STORIES / RIDES

Three Slow Days on Two Wheels: Riding Around Pilsensee

Three summer days with AOI Explorers, moving between lakeside mornings, quiet villages, and the open roads of Upper Bavaria.

JULY 25, 2022

At Pilsensee, each day began before the ride. Morning light filtered through the trees and across the tent; coffee, water bottles, and small bags found their places while the bicycles waited beside camp. With no fixed itinerary, we could choose a direction based on the weather, our curiosity, and whichever road looked inviting.

The AOI Explorers carried us away from the lake and into the gentle landscape of Upper Bavaria. Farm roads wound between wheat fields and small villages. Onion-domed church towers rose above red roofs, and old courtyards offered cool shade after the sunny stretches between towns. We stopped often—not because the bicycles demanded it, but because the surroundings did. A painted ceiling, a quiet square, a view from higher ground, or a bench beside the water was reason enough to pause.

The best rides are not always measured in miles, but in the moments that make you stop.

One ride took us up the Holy Mountain to Kloster Andechs, a Benedictine monastery founded in 1455 at one of Bavaria’s oldest pilgrimage sites. The pilgrimage church had been built as a Gothic hall church in the early 15th century, then transformed with elaborate Rococo decoration between 1751 and 1755. Its onion-domed tower and monumental sundial announced the monastery from a distance; inside, ceiling frescoes, pale stucco, and gilded ornament filled the church with movement and light. The climb gave the AOI Explorers a chance to show what electric assistance does best—not remove the journey, but leave us with enough energy to slow down and appreciate where it led.

The route also brought us to Herrsching on the eastern shore of Ammersee. In the lakeside Kurpark, we stopped at the Kurparkschlösschen, the red-and-white villa seen in our photographs. Landscape painter Ludwig Scheuermann commissioned it in 1888 as a country house and summer residence, drawing inspiration from Italian palaces. Today, the preserved landmark hosts weddings and cultural events, while the surrounding public park remains a favorite stopping place for walkers and cyclists along the Ammersee promenade.

Along the waterfront, we paused beside **Die kleine Seejungfrau**—the Little Mermaid with a Catfish. Created by sculptor Hilde Grotewahl in 2005, the bronze figure sits quietly at the edge of the lake, looking out across Herrsching Bay. With an AOI Explorer beside her and sailboats in the distance, the sculpture became one of those unplanned landmarks that captures the character of a ride better than any route marker.

Around the lakes, riding has its own unhurried rhythm. Pilsensee, Wörthsee, and the wider Five Lakes region are connected by lanes where woods, farmland, and water continually trade places. One moment, the route is enclosed by hedges; the next, it opens to boats, distant hills, and a broad summer sky. The Explorer’s upright riding position made it easy to take in the view, while electric assistance smoothed out the climbs and helped our small group stay together.

Back at the campground, the bikes leaned beneath the awning as the afternoon settled over the lake. Camping simplified our routine to a few essentials: somewhere to sleep, something to eat, dry clothes, dependable bicycles, and enough time. Evenings were for the shoreline, soft light, and making almost no plans for the next day.

Over three days, we did not try to conquer a route or chase mileage. We simply used the bicycles to connect places that felt worth seeing. That freedom is one of the quiet strengths of an e-bike made for everyday exploration: it expands the map without turning the day into a test. Around Pilsensee, the AOI Explorers gave us exactly what we had hoped for—a slower vacation with a little more range.

Places & stay mentioned

- Campingplatz Pilsensee — the base for the three-day stay
- Pilsensee — the lake beside the campsite in Seefeld
- Wörthsee — one of the neighboring lakes in the Starnberger Fünf-Seen-Land
- Starnberger Fünf-Seen-Land — the Upper Bavarian Five Lakes region encompassing Ammersee, Wörthsee, Weßlinger See, Pilsensee and Starnberger See
- Kloster Andechs — Benedictine monastery and historic pilgrimage church on Bavaria’s Holy Mountain
- History of Kloster Andechs — official account of the monastery’s founding and the construction of its pilgrimage church
- Kurparkschlösschen and Kurpark Herrsching — the 1888 lakeside villa and public park in Herrsching am Ammersee
- Die kleine Seejungfrau, Herrsching — Hilde Grotewahl’s 2005 bronze sculpture of a little mermaid with a catfish on the Ammersee promenade