The feeling when arriving after a tough day's cycling is great. I guess it is what motivates people to do run or ride long distances. It is a potent cocktail of adrenaline, relief and achievement.
It also helps when the place is as nice as Wernigerode. The castle looks over the cobbled old town filled with cafes and restaurants. Stassfurt had similar looking streets but a run down feel to it. People wanted to be here.
Going towards the first stop it started entering the highlands. It climbs about 80m up from Stassfurt, which is only about 40m above sea level. It also becomes undulating - a tough proposition with panniers.
The reward is more interesting towns, most of which have castles and old towns. Wernigerode is certainly the highlight of them, but Thale and Blankenburg are nice. Thale had a cable car and the road I took seemed to wind its way up the hills.
Sadly Germany has been a bit of a disappointment for the quality of the R1. They've put a lot of though into making sure it goes through interesting places - in contrast to Poland - but some of the paths are poor. One of them was not really suited for a hybrid, even though mine is set up towards the mountain bike end of the spectrum. They have also hidden signs behind hedges, while at Concordia am See the path goes round in a ridiculous circle. With the hills, a lot of wind and missed sign posts the 96.5km on the calculator worked out a lot more. And my body is feeling it too.
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