Bad Segeberg is known to every German of a certain age for one reason: Karl May. Every summer since the early 1950s, an open-air theatre cut into the side of a hill in the town stages dramas based on the adventure novels of the Saxon writer, with real horses, stunt riders, gunfights and a cast of cowboys and Native American characters in a mock Wild West setting. Hundreds of thousands of people come for it. The setting is an unusual hill, the Kalkberg, a block of gypsum and limestone that rises about ninety metres above the flat land around, and that is itself a rarity in this part of the country.
Inside the hill is a cave, one of the biggest bat roosts in Europe, where thousands of bats gather to hibernate in winter. The cave system is closed to visitors during that time, but a visitor centre explains the animals, and in late summer there are guided evenings for watching the bats emerge. The hill once carried a castle, which was destroyed in the Middle Ages, and a nearby lake adds to the scenery.
For riders the town is a gate. It lies at the northern edge of the Hamburg area, on roads that lead out toward Lübeck, Kiel and the lakes of Holstein, and it makes a practical place to start a day or to take a last chance at fuel. With about sixteen thousand people, Bad Segeberg has several fuel stations, supermarkets, bakeries and cafés, and it is simple to find a cup of coffee and a roll at an early hour. The old town has a pleasant square and some old houses, though nothing grand.
The roads to the north and east are the attraction. Within a few kilometres of the town, you reach the quiet lanes of the Holstein country, with soft hills, Knick hedges and small lakes. The surface is generally good, the traffic is thin outside the commuter hours, and the corners are easy. In the summer weeks of the Karl May festival, traffic around the town on show days can be heavy, so allow time. Take a windproof layer, and note that the weather can change quickly. Early morning, with the sun low and mist in the fields, is a gentle start.