Grand Tour de Öffentliche Verkehrsmittel Stage 51/59 – Düppel

Date	21.06.2020
Strava Activity	https://www.strava.com/activities/3649155668
Bike	Flash
Distance in km	75.9
Elevation in m	216
Amount of newly ridden kms from wandrer.earth	15.8

Blood glucose values throughout Stage 51 of the Grand Tour de Öffentliche Verkehrsmittel

Nadja and I had breakfast plans with a friend of ours, which led to a free afternoon where I could complete another Stage of the Grand Tour de Öffentliche Verkehrsmittel. We cycled to a Cafe in Westend where I fuelled up with some tasty bircher müsli and scrambled eggs. I injected a reduced amount of bolus insulin for this pretty large breakfast since I would be cycling for a few hours.

By the time it was time to leave, my blood glucose was very high so I really needed to start cycling and hope that the exercise would lower my blood glucose levels. I headed out towards Fehrbelliner Platz for the start of the 115 bus route. The whimsical U-Bahn station at Fehrbelliner Platz really stood out – especially during this Stage, since I would be passing through the richer parts of Berlin!

From Fehrbelliner Platz, the 115 used the Hohenzollerndamm road to get to Clayallee. Clayallee is named after the American General Lucius D. Clay, who orchestrated the Berlin Airlift between 1948-1949. Clayallee runs parallel to the huge Grunewald forest and passes through the heart of the former American sector of Berlin. The large US Embassy (separate from the one near Brandenburger Tor) is appropriately on Clayallee as well.

The 115 bus continued into the central part of Zehlendorf and here I noticed the large Zehlendorfer Eiche (Zehlendorf Oak). This protected tree was planted in 1871 to commemorate the first year after the Franco-Prussian War. A magnificent tree indeed and the bus stop nearby is named after it!

Former Dreilinden Border Crossing at the Autobahn

The final stretch of the 115 bus route ran parallel to the train tracks along which the S1 trains run from Stage 49. The 115 bus route terminates at Neuruppiner Straße which is right on the border of Berlin and the town of Kleinmachnow in Brandenburg.

My blood glucose was still very high at this point, despite the cycling, so I injected one unit of bolus insulin to help bring it down. I cycled through the Düppel forest towards the Potsdam train station. Before I crossed the Autobahn, which cuts through the Düppel forest, I passed the Panzerdenkmal (Tank Monument). During the Cold War, the Americans placed a tank on top of a concrete pedestal overlooking Checkpoint Bravo – one of the major transit points between East Germany and West Berlin. After reunification, the tank was removed and now a pink snow loader is there instead!

Graffiti on the ruins of the Stammbahn / Main Railway

After crossing over the Autobahn, I explored the Düppel forest some more and came across the remains of the Stammbahn (Main Railway). This was the first railway built in Prussia and connected Berlin to Magdeburg. As this railway line cut across East Germany and West Berlin, its use was phased out and now it is left to nature. Part of a railway bridge and nearby walls are full of great street art – a great combination of urban meeting rural!

Once I reached the Potsdam station, my blood glucose was doing much better. I ate an energy bar to help fuel the rest of the Stage. Potsdam station was the start of the N13 night bus service between Potsdam and Teltow.

The N13 route headed through the Babelsberg district of Potsdam along Großbeerenstraße. The Babelsberg film studios where many famous films were filmed (such as Metropolis) are in the area. The N13 then passed through the Stern district (Star district) before using the expressway towards the town of Stahnsdorf. Cycling is forbidden on this road, so I used a trail that runs parallel to the expressway.

The N13 route crossed the Teltowkanal (Teltow Canal) along the Kleinmachnower Schleuse (Kleinmachnow Lock) and headed towards central Kleinmachnow. The bus route crossed the Teltowkanal again just after the Machnower See (Machnow Lake) and through the old town of Kleinmachnow.

Teltow is just down the road from Kleinmachnow and the N13 bus headed through Teltow towards the Teltow Stadt (Teltow City) train station. This is the train station with the cute mini-S-Bahn and mini-bus benches outside from which the S-Bahn trains depart. I was here for the S26 in Stage 18 and S25 in Stage 41.

Teltow building near Rammrath Brücke / Rammrath Bridge

I made my way towards the Rammrath Brücke (Rammrath Bridge) for the start of the X10 bus route. I cycled through some lovely fields and passed lots of horses too. Quite a few people were out enjoying the lovely nature in this area.

The X10 bus route is an express bus route between Teltow and the Zoologischer Garten station in central Berlin. The route started by heading through Teltow before crossing the Teltowkanal and heading into the Schönow district of Zehlendorf in Berlin.

From here the X10 route made a beeline through Zehlendorf along Clayallee similar to the 115 bus route from earlier. On the way to Kurfürstendamm, the X10 route passed along the impressive Qatari embassy. Just before I reached this, my CGM was alerting me that my blood glucose was a bit low. I took on a gel to boost the blood glucose for the final stretches of this Stage.

The final stretch of the X10 route was along Kurfürstendamm, I had a great time cycling here. Since it was Sunday, the traffic was not as congested as on a weekday so cycling in the bus lane (which doubles as the bike lane) was speedy and lots of fun! The X10 turned on Joachimsthaler Straße towards the bus terminus at Zoologischer Garten and that was the end of that route.

I cycled the short distance home along the Landwehrkanal (Land Army Canal) where a lovely coffee made by Nadja was awaiting me. I was feeling pretty tired after this Stage. I think my blood glucose ups and downs plus not properly resting during the night (due to CGM alarms) caught up with me. I hope to rest properly in time for the next Stage – especially since the end of the Grand Tour de Öffentliche Verkehrsmittel is in sight!