First we roll into Fleckenberg in. A place straight out of a picture book. Half-timbered houses and farmhouses with slate roofs, flowers in front of the windows and in the gardens, lined with neatly trimmed hedges. No wonder that Fleckenbergthat the upper Lenne Valley has been one of nine national winners in the competition "Our village should be more beautiful Werden" in the Schmallenberg Sauerland and in the vacation region Eslohe is. A Golddorf in other words. Seven such villages Werden are passed along the 50-kilometer route. One more beautiful than the next. "It takes 10 years of work before a village can even receive such an award," explains Georg Fabri. "Today, however, the committee no longer judges the appearance alone, Sondern also how cohesive the village is. That's why the competition is now called "Our village has a future". This can only be created together Werden."

What is striking is that people greet us in a friendly manner everywhere, even though we often "only" look at the villages from the saddle. This is probably partly due to Georg Fabri, who leads the group and waves to the people in the gardens to the left and right. In his main job, he is responsible for the city's Schmallenberg network, he is known here like a sore thumb, as he says himself.

From Fleckenberg it goes over Lenne and Wulwesort back to Schmallenberg through the spa gardens and on to Grafschaftthe first Golddorf in the region. Now we tackle the first ascent up to Blinker, an installation of the 23.4-kilometre-long WaldSkulpurenWeg between Schmallenberg and Bad Berleburg. Fortunately, we have an electronic tailwind. We cycle easily and smoothly up the mountain - and Werden are also rewarded with a fantastic view of the landscape. In Oberkirchen we circle the Hermannsteich pond and settle down at Biergarten the Droste inn. The first rest stop! The rustic house has been family-owned for 200 years. In the kitchen, Georg Droste cooks traditional Sauerländer specialties - using only ingredients from the region. Today we are having potthucke, a typical casserole dish made from potatoes, eggs, cream and bacon. Because the mixture tends to stick to the bottom, Sauerländer call it Potthucke: "What's stuck in the pot". It is served with ham and cheese. A Pilsner with it - great. But not too much, otherwise we won't be able to continue. Via the Kalte Kirche, a beautiful nature reserve, we continue to Westfeld at the foot of the Kahler Asten. Here, Nikola Schneider has fulfilled her dream of opening a small café - in the village's former bakery. The Café Backes is definitely a place to linger. But as we have more on our list of things to see today on the Culinary Golddorf cycle route, we are served her guests' favorite cake: a yeast cake with fruit and thick crumble - and a cup of coffee, of course. Our guide tells us about the country and its people and gives us tips for other places to stop for refreshments and regional specialties. We'd need big saddlebags on our bikes to take it all with us! We let it go - down into the Lenne valley and over Winkhausen into the lovely Sorpetal. Here we stop at farmer Stefan Belke, who has a regional cheese dairy make delicious cheese with a natural rind from the good meadow milk from his cows. We really need it now, because if you believe the French, it closes the stomach. From Fabri's home town, we head to the next Golddorf Niedersorpewhere a culinary hike takes place every two years on Whit Sunday. Even Georg Fabri has now turned red in the face, even though riding an e-bike is easy for him. "I like hiking too, but I'm simply quicker on my bike. Our region is made for cycling. Great routes, wonderful viewpoints and cultural treasures. I just love to show them off and I really enjoy interacting with people, Woll." We have noticed that. Unfortunately, our culinary journey through the Schmallenberger Sauerland has already come to an end - at the ice cream parlor in town. We return the bikes there. Should we go on? Just one scoop perhaps? It might just fit on top, like the cherry on top of the cream.