Hannover is one of the most important German cities. Capital of Lower Saxony, its population is just over half a million inhabitants and it hosts important international trade fairs, in a trade fair tradition that had in the EXPO2000 the icing on the cake.
As a result of World War II, the city center was cruelly destroyed. In the years that followed, the car was one of the reference elements for its reconstruction, a way of doing things that changed with the aforementioned EXPO2000, when the mentors of Hannover realized that there were other actors that should be the measure of the city, actors such as people and the bicycle, which over the years has become the queen of travel through the city center.
A club more than a century old
Hannover also has one of the largest cycling clubs in Germany. This is the HRC1912which stands for "Hannoverscher Radsport Club von 1912", in other words, the Hannover Cycling Club, founded in 1912.
More than 100 years after its foundation, the HRC1912 is growing at a rapid pace. Other clubs remained in history that eventually became part of today's HRC1912. "Today we have some 250 members, and we continue to grow"Johannes Gräffe, one of the members of a five-person board of directors whose aspiration is that the club will one day be their job, tells us.
HRC1912 has several sectionsbut they are "the road cycling, leisure cycling and youth training."The most important in terms of number, but not the only ones, as they work with track, cyclocross, gravel and e-Cycling.
"We have up to 50 cyclists riding at our headquarters on the darkest winter days. e-Cycling is here to stay, beyond the influence of the pandemic. There is no club in Germany with so many members in this type of cycling" provides Johannes.
There are so many that their results are growing in the same proportion: "We are represented everywhere in Germany, but also abroad. For example, our cyclist Jonas Bokeloh was world champion June in Ponferrada in 2014. And not only that, we organize major cycling events, among others the oldest race in northern Germany."
Gobik has been wearing HRC1912 for a year now. Johannes tells us their shared story: "Thanks to our sponsor Biketime, a cycling store in Hannover, we met them last year. After a first phone contact our first impression was good".
"Once we saw the samples, it was clear to us. Their clothes are very high quality and reasonably priced. Among our active cyclists, who number more than 150, it is difficult to find someone who is not happy with their new equipment. There are even members who bought clothes from your official store."
Hanover for cyclists
Back to the city where the club is based, "Hannover is located in the north of Germany, in a territory that many people say is flat in appearance. In the center of Hannover you can now travel quite comfortably by bike. There are a lot of bike lanes and above all a lot of parks where you can go super fast."
For training, it's better to get out of the city: "In ten minutes we're in the park thanks to the bike paths parallel to the Leine River, which we have right next to our house. Northern Germany is not very famous for its mountains, but if you go south, you can have some interesting climbs. A about 20 kilometers from the city, we have a mountain, the "Deister", with the most famous slope in northern Germany, the "Nienstedter Pass".
A route to there gives a very decent itinerary, about three hours and about 1000 meters of elevation gain. A return trip can be completed through the parks of Hannover, which have the peculiarity of not having traffic lights.
After all, someone once said that "Hannover is the greenest city in Northern Europe".
