Schauinsland, Kandel, Belchen, Blauen or Feldberg – the Black Forest in the area around Freiburg is a dream area for racing cyclists.
Because of the Garden of Eden, paradise is in and around Freiburg. Of course it’s a hearty announcement, but cyclists will agree, especially racing cyclists and maybe mountain bikers too. The small town in Baden is already a well-being trap that is difficult to escape. But if you dare to try to break away, you should get on a racing bike – and love mountain rides.
The Schauinsland, for example, begins almost in the middle of the city: It’s only a few kilometers gently uphill through the Günterstal before a truly serious ascent piles up in front of the cyclist. The summit of this mountain is 1286 meters above sea level and almost exactly 1000 meters above Freiburg. With the bike it goes to a maximum height of 1200 meters and that is quite crisp. Right at the beginning, next to a small pile of houses with the beautiful name Bohrer, gradients of up to 15 percent have to be mastered. During the rest of the journey on the road through the wooded slope, the gradient usually fluctuates between five and ten percent. All of this puzzles together to create an experience that can almost compete with alpine pass trips. And as the name of the mountain already suggests: the view of the Rhine plain to the French Vosges opens your heart.
And then: it goes on! The area around Freiburg offers numerous climbs that can at least keep up with Freiburg’s local mountain. A little to the north, above the village of Waldkirch, is the north-west approach to the Kandel, on which almost 1000 meters of altitude have to be mastered. The road is steep in phases, the asphalt is often rough, the view of the valley is mostly obstructed by dense forest – a great environment to disappear into the inner mountain driver’s tunnel and meditate uphill.
The Feldberg, the highest peak in the Black Forest at 1,493 meters, is also waiting to be conquered on a racing bike. At the beginning on roads with heavy traffic, at the end on narrow tarred paths, which are usually mainly used by hikers. Or the 1414 meter high Belchen, the final ascent of which leads after a lift station over a slightly rough asphalt road to the summit restaurant. Or the blue one, which is a little further south and offers a view almost as far as Switzerland. So many beautiful mountains, some of which are linked by small roads through postcard Black Forest villages. You have to imagine Freiburg cyclists as happy people.