North of the Danube, on the edge of the Franconian Jura, the Romans built a string of forts behind the Raetian frontier to guard the river valley and the roads leading to it. Kösching, today a market town near Ingolstadt, was the site of one of them, an auxiliary fort with a civilian settlement around it, home to craftsmen, traders and the families of soldiers. Little is visible today, as the modern town has grown over it, but the site is part of the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire. The Danube valley was a busy corridor in Roman times, and remains so today.
Ingolstadt, a few kilometres away, is a city of contrasts. It was a Bavarian fortress town and the seat of the first Bavarian university, founded in 1472, where, in fiction, Mary Shelley's Victor Frankenstein created his monster. It was also here, in 1516, that the Bavarian Purity Law was proclaimed, decreeing that beer could only be made from water, barley and hops. Today, Ingolstadt is best known as the home of Audi, whose headquarters and museum, the Audi museum mobile, display the company's history from early cars to racing machines, including some lovely old motorcycles from the brands that merged into Auto Union.
The riding is varied. The roads along the Danube are flat and fast, with views of the river, but to the north, the Altmühl valley offers more interesting riding, with curves, cliffs and pretty villages. A little to the east, the Danube cuts through a narrow limestone gorge near Kelheim, and at its entrance stands Weltenburg Abbey, home to one of the oldest monastery breweries in the world. The road to it is narrow and busy in summer, but well worth it.
Kösching, Gaimersheim and Vohburg are small towns with fuel and shops, and Ingolstadt has everything. Try a Weißwurst, a white veal sausage eaten before noon with sweet mustard and a pretzel, or a roast pork with dumplings and gravy. And of course, a beer, brewed according to the Purity Law, preferably in a beer garden under chestnut trees, but only when your riding is done.