I am often teased about the amount of time I spend looking for some obscure bit of information. "Mom - just google it already!" - I can almost hear one of my exasperated children (you know who you are). But searching, really looking for answers is a passion of mine. Why is this castle still standing, and this one in ruins? Why is this town flourishing, but this one dying? Where are all the old people/young people/ children?. What happened here? These questions and a thousand more bounce around my head as I bounce along on the bike, or train, or tram.
So what am I looking for today? A river. In a forest. On a mountain. Why? Ron would like to bike the entire Gera River. This should not be a problem. Already, we have found the "Gera Radweg" and have biked the entire bottom half of it, from Erfurt to Gebesee where it ends by flowing into the Unstrut. Now we simply need to go to the other end, where the river begins, and bike from there to Erfurt.
The map we have of the Gera Radweg identifies the river's origin as follows (thank you, Google Translate): "The Gera cycle path begins at the Schmücke on the Rennsteig, the legendary high path of the Thuringian Forest in the middle of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Thuringian Forest. The Rennsteig cycle path, which runs parallel to the traditional Rennsteig, can be used to get to the Gera cycle path. From the Schmücke, a detour to the Schneekopf is definitely recommended, the second highest mountain in the Thuringian Forest, which despite its 978 m height can be easily reached by bike." Yes, I can handle this.
The Rennsteig. I google it (yes, children, sometimes I just google things!). I learn that there are over 250 places in Germany with the word Rennsteig in the name. Hmmm. Turns out, Rennstieg means "Ridge Walk". Ron and I need a train station to complete this leg of our crazy journey, so I narrow my search by adding "Bahnhof" to "Rennsteig". There are twenty hits. None are anywhere near where the map indicates our River Gera begins. Becca gently tells me over dinner that trains don't usually run to the tops of mountains. Good point.
I change tactics, and try to find a town with a train station close enough to be able to bike up to the beginning. Strike two. The "train stations" in the area aren't actually train stations - they are bus terminals. I do the math: train from Erfurt, plus transfer to another train, plus transfer to a bus, then climb 900 feet in elevation on the bikes over a distance of a few kilometers. Hmmmmm. Perhaps when we were younger. But today is definitely not that day!
I consult the Gera Radweg map again, and discover Elgersburg. It is about 12 km (7.5 miles) from the the Schmücke on the Rennsteig (I still don't know what this means!) where the Gera River begins, and there is a train station. I check the train schedule. It's only an hour by train from Erfurt, no transfers. We are a go!
It is cold in the mountains, but sunny and clear. We step off of the train platform and onto the Gera Radweg. We marvel at the Elgersburg Castle looming behind us, as it has since 1138. And then we fly down the mountain.
The decent was steep as we travelled from cobblestone streets in little villages to the paved bike path through pasturelands dotted with flocks of sheep and an occasional dairy cow. I am grateful that the posted speed in the villages (30, which translates to about 18mph) forced us to slow down, or we would have missed the charm of the country villages. Small homes were set close to the narrow road and each had a garden in the front of the home with flowers, shrubs, trees, and garden art. Simple fences and interesting gates separated the gardens from the road. We even noticed a few earthen cellars, dug out from the side of the hilly landscape.
We stopped for lunch in tiny Dosdorf and found a perfect picnic spot in the shadow of an old church and clock tower. Peaceful. Bucolic. Old World Europe.
Rested, we returned to the path. We passed sheep and goose farms and the Ziegenried sheep cheese dairy just outside of Dosdorf. The goose farm really caught our attention. Goose is a traditional Christmas holiday meal here, and the fattening was well under way!
Soon we were in Arnstandt, the oldest city in Thüringen, and a favorite place for music lovers. Johann Sebastian Bach had his very first job an as organist here. We tried, unsuccessfully, to find the church. [Fun Fact: I began taking piano lessons this past December and my teacher can trace her lineage all the way back to Bach!] Arnstadt is a beautiful city, but seemed crowded after the openness of the countryside, and not particularly bike friendly. We saw a sign directing us back to our beloved Gera Radweg and we were off again.
We had travelled nearly 20 km, and still had over 24 km to go. The terrain flattened out significantly and the mountains became rolling hills. The cobblestones and asphalt gave way to dirt paths through farmland tall with corn, or following the heavily forested line of trees that banked the Gera River.
As we neared each city, we first passed through the garden plots. It seems that the city dwellers don't have enough space at their homes or apartments for a garden, so it is quite common to have a garden plot on the outskirts of town. Some of the plots are clearly family fun yards, with swing sets, trampolines, volleyball courts, and even an occasional above-ground pool! But most are just lovingly tended gardens.
Traffic on the path picked up the closer we got to Erfurt. And then we could hear it - the church bells (there are 70 churches in Erfurt), the children, the trolley cars and train whistles. Home.
Bike Talk
Radweg #5 Elgersberg to Erfurt
45 km
28 miles
Average Speed 8.7 mph. First 20 km, average speed 14.4 mph. Downhill is good.
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