Burgdorf is a town of around thirty thousand people in the flat country northeast of Hanover, on the sandy plain between Hanover and the Aller valley, and it serves as a useful gate for riders heading north into the Lüneburg and Südheide country. The landscape is open and agricultural, with fields of wheat, rape and sugar beet, and long, straight roads lined with trees. This is not mountain land, and the pleasures of the ride lie in rhythm, light and the quiet, unpressured miles.
The Aller itself is a slow, meandering river, running northwest to join the Weser, with marshy meadows and wooded banks that make good habitat for storks and herons. To the north lies Celle, an hour or so's ride, one of the best-preserved old towns in Germany, with more than four hundred half-timbered houses, a ducal castle and a handsome market square. The Südheide Nature Park beyond has heath, pine forest and sandy lanes, and in August and September the heather blooms purple. Near Wietze, a small German Oil Museum recalls that Germany's first oil boom happened here in the late nineteenth century, when wells in the heath produced a large share of the country's supply.
For a rider, the Aller valley and the Südheide give easy, gentle roads, with long sightlines, smooth surfaces and some rural bends. Hazards include tractors, farm traffic and deer at dawn and dusk. In spring and early summer the asparagus season brings farm stalls to every roadside, and local restaurants serve it with new potatoes, ham and butter. Crosswinds on the open stretches can be strong.
Burgdorf has all the services you would expect, with several fuel stations on the main roads, supermarkets and bakeries, and a pleasant old town centre. Fill up before you leave, since the countryside beyond has fewer stations and many close early on Sundays. Grab a coffee, enjoy the town and settle into the long, easy rhythm of the north German plain.