Adventure Bike Rider Forum

2018 Black Forest vacation.

Day 1, 14/06/18 Thursday.
Decided on a homemade GPS for this trip.

Today was a work day but I decided to do the first leg and set off at 1545 and headed to Dover after lots of hugs and kisses good bye. We‘d woken up a bit hungover to stormy, wet and windy weather and remembering how cold I’d gotten on Dartmoor I dressed right up in waterproofs and jumper, and set off in the baking sunshine sweating but sure it would pay off. It didn’t and I cooked all the way to Reading where I had a coke and cereal bar. I finally gave in at Clacket lane and took my jumper off and swapped to summer gloves. At about 2000 I arrived at Eurotunnel and paid £85 for a whole new exciting experience. It was a little underwhelming. The train looks like a tin shed.
Not pretty.

I was boarded straight away even after a cursory bag search. The train is really long and ride through it which is cool, also you don’t have to ratchet your bike down, just park it in gear. We set off and found there was no toilet available (or food) but a member of staff unlocked a door so we could have a wee.
My phone worked all the way through which was miraculous! I booked the Calais IBIS budget en route and when I disembarked it was a 5 minutes to get there. It’s an unmanned hotel so the door to the room has a keypad rather than a key. In and changed and I went looking for dinner. MacD and every other place was closing so after much walking I ended up in the proper IBIS with a beer and a bowl of crisps. I got to catch up with Charlotte and headed to my budget room with some vending machine cake. I packed for tomorrow and watched French TV. Travel time 6 hours. Distance 239 miles.

Day 2, 15/06/18 Friday. Sunny all day.
Woke at 0430 and thought I’d not get back to sleep again, checked clock at 0730 so extra 3 hours! Cereal bar, water and some stretches and I was off. Got straight on the A26 toll road but needed fuel, left and found a village petrol station, went in to find half of it was a pub! Two people were in there drinking at 0900! Do French people wake up and think ‘Hmm, what shall I do this morning? I know I’ll go for a 9am glass of wine at the petrol station’!! Onwards and a few hours passed with an audio book by Bear Grylls about hunting Nazis and I stopped for second breakfast at a service station and caught up with Charlotte. Ever onward and my new regime of stopping every hour or so for a stretch helped me stay fresh all day. Today I got my clothes just right: merino, jacket, jeans and WP. By 1400 I pulled into Vitry -Le-F and wander around a super market being indecisive. Got sausages, spuds, cheese, wine and beer.
Why can't we have such nice tomatoes?

Left town, returned for fuel and left town again. Rode through the country and Tudor villages until I arrived at this lake. It has a massive casino for some reason.

French customer service:
Yesterday no one would serve me food and it was clear no one cared. Today I arrive at the campsite and I had to wait 5 minutes for the guy to write a text message before he would help. Pricks.

Got to camp and have a little area to myself, pitched then went to the lake in my swim kit. It has a 400m beach and the water was super warm. Had a great long swim and a bit of a run, it was super. The water had the occasional swan feather on it, you couldn’t see them unless you were swimming and then you could see thousands, very cool optical illusion. Back to camp for a bit of reading and chilling and dinner and a lot of mosqitos. Drank the beers and the wine and was asleep before 2200.
Mini trangias are so good for camp dinners.

Travel time 7 hours. Distance 260 miles.

Day 3, 16/06/18 Saturday. Sunny all day.

Woke around 0230 and I’m not sure I slept after that. Gave up trying at 0600 and had a super long hot shower. This is weird: in France you can get great showers, washing up area and laundry area but you don’t get handsoap or loo roll. It was lucky I pinched one from the hotel. For breakfast I had cheese, banana and cereal bar + black tea. A lad came over and begged to borrow my soap which became my (rather reluctant) good deed of the day and as I was sat surrounded by mossies I packed and was on the road by 0800.
A lovely pitch.

The first 100km flew by and I stopped for fuel, a coffee and a chat with Charlotte. The next 100km also flew by and I stopped at an ‘Aire’ for lunch. They are picnic areas off main roads built specifically for picnics and for truckers to sleep in, sometimes they have toilets but never shops. In the UK they would each have a butty wagon at least. The third leg of the day saw the scenery go from flat farmland to hills and forest and I went through some huge tunnels. I crossed the Rhine and stopped for fuel and realised I was in Germany at last. German services are nicer than French and it was immediately apparent that Germany is a lot richer than France. The cars became sleek new German Saloons rather than old French bangers and the speed went up too (not for me though, a 250 has its limitations!).
I passed through Freiburg which looks lovely and has a big castley civic building and headed into the Black Forest. A great road with some massive hairpins got me up to Titisee and on my third attempt I found the road the right road to camp. I arrived and 1400 and tried to book in in German but it was hopeless. I found a pitch, put my tent up and and swam in the lake then went for another excellent shower. I had a quick nap then went to the shop on site for supplies.


