Leaving Olpe, the route climbs through Griesemert to wooded hills just over 500 metres high. A descent through Oberveischede and Mecklinghausen leads into the Repe valley, then to the Lenne at Borghausen. In the Fretter valley, a former railway line sets a gentler gradient through meadows, villages and wooded slopes. Near Fehrenbracht, the route enters the 689-metre Fledermaustunnel, an old railway tunnel used by bats as a winter roost. Its stone-lined passage cuts through the hillside. Beyond its far portal, the route descends towards Eslohe. It then follows the Wenne through Wenholthausen to its meeting with the Ruhr. At the confluence, the ride turns east along the Ruhr, following the river upstream into the centre of Meschede.
