Steffen Albrecht

One-way from Norderstedt-Mitte (outbound U1), Sunny but a nasty chilly headwind almost all the way. Lots of nature and quiet back-country roads, mostly even paved. Also some decidedly trashy areas with run-down shacks and discarded furniture etc. along the road, particularly close to the airport.

There is a surprising amount of really remote-feeling, quiet nature on the rims of this posh city quarter. :-)

Another one-way, taking the U1 and A2 to Ulzburg-Süd and returning home by bike. Started with nice weather and few people in the picturesque Oberalsterniederung, but then for the second half the sky turned grey, there was a nasty head wind (just my luck to have a rare SE wind when I'm going SE ...), I had to ask groups of people to let me by like every 50 m, and besides, the paths felt very bumpy with tree roots or stones, maybe only because I had topped up the air in my tires just before this trip. Anyway, in good weather this might still be a nice route, maybe except the Tangstedter Forst being one of those boring collections of rectangular pine stands.

Quiet country lanes, some even closed for motorcars, forest trails, and some more cycle paths on former railway rights-of-way. Took the U1 to Großhansdorf and returned by bike swinging round the Großensee which however has no particular characteristics that would recommend it as a destination (honestly, in spite of its name, literally signifying "The Big Lake", it's not even particularly big).

This time I took the train on the outbound leg so to have the stressful part behind me once I started biking. Saw a lot of really peaceful, nearly car-free hinterland that made me quite forget I was still in a city of 2 million. Returned through in a different way also very peaceful Rothenburgsort - picturesque (read, shabby) small industrial/commercial areas which felt like time had stopped in the 1970s ...