The southeastern edge of Hannover is where the city dissolves into the villages of the Calenberg land, and the first miles of this ride are a gentle introduction to it. Laatzen, a town of forty thousand, lies three kilometres away, while Pattensen and Hemmingen sit a little further out, each with its own old village heart and a ring of newer houses. The Leine river meanders through the meadows between them, and its floodplain, wide, green and often shrouded in morning mist, gives the district a quiet, watery character that surprises people who only know the city.
Pattensen has the most to see. Its centre keeps a collection of half-timbered houses around an old church, and the little streets are pleasant for a short wander. A hill south of Hannover called the Kronsberg, which was built up for the Expo of the year 2000, carries a row of wind turbines and a model neighbourhood, and from its top you can see the whole plain and, on a clear day, the faint line of the Harz in the south.
Riding here is easy, and the trick is to keep to the small roads. Lanes between the villages are well surfaced, with gentle bends around fields of sugar beet and wheat, small copses and the occasional avenue of old lime trees. The land is almost flat, so there are no climbs and few surprises, but the soil is some of the best in Germany, and the farms look prosperous. Weekend cyclists are common, and the lanes along the Leine are shared with walkers and dog owners.
The first of the proper hills comes after an hour or so, as the road approaches the Deister and the Weser uplands, and it is a good idea to start with a full tank. Hemmingen and Pattensen have stations and bakeries, and Laatzen has everything. A coffee and a roll at a village bakery, and you are away. Check the forecast, because the plain offers no shelter from a sudden squall, and the sky can turn quickly.