Erfurt cycling ring

You can use the downloaded gpx track to navigate the route on your cell phone or navigation device. And then have fun riding down the Erfurt Radring!

A section of the Erfurt cycling ring 

Four fundamental questions

We drove around the Erfurt cycling ring . That means: 110 kilometers that go around Erfurt. But there are 125 kilometers that we rode on a racing bike and a vintage mountain bike.

This extra mileage has to do with the first question when driving on the cycle ring: Where do I start?

Not everyone in Erfurt lives in Stotternheim, Rockhausen or Wandersleben. The path leads through there - it is rather rare in the Erfurt city area.

So it makes perfect sense to take the train from the main station to, for example, Stotternheim. You can also take your bike to Hayn in the car…

...be brought where it will be ready for the journey home after the circumnavigation.

The 110 kilometers to the journey home may not be tempting for all cyclists. And so we come to the second question: Do I want to ride the cycling ring in one day?

Erfurt city center is sometimes only a few kilometers away.

At such points the tour can be interrupted for an indefinite period of time and the ring can be experienced “in portions”.

We answered these questions for ourselves like this: By bike to Kühnhausen and ride the route in one day.

From Kühnhausen it goes over the Alperstedter Ried on tarred paths to the Schwanensee forest area. Here we encounter forest, mud and cobblestone paths.

Time for a third question: Which bike should I use to ride the Erfurt cycle ring?

Our answer: With the gravel/cross bike. Our old mountain bike didn't do badly, but was clearly inferior to the racing bike on the tar sections. These make up a large part of the route, but: There are paths that are almost impossible to ride on a racing bike:

So the classic racing cyclist should try out a different bike if he wants to circumnavigate Erfurt on this route. The following applies to e-bikes: the wider the tires, the easier it is to overcome the few difficult sections.

We continue happily on our unequal wheels on beautiful paths and slowly get hungry on the climb to Eichelborn. Here…

...the cyclist doesn't get there so easily. Therefore question number four: How would I like to eat on the go?

There are a few inns or supermarkets on the route. We have food with us, which we fill up in a supermarket in Neudietendorf. But this doesn't work on Sundays and public holidays. If you want to be on the safe side, you should take everything you need for such a tour with you.

Waymarks enrich the tour experience

Before Klettbach we reach the highest point of the route and from Schellroda we go through a real forest. From Bechstedt-Wagd, wonderful views of the Thuringian Forest open up.

Before Kirchheim the first and only problem was with the signage. Either it doesn't exist or we overlooked it. Otherwise, the Erfurt cycling ring is very well signposted. The stylized red wheel with the signature “Radring Erfurt” shows the way.

This photo shows another special feature of the wheel ring. There are 25 plaques along the way, which are the responsibility of the Thuringian Farmers' Association. Information is provided there about various aspects of agriculture around Erfurt. Sometimes it's about potatoes, sometimes it's about honey bees, but there is always a map with the current position on the back.

These waymarks enrich the tour experience with knowledge and information about the work of farmers as producers of local food. We liked it.

After a break in Wandersleben, the westernmost point of the route, we head north. Shortly before Alach there is another view of the Inselsberg - in the sunset:

But sunset also means soon twilight and darkness. We've been traveling for almost seven hours at this point. After climbing 920 meters in altitude, we look forward to the descent to Tiefthal.

Via Elxleben we then reach the starting point of our tour around Erfurt on the Radring. After 117 kilometers, 110 of them on the cycle ring, there are now only seven kilometers left to return to the city:

Conclusion:

The Erfurt cycling ring is great. The route is well thought out and varied. The 25 panels give the whole thing a deeper meaning in addition to the sporting challenge.

A special aspect: As a resident of the city of Erfurt, your view of what surrounds it expands - a beautiful cultural landscape with many nice villages.