Trei - Projekt Karl - A Social Gravel Ride

Projekt Karl 2026#2

On Saturday 15 August 2026 at 9.00 am, we’re finally back in action: Projekt Karl invites you to another epic social gravel ride!
We’ll be setting off on a lovely loop through the Hochwald – escaping the worst of the heat on the finest gravel.
The ride starts and finishes in Ruwer at the start of the Ruwertal Cycle Route (https://maps.app.goo.gl/6EG8C9VR6MX8gtxv7) and will cover approximately 106 km with around 1,700 metres of elevation gain.
You can find the track here: https://www.komoot.com/de-de/tour/3182730367

A refreshment point will be available in Hermeskeil at the ‘Wasgau’.
Due to the forecast heat next weekend, the route offers further stops for drinking water:
– At the Nonnweiler weir, we can stop for coffee and cake at the café
– Nonnweiler has a pub
– Optional: drinking water in Gusenburg at the cemetery
– Reinsfeld (several restaurants or the kebab shop)
– Ruwer spring

Please do bring enough food and drink with you, though! We’ll be cycling through the Hochwald, and apart from the places mentioned, there are hardly any opportunities to restock.
If you’re travelling by car, you can park for free at the “Hüsterwiese”: https://maps.app.goo.gl/x9STsDsnszhzP5176

See you at Projekt Karl 2026#2!

PS: You can find all previous tracks from 2022 to 2026 on our website: On Saturday 15 August 2026 at 9.00 am, we’re finally back in action: Projekt Karl invites you to another epic social gravel ride!
We’ll be setting off on a lovely loop through the Hochwald – escaping the worst of the heat on the finest gravel.
The ride starts and finishes in Ruwer at the start of the Ruwertal Cycle Route (https://maps.app.goo.gl/6EG8C9VR6MX8gtxv7) and will cover approximately 106 km with around 1,700 metres of elevation gain.
You can find the track here: https://www.komoot.com/de-de/tour/3182730367

A refreshment point will be available in Hermeskeil at the ‘Wasgau’.
Due to the forecast heat next weekend, the route offers further stops for drinking water:
– At the Nonnweiler weir, we can stop for coffee and cake at the café
– Nonnweiler has a pub
– Optional: drinking water in Gusenburg at the cemetery
– Reinsfeld (several restaurants or the kebab shop)
– Ruwer spring

Please do bring enough food and drink with you, though! We’ll be cycling through the Hochwald, and apart from the places mentioned, there are hardly any opportunities to restock.
If you’re travelling by car, you can park for free at the “Hüsterwiese”: https://maps.app.goo.gl/x9STsDsnszhzP5176

See you at Projekt Karl 2026#2!

PS: You can find all previous tracks from 2022 to 2026 on our website: https://projekt-karl.de/tracks/

10. August 2026

Project Karl 2026#1 – are you in?

It all kicks off on Saturday 30 May 2026: Project Karl officially launches for the 2026 season. Will you be there?

The weather certainly won’t be an excuse 🙂

The event starts at 9:00 am in Trier-Biewer at the Mäusheckerhalle.

You can find the track here: https://www.komoot.com/de-de/tour/2915039399.

You can find all the details here: https://projekt-karl.de/en/2026/04/22/projekt-karl-20261-2/

25. May 2026

Join our WhatsApp group and you’ll always be up to date with our Social Gravel Rides.
Simply scan the QR code with your mobile and you’ll be redirected to the group (or click this link: https://chat.whatsapp.com/DAGDkXCekmFEEJI6S5skeL):

27. April 2026

Voting the date of Projekt Karl 2026#1

Voting is now open – you can help decide when this year’s first Projekt Karl Social Gravel Ride will take place.
You can find the poll here: https://nuudel.digitalcourage.de/DIqwpJaO66i6FRID
Nuudel works without registration or tracking.
By the way, the route scouting is all done 🙂

25. April 2026

Projekt Karl 2026#1

Dear Gravel Community,

It’s been over six months since our last Social Ride.

But now the Karl Project is back for 2026 and will be introducing a few new features. For organisational reasons, only one route will be offered per event – namely the long route.

There will also be a change to the dates: whereas previously we set the dates at the start of the year, this year we’re taking a more flexible approach: you – the participants – will decide the date for our first Social Gravel Ride of the year. To this end, we’ve set up a survey (anonymous and without tracking, of course): Nuudel

Please vote on the proposed dates by 29 April 2026.

However, we reserve the right to make spontaneous changes to the dates in the event of a bad weather forecast.

The route for our first Social Ride of 2026 starts and ends in Trier at the “Mäusheckerhalle” (Parking at the school center, https://maps.app.goo.gl/4DB4QdYrq6NaHKt79).

For the first time on this tour, we will ride through the beautiful Meulenwald forest to Zemmer. Here, at the Netto supermarket, you’ll find the first opportunity to stock up on supplies. Passing Spangdahlem Air Base, we’ll head through the Kailbach Valley. Shortly afterwards, we’ll reach Himmerod Abbey, where we’ll take the day’s break at Café Flesch https://www.cafe-flesch.de/. Well fortified, we continue via Landscheid (last refreshment stop: Netto) and back through the Meulenwald to Trier.

