Route planning for velomobile in Germany

Leew

Leew

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I am trying to plan some routes for a ride I wish to do in Germany. Is it possible from looking at a map to tell which roads I can use. I notice that Autobahn have an 'A' in the number and are a diffrent colour, that is easy, but how can I tell if a road is Kraftfahrstraße on a map?
Also if a road has a fahrradweg, is it mandatory to use the fahrradweg (as it is in nederland) or can I use the road (as it is in England)?
In nederland I can use Google streetview to see if a road is usable or if it is Autoweg but I noticed that the Germans did not want streetview of their country :(.

Except for Autobahn (blue square with 2 roads with a bridge over top sign) and Kraftfahrstraße (car in a blue square sign) are there any other roads a velomobil cannot use?
 
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Leew schrieb:
I notice that Autobahn have an 'A' in the number and are a diffrent colour, that is easy, but how can I tell if a road is Kraftfahrstraße on a map?
Zum Vergrößern anklicken....

Kraftfahrstraße (also called: "Autostraße") is difficult, since it is in many maps identical to a normal road. Sometimes, the colour is identical, but the lines are slightly thicker.

I guess that only "Bundesstraße" (= number with "B") can be a Kraftfahrtstraße. If it is a grade-separated Bundesstraße, chances are high that it is forbidden for cyclists. (And you wouldn't want to use it anyways.)

See: http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=48.2466&lon=11.4613&zoom=13&layers=M => it seems that those parts of B471 that are drawn in green instead of red are Kraftfahrstraßen.

Leew schrieb:
Also if a road has a fahrradweg, is it mandatory to use the fahrradweg (as it is in nederland) or can I use the road (as it is in England)? [...] are there any other roads a velomobil cannot use?
Zum Vergrößern anklicken....

Fahrradwege are mandatory only if there is a blue sign with a bike (alone or together with pedestrian). If there is a bike path without a blue sign (not just painted on the tarmac), you don't need to use it.

Any other roads that are forbidden? No, I don't think so.
 
AW: Route planning for velomobile in Germany

Christoph Moder schrieb:
Fahrradwege are mandatory only if there is a blue sign with a bike (alone or together with pedestrian). If there is a bike path without a blue sign (not just painted on the tarmac), you don't need to use it.
Zum Vergrößern anklicken....

Even if there is that blue sign with white bicycle or combined white bicycle and pedestrians, you don't have to ride on the cycle path in case you ride a three (or more) wheeled cycle and(!) the path is not in acceptable quality - means too rough, not wide enough. Further you're not oblieged to use it if it's not obvious that it follows the road that you want to ride along.

Green bicycles on white signs, in most cases with directions, are not mandatory cycle paths, they are for tourisms purposes and may be ignored. Quality of those directions sometimes leads to frustration and the paths are often not asphalt/concrete!

Christoph Moder schrieb:
Any other roads that are forbidden? No, I don't think so.
Zum Vergrößern anklicken....

Well, blue round signs with only white pedestrians are forbidden, Fußgängerzone is forbidden as long as not stated free for cycles below the sign. Sidewalks are forbidden either, unless stated otherwise ("Radfahrer frei" or "[cycle] frei")

Greetings,
Patrick
 
AW: Route planning for velomobile in Germany

Hey Lee,

big problem even when you're a German resident.

In Googlemaps the "Kraftfahrtstraße" mostly is drawn a little bit thicker than standard "Bundesstraße" in map view and also in terrain view. Unfortunately, this is not always the case.

I'd suggest you to use Openstreetmap http://www.openstreetmap.org/ as in this one the information is shown clearer: Standard "Bundesstraße" is red and "Kraftfahrtstraße" is shown in green color. The road number with a "B" at the beginning doesn't change when "Bundesstraße" becomes "Kraftfahrtstraße". ("Autobahn" is blue and has an "A" as first character.)

But you must be aware that on the one hand not all "Kraftfahrtstraße"s are shown on any of that maps and on the other hand some are shown too long or too short... Any of that already happened to me.

There are also some roads that are "Bundesstraße" but have the "bicycles forbidden" sign on them. Obviously, they are registered nowhere and it's a game of chance with the luck on the side of the road authorities not to face one of them in an area you've never been to before.

First option: You plan your tour and ask here in the forum if anybody is familiar to these roads and can give you the respective hints. Second option: You just try. But you must not be afraid of either taking a detour you'll have to plan ad-hoc when you come to a road you are not allowed to use or using the road in spite of the prohibition. (As seldom as I did that, I was never caught up till now, only the car drivers will get mad. I don't know what's the fine for it in Germany, but you still have the "I'm English" bonus.)

