For the past seven years, Scott and Dickon from Santa Cruz have spent their post-Eurobike recovery in the hills and mountains of the Black Forest, just outside of Freiburg, Germany. Coincidentally, when Lyle from Mission Workshop and myself had a few extra days laying around before our Alps tour began, they invited us to join them.

That meant traveling from Glarus to Freiburg, before heading back to Zurich on Wednesday. That meant a lot of driving but surely it would be worth it. All the details and accommodations were made. Scott and Dickon knew were to stay, where to eat and were mostly familiar with the trails… What other reasons did we need? Back to Germany we go!

Yesterday morning, we engorged ourselves with one of the best hotel breakfasts I’ve had before beginning our journey. I suited up in the new Acre gear, tuned my bike and hopped off through town before we all found ourselves in a tower of switchbacks up and out of the valley.

The Black Forest is a sacred place, filled with lore and mythology. While we saw no Slender Man, or nymphs, I could feel the presence of something the whole day and it wasn’t the eggs from breakfast… Nature still owns the forest. The trees hummed and resonated with the wind. If you break yourself off here, there’s no telling what would happen to you once the sun settled in for the evening.

After a mild case of “lostness” and bordering on bonking, the whim to “take the other trail” turned our planned 3-hour jaunt into an 8-hour expedition through the absolutely stunning trail system. Some were extremely technical and steep, while others were fast and smooth. Then we hit the backside of Kandel with its fast, steep and rocky descents. We all wished we had pads…

We got a taste of everything and for me, the technical, rocky terrain was just a teaser for what awaits in the Alps. The total for the day was about 35 miles and 4,900′ and today, my legs are thanking me.

Check out some narrated photos in the Gallery!