Day 1 slowly pulls Berlin out of the legs. The route heads south from the inner city through Neukölln, Rudow and the transition zones around Schönefeld, until the city gives way to suburbs, canals and patches of forest. Around Königs Wusterhausen, Brandenburg starts to take over more clearly: lakes, pines, wider tracks and smaller settlements. From there, the line runs through the Dahme-Heideseen corridor, with Groß Köris, Halbe and Märkisch Buchholz as fixed points on the way. The cascade weir adds a brief interruption to the flat profile, before the landscape becomes wetter and more open. Toward Schlepzig and Lübbenau, the Spreewald comes into view: meadows, waterways, bridges and dark tree lines. 94 km, little climbing, but a full shift from city to countryside.
