Day 4 - From the Black Forest to the Vosge

Wednesday 10 July 2019

Morning comes with a cloudless sky and the promise of a hot day ahead. Our first mission is to ride the famous B500 road which runs north-south from Baden-Baden to Freudenstadt. It follows the high ridge along the western edge of the forest in long sweeping curves. Excellent surfacing and bike-friendly cambers mean it can be ridden at high speed. However recently there has been a crack down on illegal speeders and the road is heavily policed at times.

Still it’s a great road to ride and this morning there is little traffic about. We only see two police cars during our ride.


High up on the B500

After Freudenstadt we turn off the main road and Loop down from the heights through glorious little villages and steep valleys on our way down to the border with France. 
We cross the Rhine at Mulhouse and then ride across a hot, dusty plain on small roads with the Vosges Mountains rearing up in the distance.

We found the Moto-Hotel Col de Bussang a couple of years ago on an earlier tour. It is an excellent place for sharing experiences with other bike travellers and today is no exception. There are German, Danish, Dutch and French bikers in residence tonight but I think we are the only English.


Moto-Hotel Col de Bussang

Dutch owner Mark and his wife have the place up for sale as they plan to retire to their holiday home in Fuertaventura so hopefully a new like-minded host will take over and keep the hotel running as a handy pit stop for bikers.


Enjoying a welcome beer on arrival

 There is a set dinner in the evenings. Today it is a ham salad followed by lasagne and finished with ice cream.

Behind the hotel is an old tunnel entrance. The road used to go through it until the hotel and tunnel were bombed during WWII. The hotel was completely rebuilt in 1965 and the road now goes over the top of the nearby summit.


Bike parking. The old tunnel entrance is on the left.


Dinner at Col de Bussang. The local wine is excellent.
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