Great motorcycle roads in Europe: The B500 Black Forest Highway, Germany

 

Living in Europe means we’re spoiled to have some of the best motorbike roads in the world on our doorstep.

Within a few days ride of each other are the glorious mountain passes of the Alps, the Dolomites and the Pyrenees. You could spend months riding these natural wonders and still only scratch the surface of the incredible motorcycling Europe has to offer. Norway anyone?

Living in the UK, my tendency is to hop on a ferry to Calais or Roscoff whenever I have a few days spare and blast through France to the mountains as quickly as toll road speed cameras will allow.

 

 

 

 

While this approach provides the quick adrenaline fix of mountain road riding I’m so desperate for, it means skipping huge swathes of Europe. When time is short, I can swallow the sacrifice, but I have this guilty feeling about not embracing the true spirit of motorcycle touring in Europe by missing so much.

Exploring Europe

And so it was with some satisfaction, I found myself in the German town of Baden-Baden with two weeks off work, ready to ride the iconic B500. OK, to reach the historic spa town, I’d yet again sacrificed exploring the more interesting parts of north-west France, but at least I was discovering more of Germany. Sacrifice is part of short motorbike tours in Europe. There is so much to explore, you have to be a little ruthless with your route and save what you’ve missed for another time.

The typically efficient German name doesn’t do justice to this iconic road which is also known at the Schwarzwaldhochstrasse (I can’t pronounce it either), or the Black Forest Highway. I’d done some research ahead of arriving in the Black Forest, so I’d been assured by motorcycle websites and forums that the 40-mile stretch of the B500 from Baden-Baden in the north to Freudenstadt in the south, is one of the top motorcycling roads in Germany, if not the best.

Once you clear the suburbs of Baden-Baden, you are embraced by long-sweeping curves meandering their way through pine forests and postcard-perfect meadows. The colour green in all its shades is very much a theme of this part of Germany.

Keeping a rhythm

The road’s silky smooth surface allowed my Honda CB500X’s tyres to gorge themselves on the obscene levels of grip on offer as I carved a beautiful free-flowing path through the Black Forest. As the undulating landscape rose, I would unconsciously react with a smooth twist of the throttle to keep up momentum, and then gently roll it forward as the road dipped again.

This wasn’t point and squirt, heart in your mouth mountain road riding. No, the B500 is a road with its own flowing rhythm. Immerse yourself in it and you’ll build up to a zen-like state of man and machine feeling perfectly at one with the road and landscape you travel through.

About 20 miles along the B500 is Mummelsee Lake, an emerald body of water perched 1,000 metres above sea level that was carved out of the earth during the last ice age. Legend says it is inhabited by the King of the Lake and his mermaids who get up to all sorts of mischief at night.

Pedalos and currywurst

By day, it’s the perfect place to stop for food at the lakeside restaurant and take in the panoramic views of the Black Forest from height. If you want to stretch your legs there is a path around the lake or you can rent a pedalo and chill out on the lake water. This can also be good way to escape the tourist hordes that flock to Mummelsee Lake in a gaggle of cars and coaches and descend on the restaurant and souvenir shops.  I wolfed down the German delicacy that is currywurst and high-tailed it away from the crowds.

The incredible riding continued. Sweeping bends were interspersed with tighter, twistier sections and traffic was light. The nature of the road meant overtaking was easy, so everyone could enjoy this magnificent road at their own pace. The more famous stretch of the B500 ends just outside Freudenstadt. However, if you travel 40 or so miles south, it resumes again at Triberg. This quirky town proudly boasts its love for cuckoo clocks at every opportunity and is also home to Germany’s highest waterfall.  I opted to drink a coffee and wonder what had attracted the steady stream of tourists that filled the cuckoo clock and souvenir shops, if they hadn’t come for the brilliant motorbiking.

My ultimate destination was Italy, so I continued on the B500 as it unfolded its way towards the Swiss border. If you’re looking for somewhere to stay along this stretch of the road, I’d recommend the campsite on Lake Schluchsee. It’s a beautiful setting and the showers are some of the cleanest and hottest I’ve experienced while camping.

Sitting at the edge of the silky smooth lake water with a cold beer in hand is the perfect way to end a day of outstanding riding. The B500 is a superb road and well worth adding a day to any road trip in Europe. And the joy of ending it near the Swiss border is that you are only a 100 miles or so away from the Swiss Alps, and the roads aren’t half bad there either!