Why this ride
A 128 km one-way ride from near Nordhausen, about 1 h 42 of riding. The plan has 1 food stop marked.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Kyffhäuser Hairpin Expedition · part 3
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 128 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 42
- Journey
- One way; return travel is separate
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Harz Mountain Route
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 53 km this is Harz Mountain Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 53 km
- Named road
- Harz Mountain Route
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Nordhausen reset stop
Nordhausen is a town of some forty-four thousand people on the southern edge of the Harz, the biggest place for a wide area, and it carries a heavy history that deserves a pause. In the last years of the Second World War the Nazis built a huge underground factory in the nearby Kohnstein hill, where V-2 rockets were assembled by prisoners from the Mittelbau-Dora camp, and thousands died of hunger, disease and brutality. The Dora memorial and museum at the site is a serious, sober place, open to the public. In April 1945 the town itself was destroyed in air raids, and most of the old centre was lost.
Read the complete Nordhausen reset stop write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Nordhausen reset stop is where the day begins. Next is Osterode food stop.
2. Osterode food stop
Osterode am Harz lies on the south-western edge of the Harz mountains, at the point where the hills flatten out into the fields of southern Lower Saxony. It is a practical, friendly town of about twenty thousand people, with fuel, supermarkets and several places to eat, a sensible spot to refuel the bike and yourself.
Read the complete Osterode food stop write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Osterode food stop is where this day stops to eat. Next is Back to Hannover.
3. Back to Hannover
The dot lies south of Hannover in the valley of the Leine, near Sarstedt and Giesen, where the plain of the Hildesheimer Börde begins. This is one of the most fertile regions of Germany, with deep black loess soil that grows wheat, sugar beet and vegetables, and the horizon is a long line of fields, wind turbines and church spires. It is not a place for bends, but for easy kilometres, and it is where the ride, having visited the Kyffhäuser mountains in Thuringia, finds its way home.
Read the complete Hannover write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 128 km.
Leg by leg
Nordhausen reset stop to Osterode food stop
Nordhausen reset stop → Osterode food stop is 53 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Osterode food stop to Back to Hannover
Osterode food stop → Back to Hannover is 75 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.