We’re going to cut straight to the chase – if you join this bike ride, you’ll get to cycle on the Autobahn. Yes, you read that correctly – you get to cycle on the Autobahn. Before you panic, there won’t be any cars on it at the time – sections of the A100 and A115 are closed to vehicles for the duration of the ride, and you get to take your bike on it. Yes, we are repeating ourselves, but you really need to understand that YOU GET TO CYCLE ON THE AUTOBAHN!
The Sternfahrt is an annual bike ride that’s organised by the German bike association, ADFC. There are 18 different starting points for the ride, each of them at the last stop on multiple S Bahn lines. All of these routes merge as they progress, before coalescing into two big masses – one that heads onto the A100 and the other onto the A115. Both of these giant biker gangs eventually combine, finishing up at Große Stern.
Of course, you don’t have to start the ride at one of the 18 jump-off points, you can also join it at the closest point where it is passing your area. And if you’d like to take your kids out on the bikes, there’s a special Kinderroute too.
The whole purpose of the ride is to show your support for cycling and encourage people to hop on their bikes. And did we mention that you can go on the Autobahn? We know, we know… It’s just an absolutely amazing feeling to fly down the motorway with thousands of other cyclists and zero cars in sight. It’s sort of what we imagine a utopian apocalypse would be like, where all the unnecessary cars are wiped out and the streets are ruled by well mannered bikers. OK, we’re getting a bit carried away… we’ll stop and just say it one last time – you get to cycle on the Autobahn.