The best gravel rides in Winkler Vorbergzone

Below this spot, an aircraft crashed on November 1, 1945, shortly after the end of the war. In the most severe air disaster ever to occur in our region, 26 American military personnel lost their lives. The aircraft was a Douglas C-47 (DC3) transport aircraft in its military version. It was put into service a year earlier and participated in "D-Day", the Normandy invasion, as a paratrooper transport. It had space for up to 32 people and was also known as a "raisin bomber" during the Berlin Airlift. On the day of the accident, 4 crew members and 26 U.S. Air Force soldiers were on board. They had been on vacation in London and were supposed to return to their units at the Oberschleißheim Air Force Base near Munich. Despite bad weather over the mainland, the 23-year-old pilot and his 22-year-old navigator decided to fly. Shortly after takeoff, the pilot had to climb above the cloud cover due to dense cloudiness and continue the flight using instruments. According to the navigator's calculations, a point near Augsburg should have been reached after 3 hours of flight, where the pilot could descend below the cloud cover and begin the approach using visual orientation. Due to strong headwinds, the calculated position was missed by more than 200 km. Consequently, the cloud cover was descended through north of Karlsruhe, and the navigator lost orientation. They followed the Rhine in a southwesterly direction until near Wintersdorf, a 90-degree correction was made to the original course towards Munich. The DC3 thus steered directly towards the 693-meter-high Bernstein. The pilot and navigator continued to try to determine the correct position from low altitude, which became increasingly difficult due to the approaching fog. Despite the dense fog, the silhouette of the aircraft was recognizable when flying over Michelbach. Around 4:30 PM, the aircraft crashed at an altitude of 620 meters, where it broke into several pieces and went up in flames after explosions. Many victims died because help arrived too late. That help arrived at all four hours after the accident is thanks to three survivors who, despite severe injuries, made their way to Sulzbach and Bernbach. Until now, only rumors had surrounded this event, and it eventually fell into oblivion.

Very beautiful view from the Merkur, located at 668 m altitude, into the Rhine plain, Vosges and Black Forest

Nice Murgbrücke, but unfortunately it ends at the B462 (Hilpertsau) on a very narrow pavement with a "Fahrrad frei" (bikes allowed) sign. Strictly speaking, this means walking speed, and pedestrians, whom you must give way to, already look at you panicked from afar because there is absolutely no room for passing. If you legally ride on the road, you practically can't get to the bridge due to the lack of dropped curbs. During times of low traffic - or generally in the direction of Kaltenbronn - I prefer to ride briefly on the main road and reluctantly leave the bridge behind.

There is also a beautiful circular hiking trail around the half-timbered village of Michelbach and places to stop for a break.

great path ideal for the racing bike

Easy to drive

Few villages in the area boast so many old half-timbered buildings, and the stream flowing through the village (complete with mill wheel) creates a lovely atmosphere. There are also places to stop for refreshments.

A very beautiful section of the Tour de Murg with impressive views of the valley. The altitude can almost make you dizzy. The climb is very pleasant with a gradient of ~4%. Extreme caution is required on the descent. The path becomes quite narrow when encountering oncoming traffic; the curves are confusing. You should also expect pedestrians – especially on weekends, it's busier. Simply letting it roll and blasting down the valley at over 50 km/h is absolutely irresponsible!