Page 67 - MERCIAN Eagle 2019

Harz Mountains (Germany) Cycle Tour – 9 / 13 Sep
After the success of the cycling trip in Cyprus it then fell to me again to organise a cycle trip to the Harz Mountains in Germany. The main reason why we selected this destination, was for the opportunity to cycle in the national park of the Harz mountains and that the accommodation would be
free, staying in the British Army’s Adventure Training huts at the Torfhaus lodges. We arrived safely after a 9-hour drive from Calais to the Harz mountains, arriving just after 0800 central EU time. This was after
a five-hour flight from Cyprus to the UK
and transiting through central Europe. By the time we arrived in the Harz Mountains, we had been in six different countries in twenty-four hours and had been on three different modes of transport: a plane, a ship and a car.
Day one cycling in the Harz, we managed to get a 65km ride in taking us from Torfhaus and through the villages
of Schulenberg, Bergstadt and Altenau. Altenau, some say, is where witches and their broomsticks gather at certain times
of the year and where the Brothers-Grimm penned some their classics. The scenery was mainly Alpine views with not too much climbing to contend with which I think the lads were secretly happy with.
Day two’s ride saw beautiful riding conditions, but the day did not start off too well with the RSM being close lined off his bike by the Torfhaus lodge carpark barrier. It came down unannounced, taking him clean out. Luckily, he escaped injury free and no serious damage was done to his bike. The first photo opportunity presented itself at
an old east / west German border crossing point east of a village called Sirke. Cpl Daud, our trusty chef and driver, was not on hand to take the photo so unfortunately Sgt Easter was not present in the photo - he volunteered to take on cameraman duties.
We finally reached the top of the Brocken – the gentlemen in blue is Sgt Easter.
Cycling team at Wernergerode Castle – Cpl Ben Smith, author Cpl Reeves the RSM and Sgt Royle
Wernergerode and its famous castle soon came into view when we entered the town and we are all convinced that Peter Sagan, the Boro Hansgrohe rider passed us on the road and it just
they knew that’s where we were heading next – 30kms away with a 1300m climb to reach the top. We covered the first 22kms to the Brocken in short order, but I thought
so happens that was
in Germany training,
so we will take that
one as a confirmed
sighting report... The
castle itself presented great aspects of the surrounding countryside and many photos were taken. Unfortunately, the lads could see the Brocken (highest point in the Harz) looming ominously in the distance and
it best to keep the 8km climb to the top to myself, gently breaking the news to the lads in what’s to come as we reached the base of the
mountain. In short, the climb is comparable to Platers to Troodos, so not an easy climb to the top by any stretch.
Day three’s riding in the Harz saw the weather turn against us, we awoke to “pea soup” mist and the type of drizzle that gets into everywhere; I suppose it was going to happen at some stage. Unfortunately, the climbing day that was planned was off due to the weather, so we decided to retrace day one route but in reverse – safety first was the determining factor in that decision. The lads were quite happy with the reverse route option, this meant it was an 8km descent as opposed to an 8km ascent.
We quickly broke out of the mist only to
be greeted by slightly heavier rain and lots of surface water, but that soon passed. After about an hour or so of cycling, warm and wet kit came off just as the sun was breaking through the clouds – it was perfect timing.
As we look to the future for the cycling team and further trips away. Another cycle tour is planned again for Cyprus for March 2020 and it will be for 3 days; only this time we will conquer mount Troodos.
we awoke to “pea soup” mist
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