Grand Tour de Öffentliche Verkehrsmittel Stage 6/59 – Pretty Wood

I was still feeling fresh and motivated after completing Stage 5 of the Grand Tour de Öffentliche Verkehrsmittel so it was time to complete another Stage. This was going to be a shorter Stage, taking in only two public transport routes: the first tram route of the Grand Tour – the M1 from Mitte to Rosenthal Nord – and the 327 bus route from S Schönholz to U Leopoldplatz. 

It was a beautifully mild and sunny day so much so that I had on thinner layers than usual for December riding and even changed from a thin jacket to a gilet at Siegessäule on the way to Am Kupfergraben (the start point for the M1 tram). The M1 route winds its way past Friedrichstraße – where I think Nadja was happy that for once I didn’t stop at Dussmann and spend lots of money at the great English Bookstore – and Oranienburger Straße. The tram then continues up north through Prenzlauer Berg and Pankow before ending in Rosenthal.

There was an interesting choice for a cycle path on Kastanienallee – the tram path doubles as the cycle lane! Granted there’s not a lot of space on this road with parked cars as well as tram tracks on both sides but this is quite a surprising choice since tram tracks are a huge road hazard to cyclists. I speak from personal experience where I was thrown off my bike when my front tyre got caught in tram tracks. I’m sure I’m not the only cyclist who finds them quite perilous so this is indeed a strange choice for a cycle path.

The cycling through Pankow followed many streets that I encountered on the second stage of the Tour de Embassies when visiting the northernmost embassies in Berlin (that would be Kazakhstan, Congo and Togo). I didn’t realise how smooth the cycle paths of Pankow were until I hit Rosenthal where cobbled streets – and large ones too – were the name of the game! The only respite were the pavements which were also a mixture of uneven slabs and flat earth. It was a great relief to finally get to the tram terminus.

I then made my way towards Schönholz via a lovely paved cycle path parallel to the S-Bahn tracks at Wilhelmsruh. There was indeed a pretty wood in this area as well as some well-maintained MTB jumps for the gnarlier cyclists out there. I had a coffee stop and an energy bar just by the starting point of the 327 bus route.

This bus route services an old persons home and a school on some of the quieter side streets in the Schönholz district before following one of the main roads in Reinickendorf (Residenzstraße). The bus route continued south towards Wedding before ending at U Leopoldplatz. 

After completing the 327 bus route, I continued homewards while stopping for some picture opportunities on what turned out to be a lovely day for cycling. I was also very happy with my blood glucose throughout the ride too. I did have to eat a high-carb energy bar before leaving as my blood glucose was a bit too low with the planned cycling. But this energy bar and the one I had at S Schönholz were enough to keep my blood glucose pretty constant and within range.