2019-07-01_RiDE

‘I’VEBEENTHERE!’

‘Itneverlostits

beautyorgotboring.

It’sa specialplace’

AlexBlome,YamahaR6

“I grewupontheB500,ridingit every

dayafterschoolona 125,sometimes

twicea day.It neverlostitsbeautyor

gotboring.It’sa specialplace;I

learnedmyroadridingtherebutI also

learnedtrackridingtoo— whenI had

myR6,it washardcore.Butnowadays

it’saboutenjoyingthesceneryandbeinga goodrider.It’sa philosophychange.

“TheB500tarmacisgood— theykeepit ingreatshape.It getsverybusyattheweekends

witha lotofpolice,butit’sstillpossibletogofora rideduringtheweekwhenit’squietenough

tobesafe.Intheeveningyoumightnotevenseea car.

“Thespeedlimitdroppedto 7 0km/hinplacesa fewyearsagoaspartofit becamea national

park.Thatslowsit downbecausebefore,youcoulddo130km/handgetawaywithit.”

needtobeflexiblewithyourtravelplans
too, andchecklocalweatheronline
beforesettingoff.Evenattheheightof
summer,theforestandsuddenrisein
altitudegivetheareaitsownmicro-
climateandridingtheB500inrainand
fog isoneofmotorcycling’sgreatest

frustrations.It’salsoa bitdodgy— it’s
grippyandnicelycamberedinthedry
(sections are made from what looks like
Shellgrip) but in the wet, some repair
over-banding is like riding on ice.

Best place to stay
Lots of hotels and smaller B&Bs to
choose from but avoid big ski hotels
(they can be overpriced and a bit too
busy). It’s hard to beat the smaller,
family-run places like the Landgasthof
Hirsch (hotel-hirsch-geroldsau.de). It’s
located right at the start of the B500 and
has a local, relaxed vibe with great food
(if you like a lot of meat; this region likes

its cooked animal, but veggies are

well-catered for too) and bike parking.

Good prices as well (around £80).

Best place to head to

There’s a lot more to the Black Forest

than just the B500 — the road looping

round the Schwarzenbach dam in the

centre of the area is worth a ride, if only

for the impressive stonework. The roads

that run south of Freudenstadt — the

B294, plus the smaller L405 and L404

— are also well worth riding. The whole

region is a biking playground, basically.

JULY 2019 | 35

SPORTS

TOURING

SPECIAL

‘The place to go if

you’re bored of the

Nürburgring...’

The B500 — 36

miles of heaven in

the German forests