Springe is the small, practical town at the foot of the Deister, the long wooded ridge that rises southwest of Hanover and gives the city its nearest bit of real hill country. It is not a place most people plan a day around, and that is fine. It is where the plain ends and the hills begin, and the first sign of that is a sudden change in the road, from straight and flat to curving and shaded.
The town does have one thing of real interest, the Saupark. It is a huge enclosed hunting forest on the edge of town, created in the seventeenth century by the dukes of Hanover and known as one of the oldest of its type in Germany. Wild boar, red deer and even bison have lived there, and part of it is now a wildlife park you can walk through. There is something quietly impressive in the idea that rulers once ordered a whole forest to be fenced so that they could chase animals inside it in comfort.
As a fuel stop, Springe is useful and uncomplicated. It has almost thirty thousand people, a number of petrol stations along the main roads, supermarkets and a modest old centre with a few half-timbered houses and bakeries. If you are coming from Hanover, this is the last easy place for fuel before the hills, and the road south from here toward Bad Münder and the Süntel region is where the riding begins to get better. Riders heading for the Weser valley use it the same way.
A few small practical things. Traffic can be heavy at commuting times because Springe is within easy reach of Hanover, so aim to be through before eight in the morning or after nine. Weekends in good weather bring walkers to the Deister car parks, and cyclists on the quieter lanes. Take a minute to look at the ridge when you leave: its wooded line runs straight along the horizon and tells you where the land has been squeezed upward by something older and bigger than anything the dukes ever built.