Pumice is the clue to this corner of the Rhineland. About thirteen thousand years ago the Laacher See volcano blew itself apart not far upstream, and the ash and pumice it threw out settled across the Neuwied basin, where it was dug, pressed into building blocks and carted off for centuries. Up on the hills above the basin, near Melsbach and Rengsdorf, the Romans chose the high ground for a pair of small watchtowers, one of which carries an extra letter in its number because archaeologists found a second structure next to it. They were part of the Upper Germanic Limes, which begins at the Rhine only a few kilometres away.
Riding here has the quiet character of the western Westerwald. The lanes run between meadows and patches of oak and beech, rising and falling with the folds of the land. There are no dramatic gradients, but the tarmac is generally good and the corners come at a pleasant, unhurried rate. Rengsdorf is a small resort-like village with a calm air, while the Wied valley a short ride east gets tighter and more wooded and makes a good loop in the afternoon. Expect farm traffic, the odd school bus, and on dry weekends a scattering of other bikes.
Fuel is a matter of planning. Melsbach and Rengsdorf are villages of two to three thousand people, so you may find a small station, but Neuwied, about five kilometres off, is the reliable answer with a proper range of services. If you want to understand the Roman side of the story, the tower at Rheinbrohl on the Rhine, where the frontier begins, is the place that explains it best, and it is a short run downhill.
I like this section because it shows how modest the Limes really was. No dramatic walls, just a line of timber and stone lookouts and a ditch, gradually swallowed by farmland and forest. Pull over where the lane widens, shut the engine off for a moment, and listen to the wind in the beeches. That, more than any museum, tells you what a sentry heard.