What a beauty.

The guy running the shop is the most German looking man I’ve ever seen. Ate the lot with a can of sardines and a cup of coffee and sat looking over the lake with a beer. Everyone camping in France and Germany has a tablecloth, even if they don’t have a table! Travel time 7 hours. Distance 216 miles.

Day 4, 17/06/18 Sunday, Father’s Day. Sunny almost all day.
Woke about 0500 after a good sleep and went for a shower and had some tea, got some rolls, eggs and jam from the shop for breakfast which was lovely. Sat reading by the lake until it was time to speak to Dad, Jas, Charlotte and Annabella. That done I geared up for a ride to town. A mile up the road was closed and I turned back the other way which was also closed so I abandoned riding for the day and walked to Titisee. It’s a lovely place next the lake and most of the shops were selling ham, cuckoo clocks, witches and other alpine tat. Right down the main road was a bicycle race which seemed to be a loop of the lake hence being hemmed in. As the clock struck 1200 the race stopped and after a plate of brokwurst and potato I had a radler and wrote postcards. That done I got some fruit from a stall.

I was queuing to pay and I turned round to see a guy picking bananas and I went “oh…”
And the guy spun round looked me in the eye and with a very camp German accent said “Oooh, hello”
To which I continued “… Bananas.”
We both looked away until he had gone.

Fruit purchased I got wine bread and milk and a mystery can of main course for dinner and walked home. Back at camp and I have more space…

Yesterday when I camped I was a plot next to a swiss mobile home. When I met the owner:
Lady “How long are you staying?”
Me “All week, and you?”
Lady staring daggers “Vee are leafing tomorrow. Zere is not enuff spaze”
Nice.

I dropped off my freezer blocks and had a quick swim then had a beer and a roll with jam. Got my bed out and slept in the sun for an hour. Then I had a proper cup of tea – heaven and the sweetest juiciest strawberries €2 for a kilo! Germany were playing Mexico in the world cup and I learned that mobile homes have TVs on brackets that hold them out of the window so you can watch footie from outside. There are a lot of Germans shouting.
My mystery can of food turned out to me bolony which I fried with toms and served with canned veg and a roll and a bottle of wine. I spoke to Charlotte and then it rained so I went to bed. Journey time 5 mins, distance 2 miles.

Day 5 18/06/18 Monday.
Up at 0545 and decided to get the bike looked over at a Honda place about 20 miles away. Shower, banana and water and I was off. The B500 was closed so I headed over a mountain through forests and villages to arrive at St Georgen. The guys there were so helpful and quickly gave the bike a clean bill of health. The sun was shining and all was good so I rode to Triberg, parked and had a coffee and a sugary pretzel. There were three American ladies making a right fuss trying to order, they were shouting ‘Americano’ at the staff (who, having no idea it was a type of coffee, thought the yanks were explaining where they were from). That done I looked in the shops and enjoyed the cuckoos (but not the price tags!).
I set off again heading for two roads I’d seen recommended. Every house in the black forest is big and pretty, the scenery is all grass and pine trees which smell so good. I took the B500 then Almendstraße and turned onto the L93 but it had a closed barrier so I took the logging track to the left, it was awesome off roading (and apparently illegal but I didn't realised at the time) but when I rejoined I met the logging team who were not happy so I turned back and took the long way round and jumped off the B500 onto the L92 which was awesome.
Floating logs at a saw mill.
I am not supposed to be here...

I stopped at a lookout point and watched paragliders taking off. Then I came back on the epic Lierbackstraße and then onto the 28 where I had to do a well dodgy manoeuvre to overtake a lorry on a series of hairpins. Also I thought a hairpin was a crest and carried straight on... If anyone had been coming the other way I would now be dead…
I found a town bakery and got a roll (they only had baloney left) and an ice cream as it was a very hot day and a water and headed back down the hill. It got hotter and later and I was getting really tired.
I had a coke at the House of 1000 Clocks and soldiered onto town where I staggered round a Lidl. Then home for a yogurt, swim, sunbathe, call to Charlotte and book reading. I cooked four quarter pounder burgers and saved one for lunch, had a beer and went to bed.
Ride time 11 hours. Distance 208 miles.

