Tag Archives: biking

Biking, Germany

On Wuerttemberg’s Weinradweg

 

Wuerttemberg’s Weinradweg (Wine Cycle Route) complements this German state’s long-distance, wine-themed hiking trail, and extends a bit further south as well. When it comes to wine trails, both the hiking trail and this biking trail fall in the category of extensive. I had already hiked, and really enjoyed, parts of the 470 kilometers/292 miles-long hiking trail. I wanted to explore the bike trail as well.

Since I knew I would never complete the whole route, I decided to cover new ground, the area south of Stuttgart, along the Neckar River, one section of Wuerttemberg’s wine country that the complementary hiking route does not reach. Looking at the trail map, it is easy to see that the very first segment lends itself nicely to a circuit route: starting from Rottenburg am Neckar, and going to Tubingen, via the Ammerbuch valley, and returning to Rottenburg along the easy, popular and well-marked Neckar Valley bike trail.

Ducks on the Ammer

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Biking, Germany, Nutshell

Wuerttemberger Weinradweg: Trail in a Nutshell

 

Trail Name: Wuerttemberger Weinradweg

Trail Type: Long distance; well-maintained and almost exclusively paved, marking on the trail very good

Length:

Total – 354 kilometers/219 miles

My segment – 32 kilometers/ 20 miles

Convenient to: Stuttgart, Tuebingen, Rottenburg am Neckar, Germany

Marking: Square metal shield with a white-outlined stylized rider on a bicycle superimposed on a burgundy background

Wuerttemberger Weinradweg Sign

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Biking, Germany

A Spring Warm-Up in the Pfalz

 

Spring blooms relatively early in the southern Pfalz. First, and perhaps the most spectacular of all, are the almond blossoms. Beginning in early March and continuing until mid-April, the profuse, brilliantly pink flowers seen against a cerulean blue sky, are a gorgeous sight. This magnificent spectacle prompted a long-distance hiking trail entitled the Pfaelzer Mandelpfad, or the Pfalz Almond Trail. While I unfortunately arrived just as the pink almond blossoms had faded, I could see the next tree blossoms on deck: the delicately colored white apple tree blossoms.

Apple Tree Blossom

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Biking, Germany, Nutshell

Fassboden 3: Trail in a Nutshell

 

Trail Name:  Fassboden 3

Trail Type: Short distance cycling circuit; well-maintained and on mostly paved surfaces, (with little vehicular traffic along the way). Marking on the trail was good in some areas, albeit with only generic cycling traffic marking, and non-existent in others. (Best to have the free map or the GPX coordinates found at the link below.)

Length:

Total – 23.5 kilometers/14.5 miles

Convenient to: Landau, or Karlsruhe, or Bad Bergzabern, Germany

Marking:

Square signs with a wine barrel and the number 3 inscribed on it. (Colors are green and white; sometimes it is a green background with white design, or otherwise vice versus.)

Trail Signs – with a Fassboden 3 Sign

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Biking, Italy

Cycling Through the Collio Vineyards

 

Slow Collio, “un Paesaggio da Bere” (Slow Collio, a Terrain to Drink). Upon reading the inviting name of this cycling itinerary, two contradictory thoughts came to mind.

First: What a great concept, combining the territory and the wine, all the while promoting the slow enjoyment of both; and then, in my experience hills and drinking wine could present a cycling challenge.

Then: the fact that the word “Collio” implies hills, which gave me, a not-so-fit wine enthusiast, a moment of sober reflection, before my enthusiasm for being outdoors, and visiting wineries to taste local wines kicked back in.

Friuli, in Northeastern Italy

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Biking, Italy, Nutshell

Gorizia a Cormons: Trail in a Nutshell

 

Trail Name: Gorizia a Cormons (AKA: Slow Collio, Un Paesaggio da Bere)

Trail Type: Short distance cycling circuit (with a short tail from Gorizia); about half on lightly travelled paved roads through and between towns, and half on improved earthen trails through countryside, mostly in a protected nature zone; well maintained, but the route itself is well-marked in places, but not in others.

Length: 23 kilometers/ 14.3 miles

Convenient to: Udine, Gorizia, Italy

Marking: FVG3 and Slow Collio.

Signage For Part of the Trail

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Biking, Switzerland

The Other Rhone Vineyards

 

Rhone vineyards and their wines are famous throughout the world: Chateauneuf du Pape, Hermitage, Condrieu, Cote Rotie, etc. But the Rhone River begins in Switzerland, not France, and that was where I recently biked part of the Chemin du Vignoble, or the Trail of the Vineyards, following the Rhone River Valley vineyards in Switzerland’s French-speaking Canton of Valais.

The Rhone Valley

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Biking, Nutshell, Switzerland

Chemin du Vignoble: Trail in a Nutshell

 

Trail Name: Chemin du Vignoble

Trail Type: Long distance, two-stage bike trail from Martigny to Leuk (aka Loeche), in the Valais Canton in Switzerland; well-maintained and almost exclusively paved, but marking on the trail can be problematic in places.

Length:

Total – 83 kilometers/ 51.5miles

Stage One – 36 kilometers/22.4 miles

Stage Two – 47 kilometers/29 miles

Convenient to: Martigny, Montreux, or Sion, Switzerland

Marking: Red stylized grapes with 72 in white, on a blue square, on a red arrow.

Trail Signage

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Biking, Germany

Tavern Touring

 

I must confess: I was not looking forward to this bike ride. It is not in a well-known wine area; actually, it’s not in a well-known area, period. The day was overcast and seemed to threaten rain. Once on the ground though, my mood improved, and kept improving as the miles sped by. (Or in some cases, crept by, as this is a hilly area to traverse on bicycle, the steep, hill-without-end between Grossvillars and Sternenfels coming to mind.)

Sternenfels – Church and Castle

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Biking, Germany, Nutshell

Besen Tour: Trail in a Nutshell

Trail Name: Besen Tour

Trail Type: Medium distance cycling circuit; well-maintained and much of it paved surface, fairly good marking along the trail.

Length: 36.5 kilometers/ 22.5 miles

Convenient to: Karlsruhe, Pforzheim, or Heilbronn, Germany

Marking: A white square metal plaque with a broom and the words “Besen Tour”

Besen Tour Signage

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