The northern fringe of Hannover is where the city gives up and the Wedemark begins, and the landmarks that matter are small. Isernhagen and Langenhagen sit side by side, the first a strung-out village-suburb with a great many gardens and horse paddocks, the second a proper town that happens to host the city's airport. The sandy soil is why pine and birch woods start creeping in as you head north.
The riding that follows is a calm and steady introduction to the Lüneburg Heath region, with long, gently curving roads through fields and forest, the occasional oak avenue and plenty of horses in the paddocks. It is easy cruising rather than a technical challenge. Traffic is heavier near the city and the airport, and you will meet cyclists on the lanes in summer, but the further north you go the quieter and more rural the roads become. Weekday mornings are good; Sunday afternoons can get busy with people heading out to the heath.
Isernhagen has a distinct history as farming land with large estates, and the area is known for asparagus in late spring, which German restaurants celebrate fanatically between April and June. If you see a roadside stand with white spears and a handwritten sign, it is worth a stop. The soil here suits it. Langenhagen gives you everything practical: fuel, supermarkets and cafes, and with fifty thousand inhabitants it will have what you need. Hannover's centre, with its cultural quarters and the huge city forest of the Eilenriede, lies about twelve kilometres south, but this edge of town is better suited to a quick coffee than a long visit.
The beauty of starting here is the speed with which the landscape opens. You can be among pines and heather within half an hour, with the sandy tracks and low sunlight that make northern Germany special in the early autumn, when the heather turns purple. The air has a resinous, dusty smell on a warm day, and the wind brings that mix of grass and diesel that belongs to every flat country. Check your fuel before leaving; the first few villages are small, and the roads toward the heath are quiet in every sense.