Elze is a modest town on the Leine, between Hannover and Hildesheim, and it exists in a rider's day for one good reason, which is that it has petrol stations. That is not meant as an insult. A small, level-headed Lower Saxon town of nearly ten thousand people, set in the broad river valley with farmland on one side and wooded hills on the other, Elze does what a fuel gate should do, quickly and without drama. Pumps sit along the main roads, a supermarket and a few bakeries are in the centre, and you can be on your way again in ten minutes.
The surroundings are more interesting than the town. The Leine valley here is a broad, flat trough of fertile land, bordered to the west by the long wooded ridge of the Sieben Berge, a line of hills that gives the area its horizon, and to the east by the low plateau around Hildesheim. In the fields you see sugar beet, wheat and rape, with the occasional church spire or farm cluster. The river itself is slow and tree-lined, and a footpath follows it for a long way. A short walk along the bank clears the head and gives a view of ducks and herons.
The roads that leave Elze toward the hills are a pleasant relief after the straight roads of the valley. They climb through beech woods in gentle bends, with the surface mostly smooth and the traffic light. In autumn the leaves lie thick on the corners, and in winter frost lingers in shaded sections. Weather comes from the west and can change fast, so keep a layer handy. The region is not famous for dramatic scenery, but it is a quietly attractive stretch of countryside, with small villages, old churches and half-timbered farms.
If you need more than fuel, Alfeld and Gronau, a few kilometres away, offer more choice, and Hildesheim, about twenty kilometres to the northeast, has a famous old centre and a cathedral with a thousand-year-old bronze door. But if all you want is a full tank and a coffee, Elze is the place. Do the checks on tyres and chain while the pump runs, and take the chance to stow the jacket liner. The morning light on the river is a decent consolation prize for such a practical stop.