platters. There are also Sauerland specialities such as Sauerländer Kröse (a dish made from porridge, pork broth, salt, spices and pig's blood), roast venison or wild boar, Potthucke (a potato dough filled with meat and baked) or thick Sauerland sausages with potato salad. However, many dishes are so hearty that they are best eaten after a cycle tour. A good opportunity to sample and feast in Iserlohn is offered by the "Genuss pur" festival in August with regional restaurateurs on the Museumsplatz.
Restaurant tips
Iserlohn, hunting lodge in Kühl, telephone 02371/41388, www.jagdhaus-kuehl.de
Hearty food from the forest and meadow: Venison, deer, wild boar, beef.
Iserlohn, El Toro, telephone 02371/20585, www.eltoro-iserlohn.de
Steakhouse with generous portions.
Hemer (9 km south of Iserlohn), Restaurant Elfenfohren, telephone 02372/80760, www.gaststaette-elfenfohren.de
Hearty Westphalian cuisine, rustic ambience.
Accommodation
Iserlohn, Hotel Neuhaus, telephone 02374/5109608, www.hotel-neuhaus.de
Cosy, hospitable 18th century post station in the Lössel district (six kilometres southwest of Iserlohn). The 4-star hotel serves good regional cuisine, has a spa area with outdoor pool and offers mountain bikes and e-bikes for hire. Double room with breakfast from 140 euros.
Iserlohn, Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten, telephone 02371/9720, www.vierjahreszeiten-iserlohn.de
Family-run hotel with spa area and mini golf, beautifully situated on the northern edge of the town in the forest. Double room with breakfast from 104 euros, breakfast 15 euros per person.
Cycling events
Sauerland is no longer just a Mecca for mountain bikers and downhill enthusiasts. The region is also pushing road cycling: the German Championships were hosted here in 2022 and there are even plans to host the World Cycling Championships in 2027. This year, there will be the Sauerland-Rundfahrt national league race (www.sauerlandrundfahrt.de) for amateurs and amateur cyclists on 17 September, the Bildchensprint individual mountain time trial (www.bildchen-sprint.de) also in September and the Iserlohn RTF on 13 August.
Bike service
Iserlohn, Megabike Manasse, telephone 02371/944100, www.megabike.de
Not specialised in racing bikes, but master workshop with Shimano service centre.
Don't miss it!
Altena Castle
Several museums can be visited in the amazingly well-preserved castle on a mountain spur above the Lenne valley. Information at www.maerkischer-kreis.de - there under "Culture & Tourism".
Iserlohn
Just outside the city, the historic Maste-Barendorf factory bears witness to the region's industrial past; www.iserlohn.de, under "Culture" and "Museums". In Iserlohn-Grüne, the Dechenhöhle cave with adjoining cave museum is well worth a visit; information at www.dechenhoehle.de
Sauerland Park
In the small town of Hemer, which borders Iserlohn to the east, the 27-hectare Sauerland Park on the former site of the 2010 State Garden Show awaits visitors and offers a good view of the landscape from the Jübergturm tower; information at www.sauerlandpark-hemer.de
Maps
ADFC regional map "Sauerland" with GPS tracks download, 1:75,000, BVA BikeMedia 2019; 8.95 euros.
The Bike Arena Sauerland sends out a road bike map package including 75 road bike tours for 17.50 euros. Order at: ww.bike-arena.de/en; there under "Service" and "Maps".
Info
Sauerland-Tourismus e. Vphone 02974/96980, www.sauerland.com
Tourist-Info IserlohnPhone 02371/217-1819 or -1820, www.iserlohn.de/stadtmarketing-tourismus
Route and road bike tips
Bicycle route planner of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia: www.radroutenplaner.nrw.de Bike Arena Sauerland: www.bike-arena.de/rennrad
Routes in the Märkisches Sauerland
Tour 1: High percentage
87 kilometres, 1,770 metres in altitude, max. 24 % gradient
The flat start along the Lenne is deceptive: after the first twelve kilometres, this tour is a constant, demanding up and down. The first ascent to Veserde is a tough one with an average gradient of nine per cent. On the Kreinberger Weg near Wiblingwerde, the ascent averages 14 per cent. The reward: the view from and of Altena Castle.
Resting tip: Altena (67.2 and 70.3 km), Pizza Castello (www.facebook.com/pizzacastello). Simple pizzeria with large portions.
Bypass
On short sections of our routes, you can currently expect more traffic than during our research, especially on Tour 1. The reason for this is the closure of the A 45 motorway near Lüdenscheid, where the Rahmede Bridge is being rebuilt. There may be traffic jams around the Lüdenscheid and Lüdenscheid-Nord junctions in particular. The Lennetal valley and the stretch between Rosmart and Altena are also affected. An alternative GPS track for Tour 1 can be downloaded from the TOUR website: The route (115 kilometres, 2,200 metres in altitude) bypasses Lüdenscheid to the north and south.
Tour 2: To the Sorpesee
98 kilometres, 1,100 metres in altitude, max. 15 % gradient
A relaxed roll-in: We follow the many twists and turns of the Lennetal valley to Eiringhausen, where the first climb of the tour awaits after 40 kilometres: The ascent to Birnbaum with 3.3 kilometres and an average gradient of almost eight percent. Forests, fields and lots of greenery await us on the following plateau. And of course the highlight of the tour, an almost circumnavigation of Lake Sorpe. The final difficulty: a three-kilometre-long roller hill near Leveringhausen.
Rest tipSundern-Langscheid (km 63.2), Seegarten, www.hotel-seegarten.com. Directly on the Sorpesee lake, TV chef Olaf Baumeister cooks excellent and creative dishes from regional ingredients.
