Bikepacking the Black Forest (Video)

Finding a group of friends who share your passion is an incredible stroke of luck. And when that passion happens to be bikepacking, a way of traveling where sharing and adventure lie at the very heart of the experience, you can count yourself even luckier.

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The idea for this trip was simple: meet up with Antoine, who was returning from a long ride to Morocco,  and enjoy some good times together on the road. A week of slow riding with no set mileage goals or strict schedules, just fun. And it started off perfectly. The first funny thing to note is that there were three Antoines. We were Antoine, Antoine, Antoine… and Wim. You can imagine how many times Wim shouted “Antoine!” only for all three of us to turn around without having anything to say. The week was bound to be a good one.

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We set off from Basel, Switzerland. The initial days of our ride together were beautiful: the weather was good, and we quickly found ourselves immersed in breathtaking landscapes. The sun was on our side, and I was already excited to capture many images. 

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Ever since I was a child, when I imagined the Black Forest, I’d pictured a dark, somewhat eerie forest, full of stories. I wanted to bring back photos that captured that atmosphere. And, as often happens on trips, the weather had other plans: rain arrived midway through our journey. 

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We found a cabin a few kilometers away to take shelter for the night, and it was there that we discovered the forest in a completely different light. The fog, the darkness, the silence… an atmosphere entirely unlike the one we’d started in.

The Black Forest is a stunning place, where you come across many cabins, fridges filled with beers hidden in the woods (with a box provided to leave money—they rely on trust), and where people, though a bit reserved at first, turn out to be very welcoming. Everything is set up for travelers.

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Through this video, we won’t be sharing a GPS track, as our route was created almost day by day. We loosely followed a track we found online, which we adapted according to the rain, the sun, and our moods at the moment. We want to encourage more people to create their own routes, especially at a time when all the tools exist to plan, navigate, and sometimes get a little lost. During the week, we spoke a lot about the “overconsumption” of popular established European routes, whether on foot or by bike. 

Trails, cabins, and iconic spots are more crowded and sometimes more polluted because everyone focuses on the same paths. Media and communities that share routes bring a lot of positive impact, of course, but perhaps, in a time when mountains and nature are increasingly “consumed,” it’s also worth charting your own route and traveling in the spirit of Leave No Trace.

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In the end, this trip reminded us that bikepacking isn’t just about kilometers or gear, but about shared moments, unexpected events, and that unique sense of freedom you feel when you simply keep moving,  without really knowing where you’re going.

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I dedicate this video to my friends, who make all these adventures more alive and clearly much more fun. Thanks for watching!

Further Reading

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