FRANCONIA BACKLANDS

…originally featured in our ‘The Ortlieb Story: Hartmut. History. Heritage‘ Journal

It was autumn … and the height of pumpkin season in the farmed and forested Franconian backlands.

An overnight adventure from Ortlieb HQ had always been part of the plan for Scot, Nils and I, once we’d spent time at the factory and glimpsed behind the scenes. Our guides from the Ortlieb Bikepack Squad – Peter and Volker – snuck us out at 16.00 to pack our loaner Bombtrack bikes for the out-and-back ride to a co-operative owned hut around 50km away … somewhere north-ish-west from Heilsbronn.

I loved not knowing where we were going; simply knowing a rough direction from the warming, slowly setting sun on my left shoulder. No big landscapes around this part of Germany, but big blue skies, plenty of fun farm and forest tracks to enjoy (shred), and enough distance for a challenging evening out…

Like all good hosts, Peter and Volker had packed a wood saw, selection of lovely Bavarian Beers, the ingredients for a rather special meat & veggie barbecue (including local ‘Drei im Weckla’ hot dogs) and … a Bialetti stovetop. Men after my own heart…

Nils lit the fire as the sun set a big, bright orange over the small village horizon, and we all sat around cooking over drinks and discussions about bikes, and future trip plans. After a long day and some decent kms in the legs, the five of us were more than happy to retire into the hut, and the warmth and comfort of our sleeping bags as the embers just about stopped glowing in the light breeze. Ready to drift off and dream about welding, no doubt. It would be an early start tomorrow – Peter and Volker needed to be back at Ortlieb HQ…

Drei im weckla [n.]
“three in a bun”
Franconian hot dog (three Nuremberger sausages in a bun)

The guys guided us back at a pace *far* too quick for the 15KPH Club – retracing our tracks from yesterday and mirroring our tread marks in the dusty farm tracks and forest floors all the way back to HQ. Sunshine pastries, apfelschorles and morning coffees were the order of the final stop: Ortlieb’s nearest cafe…

For more information on Ortlieb and the rest of our visit, head over to ‘The Ortlieb Story‘ Journal.