It had been a while since I cycled the whole day, mainly because it had been too cold to do so in winter/early spring. Berlin’s April weather has been whimsical, to say the least. One morning it snowed, and a few hours later the ground was completely dry you wouldn’t be able to tell what just happened. I suspect that the newly-blooming crocuses and daffodils even get confused by the erratic changes. Most of the time, though, the air is still quite chilly so I’m thankful for the tiniest glimpse of the sun.
On Good Friday (at least the first half of it), the weather was unusually friendly, which means it was time to get on the saddle! From Friedrichshain in the eastern part of Berlin, J and I cycled across the city to Heiligensee in the north, where we agreed to meet a couple of friends there for a bike trip. Our route was a 40 km scenic loop along a section of the former Berlin Wall, River Havel, Lake Tegel, and the edges of Spandau and Tegel forests.
Because the ride from our place to Heiligensee alone took us more than 1.5 hours, we got hungry shortly after leaving Heiligensee. Luckily there’s a lovely spot to sit by the lake and enjoy the food we brought from home (dining in restaurants is still not allowed at the time of writing).
At 40 km long, this route is perfect for a day trip. You leave Berlin for a short distance to Hennigsdorf in the Oberhavel district of Brandenburg, but you quickly find yourself back in Berlin where the Wall used to stand. Komoot classified the route as “difficult”, but I think it’s just because you might need to push your bike where the bridges are (I did twice). The terrain itself is typical of Berlin and Brandenburg: mostly paved and flat.
The view along the Oder-Havel canal is quite a treat. Given it was a sunny day, we met plenty of pedestrians, roller bladers, and fellow cyclists along the way.
As mentioned earlier, there a number of bridges to cross; I remember at least four. Here’s a shot of the Havel taken from one of them, the Aalemannkanalbrücke in Berlin-Spandau.
Most of the bridges have metal barriers on either ends which can be tricky to maneuver. They’re a common feature in Berlin, the presumable purpose of which is to slow down cyclists or make us walk the bikes so that we don’t crash into other bridge users. And oh, to pass the bridge over Lake Tegel (Tegeler See) you actually have to push your bike along the ramp or carry it up and down the stairs. The other barriers through I which I decided to push my bike was on the Saatwinkler Steg, I think.
We were surprised to see so many new housing developments by the waters in Spandau, which apparently have been driving up property prices there.
Come afternoon, the sky gradually turned grey and the wind blew more aggressively. We stopped for refreshments at a snack bar in Saatwinkel (the boys were thrilled to have found tap beer) and then for a quick break by Lake Tegel.
By the time we returned to Heiligensee, I knew we wouldn’t have the energy to cycle all the way home, so we took our bikes on the S-Bahn and collected our Indonesian food order on the way home. We were grateful to have made this trip on Good Friday because with snow and hail in store, the weather for the rest of the Easter weekend definitely wasn’t the friendliest.
Watch the highlights of our bike ride here.
Distance traveled: 60 km (including 40 km on the Tegeler See – Havelblick loop starting at Heiligensee)
Total ascent: 137 m
Total descent: 137 m
Terrain: mostly paved and smooth
Bike guide for the Tegeler See – Havelblick loop starting at Heiligensee: https://www.komoot.com/tour/339538993
Snack bar: Kiosk im Saatwinkel im Saatwinkel 23, 13599 Berlin
