The Romans called it Iciniacum, and for a century and a half it was home to a cavalry unit guarding the Raetian frontier in what is now Middle Franconia. The fort at Theilenhofen, near Gunzenhausen in Bavaria, lay just behind the Limes, the frontier wall that here was built of stone, running across the landscape from the Danube toward the Main. Today there is little above ground, but information panels by the site and the line of the fort traced in the fields help visitors picture it. It is part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire, the Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes, listed by UNESCO in 2005.
The countryside around Theilenhofen is gentle and rural, with fields, woods and villages of red-roofed houses, and the Hahnenkamm hills rising to the south. A few kilometres to the north, the Franconian Lake District, the Fränkisches Seenland, is a group of artificial lakes created from the 1970s onward to transfer water from the Danube basin to the dry north of Bavaria. The Altmühlsee and the Großer Brombachsee are now popular for swimming, sailing and cycling, and their shores are lined with beaches, campsites and cafés.
For riders, the area offers relaxed riding on quiet roads through rolling farmland and forests, with gentle curves and good surfaces. To the south, the Altmühl valley, part of the Altmühltal Nature Park, is a beautiful, winding valley with limestone cliffs, juniper heaths and small towns, and the roads along it are a pleasure. To the west, the Hesselberg, the highest point in Middle Franconia, rises from the plain, with views from the top over the countryside. Traffic around the lakes can be heavy in summer, especially on weekends.
Gunzenhausen, a town of over sixteen thousand people about seven kilometres away, has fuel, shops and restaurants, and an old town with a market square and a tower that was part of the town walls. The line of the Limes passes close to the town, and walking and cycling trails follow it through the countryside.
Franconian food is hearty and delicious: try Schäufele, roast pork shoulder with a crispy crackling, served with potato dumplings and gravy, or Bratwurst from Nuremberg, small sausages grilled over beech wood, and wash it down with a glass of Franconian beer from one of the many small breweries in the region, or a dry white wine from the vineyards of Lower Franconia. The best time to ride here is from late spring to early autumn, when the lakes are at their liveliest.