Day 6 19/06/18 Tuesday.
Woke at 0755 still very sleepy, woke up enough to speak to Charlotte and thin showered and had yoghurt, banana, pain au chocolate and tea. Made a plan and set off south. At the end of the road is an extremely convenient Lidl and I joined the B500 heading south, I passed Schluchsee lake and carried on along until the Black Forest became fields, over a hill and below you could see a vast valley with a nuclear power station in the middle. I’ve never seen one from that angle before. It was pretty cool. Down the hill to Waldshut and to a bank. It was a lovely city. Off to the twisties I went to Weilheim, then up a valley to Ühungren on a great road and on to the Rothaus brewery for a look round.
It was nice and clean (like everywhere) from there to Schluchsee as it was so warm. Found a little beach with a boatboat hire place, had a coke and chat with the owner who was a) Nice, and b) Lonely. I think I was the only person he had seen all day. I got to dive off his jetty and had a good swim. Dressed and back to camp about 1430, I had lunch and a beer and sunbathed and read my book (King Solomon’s Mines).
Waiter "Can I sprinkle some of this onto your pasta sir?
... "Thanks but I'll stick to the black pepper"...
I had a big can of pasta and meatballs for dinner, spoke to Charlotte, drank some beer and went to bed and finished my Bear Grylls audio book.
Ride Time 4 hours, Distance 64 miles.

Day 7, 20/06/18 Wednesday (I had to check). Sunny all day.
Woke at 0545 with a plan, quick shower + laundry and around 0700 I was on the bike in the lovely sunshine. I headed back up to Eisenback then through some excellent twisty roads to Villingen and then to Rottweil. It never occurred to me they were named for a town. (As I write there is massive Rotty playing fetch with me).
I rode through it and it was the prettiest town I’ve seen with painted building and carved reliefs on the shop fronts.
It was so nice I turned around and, parked and wandered around the market before stopping for a coffee in a café. Back on the road taking the back roads to Scomberg and Balinger and then up to the view point at Raichberg. It was a very hot walk to the observation point but the view of Hohenzollern castle and the land around was amazing. Spoke to Charlotte at the top.

A hot walk back to the bike and five mins in the shade and I retraced my route to the town and on to the castle! It is maybe the prettiest castle I have seen up close (Glamis in Scotland was closed). It's on its own hill and could in a Disney film.
I parked alongside another biker and together Espen and I stowed our stuff and got the bus to the castle. He was a Norwegian teacher travelling to Florence to have a coffee with a friend. We toured the castle with a German language guide which he translated for me…. The 10 minute intro from the lady became “The chandelier weighs 150KG”!
To enter the castle you have to wear slipper overshoes!

We had sausage and chips in the courtyard and headed off our separate ways. I zoomed back on the main roads (two of which we closed!) I got to my nearest Lidl and popped to a posh café for a yummy and boozy Black Forest Gateau.
It was still boiling hot so I grabbed some food and wine and cruised back to camp for a long swim and went for a beer at the bar. Back to the tent for calf steaks, bread and salad, wine and water.

Ride Time 7 hours, distance 154 miles.

Day 8 21/06/18
Woke at 0645 and had breakfast and tea, shower and laundry. Went to get dressed and found my riding top stinking (should have washed it after the walk round the castle), quick wash and peg out ready to go and I was off to the south on the 317. Just before Feldburg there were some temp traffic lights. It looked like the roadworks had smoke but when we passed it was the traffic on the other side. An Astravan was really on fire, its owners were desperately trying to get their camping gear out as the people behind them called out to stop and run. I had to ride to within a few feet of it and was cursing the Audi in front for going so slowly!!
Onwards to Utzenfeld and up the twisty road to Belchen which was very fast and great fun.
Up to Obermunstertal and then right to link up with Schaunsland Strasse, a link road which is closed to bikes at the weekend and for good reason. It was one of the most difficult roads I've ever ridden. Very narrow and with constant blind steep corners. If you met a car on some corners you would fall off as it was too steep to stop! Join the strasse and zoom down to town at light speed, it was awesome. Freiburg is a uni town with trams and plazas like Brugge or Amsterdam and I followed the tram lines into town.