We leave the Alter Posthof after a solid breakfast and head north on the B327 to pick up the A61 at exit 41. Yesterday’s transit stage has worn us out a bit, but we are looking forward to some fun in the Eifel, the driving and riding playground of Germany’s Rheinland-Pfalz, and home to the famous Nürburgring. I’ve planned a 75km loop north of there that I’ve stolen from the Eifeldiplom Classic route – the upper section of the popular day tour.
We detour from the straight route to the start of the loop on the to grab some extra curves, exiting on the B412 and riding to Kempenich where we pick up the L83 and L85. A favorite farm road of mine is now closed to traffic, and we have to continue north to Bad Neuenahr on L84. We see many wine festivals and pilgrimages on the way, but are focused on the home stretch, so no stopping for pictures. It’s the Eifel, we’ve seen it a hundred times before anyway. We backtrack from Bad Neuenahr on the B257, follwing signs for the Nürburgring until we get to Dümpelfeld. We turn onto the L73 and follow it to our destination, the Haus Waldfrieden, a popular biker stop with a large parking area, hot tea, and good food. After a quick snack, we head back out. Photos from prior visits.
The loop begins on the L73 and picks up the L74. That is, the real L74. I identify a bug in my Garmin nüvi – it wants to cut the route short by cutting subloops off. We backtrack and get going in the right direction. The ride cards would have been easier here, but I do not have them along. We turn off on the K11, following it to the K13, and turing north on the L165. Turning off on the K55, we pick up the L165 again in Esch, where we tank up – I remembered a fuel station, but expected it earlier. We add 267.2kms to the clock, for a total of 24. . A short distance on Römerstrasse lands us on the K50 which turns into the K25. A right turn puts us back onto the L73. In Schuld, we turn onto the K16 to begin the third and final subloop.
The final stretch includes several Kehren descending into Fuchshofen on the K17. We take the L73 back to Haus Waldfrieden and relax with lunch prior to heading home.
Going home is getting to the Autobahn: we retrace our steps on the L73 and B257 to the A61 north, A1 north, A57 north, and A46 east. This brings us into the city of Düsseldorf, where we hit the Rheintunnel and then pick up the B8 back to the house. The final count on the odometer is 159,7km, for a total of 2573,7km. Somehow, the trip odometer readings and the main odometer readings are off on both bikes, we assume some BMW magic is at work here. The final main odometer talley is 2599km on my bike. We strip and clean the bikes in the drive, and take a look at the stickers collected. After that, it is time to eat dinner and sleep, work calls in the morning.
Adventure complete. At least, for now.