The route will cover approximately 109km and 2000 metres of elevation gain. Challenging, but very varied.
The track can be downloaded on Komoot: https://www.komoot.com/de-de/tour/2915039399 and on our website https://projekt-karl.de/tracks/.

See you then at Projekt Karl 2026#1 🙂

22. April 2026

Impressions of Projekt Karl 2025#4

Only 3 degrees and fog in the morning did not deter 8 riders from participating in the fourth edition of our Social Gravel Ride for 2025.

And we were rewarded not long after the start: while Kanzem was still hidden in the fog, the fog cleared from Krohkreuz onwards and the sun came out. From then on, we rode through colorful forests in beautiful autumn weather.

The great group and the beautiful route have us really looking forward to 2026. There’s still a while to go until the first official Gravel Ride in 2026, but who knows, maybe we’ll come up with a spontaneous idea for a year-end event 🙂

16. November 2025

Projekt Karl 2025#4

Golden October is sadly over, but November seems to be giving us one more beautiful weekend.
That’s why we’ve decided at short notice to hold our fourth Social Gravel Ride on November 8, 2025.

The route has been scouted to ensure that we have plenty of gravel and forest soil under our tires. We won’t say that no one will get dirty, but we will try to minimize the mud 🙂
We’ll ride from Trier via Konz, then over the Krohkreuz to Vierherrenborn and back into the Saar Valley.
From Saarhölzbach, we will ride another beautiful climb along the Saarhölzbach stream before heading back to Trier.
The short route largely shares its segments with the long route, but turns back from Vierherrenborn.

The joint start for both routes is at 9:00 a.m. at the Südbad in Trier: https://maps.app.goo.gl/rnYUrUe3AeB4D6M17 (free parking available at the Südbad)

Key data for both routes:

Short: approx. 68 km with 1170 meters of elevation gain: https://www.komoot.com/de-de/tour/2655023894
Long: approx. 98 km with 1740 meters of elevation gain: https://www.komoot.com/de-de/tour/2655025062

Refreshments will be available on both routes in Zerf. The route passes the Edeka “Nah & Gut” and Norma stores.
Please bring lights for your bikes, just to be on the safe side. We plan to be back before dark, but it’s better to be on the safe side.

If, after the ride — showered and chain oiled — you like to chat and eat with us at the Astarix, please let us know by Wednesday, November 5, using our contact form or Instagram: https://projekt-karl.de/en/contact-us/

We are looking forward to November 8 and wish you smooth riding at all times!

2. November 2025

Impressions of Projekt Karl 2025#3

All participants opted for the long distance in the third edition of our Social Gravel Ride for 2025. So the weather forecast didn’t deter anyone 🙂
However, it wasn’t as rainy as predicted. We had two small showers, but we were able to take shelter and continue after a few minutes.
The route took us through the Konzer Tälchen, Pellingen and Vierherrenborn to Losheim am See. After a quick refreshment break, we made our way back to Trier in a large loop through the beautiful Hochwald forest.
Enjoy the impressions – we all had a thoroughly successful day 🙂

22. October 2025

Projekt Karl on Youtube

You can now also find us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ProjektKarl

Check out our Worms-based gravel friend Andor on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@andor.biking) to get an impression of our social gravel rides:

Projekt Karl 2024#2:

Projekt Karl 2025#2:

1. September 2025

Projekt Karl 2025#3

Our third Social Gravel Ride of the year will take place on 13 September 2025. Thorsten has scouted a beautiful route from Trier to Losheim.
We will ride through the Mattheiser Forest to the ‘Tälchen’ valley, then on to Losheim and back via the Hochwald forest. We won’t need our swimming trunks, but we’ll definitely have time for an ice cream at Losheim Lake 🙂
From Losheim, we will ride back over the heights of the Black Forest Hochwald and the Ruwer Valley.
As usual, we will publish the tracks on Komoot (https://www.komoot.com/de-de/user/3121705780346/routes) and on our website https://projekt-karl.de/en/2025-en/ one week before the start of the tour.
The joint start is at 10:00 a.m. in Trier at the Südbahnhof: https://maps.app.goo.gl/HkDTcuECxjXPECuq5

The key data for the two routes:

Short: approx. 67 km with 1200 metres of elevation gain
Long: approx. 106 km with 1900 metres of elevation gain

Refreshments are available on the long route in Losheim. We will briefly drive into town where we can stock up at one of the supermarkets.
If you are doing the short route, you can stock up in Zerf.

If you are staying for dinner after the ride, please let us know by 10 September 2025 using the contact form so that we can plan the number of seats: https://projekt-karl.de/en/contact-us/
We have reserved a table for 6 p.m. at https://www.brauhaustrier.de.

You can park at the South Station in Seniastraße https://maps.app.goo.gl/AZR8GZjrgxXunYwW8 (the car park is open on Saturdays and free of charge).

We are already looking forward to 13th of September and wish you good gravel under your tyres at all times!

31. August 2025

Author: Trei