About the bicycle lanes: There is a general duty to use bicycle lanes in Germany. But the more people you'll talk to, the more exceptions or excuses for not using them will come to your ear. Riding a velomobile, I never use them (except on steep hills, when they are easy to access and to leave and in very acceptable condition). All the policemen that stopped me because of not using bicycle lanes up till now had kind of understanding for that. And for you as a foreigner it should be even easier. If they insist on using the bicycle lane, then use it until it comes to an end (won't take long) and then go out on the road again.


Have a good trip!

Martin
 
AW: Route planning for velomobile in Germany

good advice here, Lee.
The easiest way to do your planning with standard maps is to go for L and K roads -- these are state and county roads; they will rarely have signs that ban cyclists from using them, and if they do, there will be a turnoff on to a side road right before the sign.

Cycle paths along such roads: go by the looks; in some parts of the country they are really good to ride (and can be fast if you know the route, since they may bypass traffic lights and won't be jammed other than by school kids riding to/from school)
when climbing, a cycle path means more comfort, so I recommend using it
when stopped by the police and told to use the path, just do it; don't argue (you may be right, but it just saves time); stay on the path until it ends as Martin has said, then return to the road -- be mindful that in some parts of the country police officers have a routine to pass you coming the other way just to check if you will comply (if they do, you will meet them again within about 15 minutes after they drove off)

Josef
 
AW: Route planning for velomobile in Germany

Many thanks for all the input (the 'danke' button seems to have vanished?).
 
AW: Route planning for velomobile in Germany

Hi Lee,

Leew schrieb:
...is it mandatory to use the fahrradweg (as it is in nederland)...
Zum Vergrößern anklicken....

it is NOT mandatory to use the bike lane in the Netherlands if your bike has over 75cm width! But most of the bike lanes in NL are in good condition, so most of the time it will be much safer to use them.
And there's one more but: if bikes are prohibited on a road, so are VMs!
And of course if the police tells you to use the bike lane, you should do so (until you're out of sight...). :D

Regards, Oliver.
 
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Oliver schrieb:
it is NOT mandatory to use the bike lane in the Netherlands if your bike has over 75cm width!
Zum Vergrößern anklicken....
Milan SL is 69cm width, so that means it is still mandatory for me? I have noticed that most fietspads are good but some are not so good, with very tight corners near road junctions which can be difficult to get around when I have a 14m turning circle. Also some fietspad are made from bricks where the road is asphalt.
 
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Yes, I think that would mean fietspad is mandatory for you. :(
But let me check that to be sure. I will get back to you on this.

EDIT:

The exception on using the mandatory "fietspad" (the ones with the round road signs, NOT this one: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BT8Vm2G35b8/R3ZUyCb_tuI/AAAAAAAAAQA/Uyg1PQ41GfQ/s400/Bord+G13-fietspad.jpg !!!) is as follows:
Drivers of bikes with more than 2 wheels which are, including load, over 0,75 meter wide, and of bikes with trailers which are, including load, over 0,75 meter wide, are allowed to use the road.

So yes, a standard Milan SL is supposed to use the bike lane. Is there no possibility to make the SL a little wider, perhaps by temporarily mounting stand off mirrors or something? It's just 5,5 cm you need...
 
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For Holland your bike is not allowed on the street. The 75 cm rule is known by very few policeofficers, many dutch velomobilists carry a copy of that law article for when they get in trouble with the police. And even then they are sometimes hard to convince. Aside to that you must always follow orders of policeofficers. Mopeds with a max speed of 45 km/h are often not allowed on the Fietspad and ride on the road. Cardrivers are used to those.

I would avoid the snelweg and autoweg. Both indicated with blue signs with a white car or white overpass symbol, mostly speeds are so high and streets are so wide that u do not make the mistake. Road codes mostly start with an A. Roads with a N code are also of limits but mostly have a bike lane/ slow traffic road running aside. On other roads when the traffic is moving slow you can thake your place among them, if u can keep up.

For a speedy journey try to avoid the dutch cities. Lots of stopsigns, idioticaly build bikelanes, and special roadsigns for cyclists. If u follow those u will end up somewhere in the concrete jungle and then there is no sign. Gps may solve that problem. Most cardrivers have seen velomobiles at some point in there live.

Bike travel writer Josy Dew had an amusing anecdote. When in Holland she saw the FIETSPAD sign and did several detours trying to avoid them thinking they ment FOOTPATH. Bet you can convince a policeofficer of that.;)

If u take the ferry to Hoek van Holland u can try to follow the river Lek, a sideriver of the Rhine. As i live only a mile from the German border i ride a lot in Germany. I mostly ride where i like with my highracer nor lowracer, i have never been stopped by police in Germany.
 
AW: Route planning for velomobile in Germany

Hi Lee,

you might want to try "Komoot". It is a navigation system for hiking / biking. I tried it and actually works pretty good and there is an app for Android so you can use it on tour. It is basically free, but you have to buy maps to use it when you are not online. Not too expensive though, maps for all of Germany are €30.

Regards, Jergn
 
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