The end of a Bavarian lakes day usually means the Würm valley, and this finish lies on its edge, between Planegg, Krailling and Neuried, where Munich's south-western suburbs meet the forests. The Würm flows north out of Lake Starnberg through a gentle valley of meadows and villages, and the Forstenrieder Park, a large forest of beech and spruce, stretches to the east. It is a pleasant, green corner of the city's fringe.
Planegg has a small pilgrimage chapel in the woods, Maria Eich, built around an oak tree in which a statue of the Virgin was placed in the eighteenth century, and it remains a place of quiet devotion. Next door, Martinsried is home to Max Planck institutes and a biotech campus, a hive of research in a suburban setting.
The ride back from Kochelsee and Walchensee takes you over the Kesselberg, a short, steep pass with tight hairpins between the two lakes. It is a classic motorcycle road, but because of accidents and noise, one direction has been closed to motorcycles on weekends and public holidays during the riding season. Check the signs and current rules before you plan the route, and ride it the way you are allowed to.
Lake Starnberg is the obvious place for a last swim. It is large, deep and clear, with public bathing areas along the shore, and on a hot day the water is cool and refreshing. King Ludwig II drowned in its shallows in 1886 in mysterious circumstances, and a cross in the water marks the spot.
The Würm villages keep their beer gardens under chestnut trees, and the order of the evening is not complicated: park, a litre of something cold, a pretzel the size of a steering lock. Refuel on the way in, while you still care.