Up and down, right turn, left turn, all in quick succession. The only thing missing is a loop. For that, you would have to travel a little further, to the Fränkisches Wunderland amusement park in Plech. For racing cyclists, however, the wonders that the region's roads have to offer are more than enough. "Nowhere here is flat," explains Klaus Ponner, board member of RSV Forchheim. Ponner lives in Heroldsbach, on the western edge of Franconian Switzerland, and can decide whether he wants to head south and west on his training lap, i.e. towards Ansbach, Rothenburg and Nuremberg, or whether he wants it even steeper. Then he heads east, into the Franconian region, as they say for short. "It's very crisp," admits Ponner. If you like it, you have to go right into the centre of the region, which is rich in rocks in the triangle formed by the cities of Bamberg, Bayreuth and Nuremberg. This is where the pilgrimage site of Gößweinstein is located, a beautiful starting point for cycle tours.
You can download these tours and the GPS data below:
- Tour 1 (106 kilometres, 1,900 metres in altitude) : A tour of rocks, castles and romantic villages. You should pace yourself well, the steep end comes at the end.
- Tour 2 (108 kilometres, 1,260 metres in altitude): Less demanding than Tour 1, but still a challenging tour through the Wiesenttal valley. This tour also leads past and up to several castles. Beer lovers can plan a break in Aufseß, the town with the highest density of breweries per inhabitant in the world.
