Why this ride
167 km from Göteborg to Göteborg, about 2 h 31 of riding. It goes by way of Grimeton Radio Station and back through Grimeton Radio Station.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Gothenburg day out · Grimeton Radio Station
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 167 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 31
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Gothenburg
Sweden's second city has the manners of a harbour town and the weather to match. Gothenburg sits where the Göta älv river reaches the Kattegat, and the old canals, the cranes of the shipyards and the trams that clatter along the avenues all point to a place built on trade. Founded in the early seventeenth century by King Gustav II Adolf, who invited Dutch engineers to lay out the canals, it has always faced west, toward the sea and the rest of the world rather than toward Stockholm. It is also the home of Volvo, which is why the roads leading out of town are some of the best maintained in the country.
Read the complete Gothenburg write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Gothenburg is where the day begins. Next is Grimeton Radio Station.
2. Grimeton Radio Station
Six steel towers, each one about a hundred and twenty-seven metres tall, stand in a flat Halland field south of Varberg, and from a distance they look like a fence for giants. This is Grimeton, a long-wave transmitter built in the early 1920s so that Sweden could talk to America without relying on cables that others controlled. Inside the long brick hall sits an Alexanderson alternator, a huge spinning machine that makes the signal, with no valves and no transistors, and it still works. On a couple of days a year, including Christmas Eve, the station fires up and sends a message in Morse code, a ritual that draws enthusiasts from across Europe. UNESCO listed it in 2004, and it is unusual among heritage sites in being an old machine you can hear.
Read the complete Grimeton Radio Station write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Grimeton Radio Station comes up 49 km in.
3. Grimeton Radio Station
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Grimeton Radio Station write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
98 km in you reach Grimeton Radio Station. Next is back through Grimeton Radio Station.
4. back through Grimeton Radio Station
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Grimeton Radio Station write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Grimeton Radio Station, late in the day. Next is Gothenburg.
5. Gothenburg
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Gothenburg write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Gothenburg. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Gothenburg to Grimeton Radio Station
Gothenburg → Grimeton Radio Station is 98 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Grimeton Radio Station to Gothenburg
back through Grimeton Radio Station → Gothenburg is 98 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.