Grand Tour de Öffentliche Verkehrsmittel Stage 58/59 – All the Muggles

Date	17.07.2020
Strava Activity	https://www.strava.com/activities/3775630052
Bike	Flash
Distance in km	113.7
Elevation in m	298
Amount of newly ridden kms from wandrer.earth	32.8

Blood glucose values throughout Stage 58 of the Grand Tour de Öffentliche Verkehrsmittel

It was time for the penultimate Stage of the Grand Tour de Öffentliche Verkehrsmittel! I was keeping an eye on the weather forecast and due to some upcoming stormy weather, I decided to shift this Stage a day earlier than originally planned. I was expecting some rain towards the end of the Stage so I took a rain jacket with me. Turns out I was pretty lucky and missed most of the heavy rainfall, so this was well planned!

Before heading out, I had my usual breakfast of porridge and coffee and did the usual reductions in basal and bolus insulin in preparation for the Stage. I was hoping for a better time than the previous Stage, where I had to constantly eat to keep my blood glucose within a safe range!

I cycled towards the Märkisches Museum, which is a museum in central Berlin portraying the history of the city, for the start of the 165 bus route. This bus route essentially followed the path of the river Spree towards the district of Köpenick.

Schlesischer Busch Grenzturm / Border Tower

Just before getting to Treptower Park, I came across one of the few remaining border towers located in the Schlesischer Busch, a small park next to the Landwehrkanal (Land Army Kanal). I then cycled along the bumpy cycle path parallel to the B96a, one of the very trafficky main roads through Berlin.

Once past the Schöneweide station, the 165 bus route headed through the Niederschöneweide district towards the Lange Brücke (Long Bridge) and the old town of Köpenick. The only previous time during the Grand Tour that I was in this part of Niederschöneweide was during Stage 8 covering the S47 route.

The final section of the 165 bus route was through the plattenbau apartments of the Salvador-Allende-Viertel (Salvador Allende Quarter) before reaching the Köpenick hospital. The final stop was then at the Müggelschlößchenweg terminus near the Kämmereiheide (Combing Heath).

I checked my blood glucose and decided to eat an energy bar without injecting any bolus insulin. My blood glucose was just about within range but trending downwards, so I opted for the carbs without the insulin. After eating my energy bar, I headed towards the S-Bahn station of Köpenick for the start of the tram 63 route – the final tram route of the Grand Tour!

The tram 63 route headed along Bahnhofstraße (Station Street) towards the old town of Köpenick. Along this street, I had to be careful of pedestrians and people getting on and off the buses and trams. I noticed that a young boy was racing me in a rather dangerous way – by swerving through pedestrians on the pavement, while I was on the bike path.

I didn’t see him again once I reached Dörpfeldstraße, the main street through Adlershof. It had been a while since I cycled on this street, and it hasn’t improved since then. The road surface is not the best, there is no bike path and the tram tracks can make passing parked cars narrower than I’d like. But no issues to speak of and I safely crossed the Adlergestell road, under the train tracks at the Adlershof S-Bahn station, and could use the bike lane on Rudower Straße.

The end of the 63 tram line was on Karl-Ziegler-Straße, near some of the housing built for the students of the large Humboldt University campus nearby. Adlershof was also a major centre of research even back in the 1930s, where a lot of flight research took place. The Aerodynamischer Park (Aerodynamics Park) houses the buildings in which this research took place – the Trudelturm (Spin Tower) and the Großer Windkanal (Large Wind Tunnel).

With the final tram route of the Grand Tour complete, I cycled towards the U-Bahn station of Elsterwerdaer Platz for the next bus route – the 169 bus. Along the way, I crossed the river Spree using a great bike path on the Wilhelm-Spindler-Brücke (Wilhelm Spindler Bridge) and also cycled through some lovely woods too.

The 169 route headed through Biesdorf and into Kaulsdorf along the same route as the X69 bus from Stage 56. That earlier recon meant I knew what to expect and so I had some fun flying down the well-paved road. This enjoyment came to an abrupt end once I reached the cycle path on Gehsener Straße – this was so bumpy, I could barely sit down!

I followed the 169 bus through Köpenick along Bahnhofstraße once again until turning towards the Salvador-Allende-Brücke to cross the Spree. The 169 bus route made a left turn onto Müggelheimer Damm and used this road to head towards Müggelheim. Again, from Stage 56, I knew this road and that there was a great cycle path, so it was time to throw down the Watts towards Müggelheim.

The final stretch of the 169 route was to turn onto Odernheimer Straße and continue on until the terminus at the end of this road. I continued towards the shores of the Kleiner Müggelsee (Little Müggel Lake) for a longer break.

I bought a coffee and ate an energy bar while enjoying the quieter lake atmosphere than what I experienced during Stage 56. My blood glucose was just about within range so I decided to inject 0.5 units of bolus insulin to cover the carbs I had just ingested.

The final bus route of this Stage was in Neukölln, so I decided to maximise my exploration of the area while generally heading in that direction. The Müggelhort (Müggel Hoard) area is a small area right next to the Kleiner Müggelsee with a ferry connection to reach Rahnsdorf. I then crossed to the other side of the Müggelheimer Damm to head into the Müggelberge (Müggel Mountains).

Conquering the Müggelberg / Müggel Mountain

The trail up the Größer Müggelberg (Greater Müggel Mountain) was pretty rough and rooty – definitely not one for the road bike! But I made it up the highest natural elevation (115 m) in Berlin – the Teufelsberg (Devil’s Mountain) and Arkenberg (Arken Mountain) are higher, but these are not natural elevations.

Further along, there was the Müggelberger Fernsehturm (Müggel Mountain TV Tower) and Sendeanlage (Transmitter). These towers were originally due to be much higher but since they are in the flight path of Schönefeld airport, their height had to be reduced.

The Kleiner Müggelberg (Little Müggel Mountain) was next, the Müggelturm (Müggel Tower) – a popular lookout tower – is found here. The original wooden structure burned down in 1958 and the current tower was erected after an architectural competition. The road up the Kleiner Müggelberg is doable by road bike despite the road surface not being the best.

After these Müggel explorations, I was back in Köpenick and ready to get to Neukölln. Grey clouds were everywhere but it hadn’t rained properly yet – I don’t really count the drops that fell when I was in Baumschulenweg.

The Neuköllnische Brücke (Neukölln Bridge) was the starting point of the 370 bus route – one of the cute minibus routes! This cute route shuttled between the industrial area around the Neuköllnische Brücke and the S- and U-Bahn station of Hermannstraße. A total length of just over 2 km for the 370 bus!

Kirche am Südstern / Church at the South Star

This was the final route of the Stage so I headed back home. Along the way, I passed two very impressive churches near Südstern (South Star). Definitely feels like they were competing! It was only once I reached Großer Stern (Large Star), that the rain really started. I put on the rain jacked as it was really pelting down. I definitely got lucky with the weather during this Stage! The weather for the final Stage should just be sun though – a great way to finish this Grand Tour.