In the rolling country of Middle Franconia, between Gunzenhausen and Wassertrüdingen, the Raetian Limes ran as a stone wall rather than a wooden palisade. Local people later called its remains the Teufelsmauer, the Devil's Wall, believing no human could have built such a long barrier. The section near watchtower WP 13/40, close to Arberg and Ornbau, is part of the Upper German-Raetian Limes World Heritage Site, and in places a low bank of stones in the fields and woods still marks the line.
The Raetian Limes ran from the Rhine-Danube watershed to the Danube near Regensburg, protecting the province of Raetia. Its stone wall, about three metres high, was a late addition, built in the early third century, and watchtowers stood along it at regular intervals. Gunzenhausen has a reconstructed section and a small museum, and a long-distance cycle and walking route follows the line.
The landscape is gentle, with fields, forests, small rivers and villages with half-timbered houses and onion-domed church towers. To the south rises the Hesselberg, the highest point in Middle Franconia, a long, flat-topped hill with views over the countryside. The Franconian Lake District, a group of reservoirs built in recent decades, including the Altmühlsee and the Brombachsee, has turned the area into a holiday region, with beaches, sailing and cycling.
Riding here is relaxed, with quiet country roads, gentle curves and little traffic outside the lake area in summer. The roads around the Hesselberg and the Altmühl valley are particularly pleasant, and the old towns of Dinkelsbühl and Rothenburg ob der Tauber are within easy reach.
Wassertrüdingen, eight kilometres away, has fuel and shops, and Gunzenhausen offers more services. Franconia has more small breweries than almost anywhere on earth, and the food is built to go with the beer: Schäufele, roast pork shoulder with crackling, dumplings and sausages. Many villages still have their own brewery tavern, and finding one is half the fun.