It's easy to describe this corner of Germany, where it feels like every second front garden has a German flag hanging in it, as potty. In Bielefeld and Paderborn, on the other hand, the East Westphalians claim that there is a lot going on. Provincial or modern? Road cyclists looking for fun outside the cities couldn't care less. They will find an idyll with pretty half-timbered houses nestled in a hilly landscape teeming with spas and health resorts. Near Horn-Bad Meineberg, the "Teuto" has set itself an impressive natural monument: the Externsteine, rocks rising almost 50 metres vertically into the sky, which were formed 70 million years ago during the folding of rocks. The process that gave the rocks their shape over the course of millions of years is known as "wool sack weathering".
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More than a third of the nature park is forested, with the mostly gentle hilltops rising to an altitude of over 400 metres. The rest: raised bogs as well as meadows and fields where the rotor blades of Germany's largest wind farms turn far from the coast. "On a clear day, you can see the Brocken," farmer Hartmann tells us as he climbs down from his wind turbine. Hartmann seems to be the antithesis of the typical East Westphalian, as he talks at breathtaking speed.
You can find the article about the Teutoburg Forest as a PDF download below.
You can download the GPS data below:
- TOUR 1: Hero tour
Kilometres 100, altitude difference 1,330, max. altitude 390 metres, max. gradient 20 per cent, hilly characteristics
- TOUR 2: Across the plateaus
Kilometres 101, altitude difference 1,200, max. altitude 410 m, max. gradient 12 per cent, hilly characteristics
