Bicycling in the Münsterland

[Skybird]

I stumbled over this guy at youtube, I do not now him, but b chance he has filmed two of the bicyclce tours that I do frequently over here, almost exactly the same routes that I do sometimes. Münster is famous for its bicycle-friendly infrastructure both in town and in the rural space surrounding it. He did some nice filming there, he does not talk endlessly but sticks to some base info, and shows the beauty of the places, so i thought I share it.








When you leave Münster at North-Wetsern direciton and head for Lengerich, the Teutoburger Wald area and the so-called Osnabrücker and Tecklenburger Land, it all becomes just the more beautiful and romantic, the hilly geography adds a charme and grace to nature and forests and meadows that even the Münsterland cannot keep up with. I yet wait to find a video illustrating the beauty of the South-Western Osnabrücker Land as well.

[Catfish]

Now that's one of your better posts

Nah really, this is nice. Would like to use the bicycle more, but so few time. And it is all so flat around here, no hills or mountains.. was in much better shape when living in Kassel.
But as it is, the three speed two-tonne-felt Raleigh is ok for this terrain, i doubt i could climb any mountain with it..

Actually we are thinking of getting a good bicycle for the wife.. we do not need an e-bike or 'pedelec', a good bicycle would do. I do not like the new ones much though, all with their special equipment mostly by Shimano, and next year new types with new equipment, parts are different and you get no spares.

Back then good equipment was produced by Shimano, Suntour, Stronglight or of course Campagnolo, but new selling policies now dictate "new" bicycle types every year. The more i think about it i guess an older bicycle in good shape would be the best choice

[Skybird]

I have completely unlearned to look down on cyclists using modern equipment this year.

I am thankful for having gotten an ebike early this year, it had me multiplying my outdoor time by several factors. People talking against ebikes probably never have sat on such a funbike. And in the extremely hilly terrain south of Osnabrück, its worth pure gold. But wear and tear on the chain is heavy, I need to replace the chain every 1300 km or so. I also have a second battery, both batteries 500 W/h. I can do the tour Münster-Osnabrück-Münster with all those hills and distances between 120-140km with a power-consummation of around 50-60% of what both batteries can store. Around Lengerich there are climbs with up to 15%, I only see race drivers in training there, MTB cyclists, and ebikes - never a normal bicyycle, although it is a most lovely area. Without an ebike, all these wonderful sights and places would be beyond reasonable reach for me.

I use the Navi a lot, I tracked my tours and also pre-planned them via this site, it is free, the maps can be stored on smartphone and used offline, and the map quality is some of the best out there:

https://maps.openrouteservice.org/di...k1=en-US&k2=km

gpx tracks I establish with this site and then use it with OSMAND on smartphone that is connecte3d to the bike battery. I lived ten years in Osnabrück. But in 3 or 4 months this year I discovered several times as many places and wonderful tours in the Osnabrücker country while coming all the way from Münster, than in all my ten years I lived there. It simply is easier to get an idea where I already have been - and where not.

What else is important? Good saddle (I use a German Terry Fisio GTC Max). Good seat post with good dampening (I recommend by.Schulz, a German company again, and the model G2 of G2LT). Good grips with endbars of a certain kind, to ease stress on the hands and allow relaxing the arms by changing grip, I also have the end bars pointing backwards at me (instead of upwards or to the frint as is usual), so that when I grab them I sit almost straight then, at the rear end of the saddle. If you drive just 30km, all this is not important. If you go over 130 km, all these details grow in importance. I mean endbars not short, but long, bended ones like these, with very good grips (releasing stress on the hands significantly):

https://www.amazon.de/Ergon-Fahrradl...words=ergo+gp5



The seatpost:





Saddle reviews:

https://www.amazon.de/Terry-Figura-C...+fisio+gtc+max


Then, Doc Blue tyre milk by Schwalbe. A reliable pump. A good toolbox able to deal with all screws on the bike and a chain splicer/connector. Schwalbe Marathon tyres. That is my minimum tour equipment for these long distances. Add drinks, half a litre of warm stuff in this cold season, three litres of cold stuff in summer. Appropriate clothing. And in this dark season, good lights. The new B+M battery lamp Ixon IQ premium is fantastic for its size, 100 lux. The lit area is not brighter than a standard 40 Lux light, but it is three times as wide - you do not drive into a black hole when turning left or right, but the road to the side is bright as well, you can see where you are driving into. In the countryside, a very significant advantage, really. I use it additionally to the frame mounted standard lamp, so I have 140 Lux at the front. VERY good. I use an additional backlight as well, clipped to my neck.

A good saddle and dampened seatpost are worth pure gold. If driving long distances like I do, it is stupid to save here. The difference can easily be beyond imagination.

[Skybird]

Did a trip from Osnabrück to Kassel once, with a normal bike. Long time, many years ago, due to invitation by friends of friends of mine. A horrible agony. We had kids with us. It is around 160 km or so, I think even more, but due to the kids it took us 14 hours or so. And at the end the mountains around Kassel, the loooong climb... I was more dead than alive, and I was "entnervt" beyond imagination. The way back I took by trains, my knees both were sore/inflammatory. Missed the first train jump, and the next time I had to switch trains again I learned that the trainw ould not come due to a breakdown. All that with the loaded bike, and hurting knees. That weekend was a nightmare.


Never mention Kassel again.