CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
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.
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Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
269 km from Jerusalem to Jerusalem, about 4 h 33 of riding. On the way it passes Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan”, Caves of Maresha and Bet-Guvrin in the Jud, back through Caves of Maresha and Bet-Guvrin in the Jud and back through Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan”. It crosses Palestinian Territories, Jordan and Israel - carry ID and check vignette or toll rules. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
Jerusalem sits on a ridge about seven hundred and fifty metres above the sea, and the air is cooler and drier than on the coast, with a light that turns the pale limestone of the buildings to gold at the end of the day. The Old City, enclosed by walls built by the Ottoman sultan Suleiman in the sixteenth century, is a dense maze of lanes, markets and domes, divided traditionally into four quarters, and sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims. The Dome of the Rock gleams above the Temple Mount, the Western Wall stands at its foot, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre holds the places traditionally linked to the crucifixion and burial of Jesus.
Read the complete Jerusalem write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Jerusalem is where the day begins. Next is Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan”.
Down here you are well below sea level, close to four hundred metres under it, and the air shows it: thick, warm and heavy, with a mineral haze rising off the Dead Sea a few kilometres to the south. The baptism site known as Bethany Beyond the Jordan, Al-Maghtas in Arabic, lies on the east bank of the river Jordan, the place many Christians identify with the baptism of Jesus by John. Across a narrow, muddy channel of water stands Qasr al-Yahud on the western side, close to Jericho, and the two banks look at each other across one of the world's most heavily watched borders.
Read the complete Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan” write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan” comes up 34 km in.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan” write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
68 km in you reach Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan”. Next is Caves of Maresha and Bet-Guvrin in the Jud.
Beneath the low hills of the Judean lowlands, the Shephelah, lies a city of caves. Maresha was an important town of the Iron Age and the Hellenistic period, and its inhabitants carved thousands of chambers into the soft chalk beneath their houses: cisterns, olive presses, stables, quarries, burial caves and columbaria, rooms with hundreds of niches, probably used for raising pigeons. Nearby Bet Guvrin, known to the Romans as Eleutheropolis, became a major city in later centuries. The national park and its caves were listed by UNESCO in 2014 as a microcosm of the land of the caves.
Read the complete Caves of Maresha and Bet-Guvrin in the Jud write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Caves of Maresha and Bet-Guvrin in the Jud, about halfway.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Caves of Maresha and Bet-Guvrin in the Jud write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Caves of Maresha and Bet-Guvrin in the Jud sits at 136 km, about halfway. Next is back through Caves of Maresha and Bet-Guvrin in the Jud.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Caves of Maresha and Bet-Guvrin in the Jud write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Caves of Maresha and Bet-Guvrin in the Jud comes up 169 km in. Next is back through Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan”.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan” write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
203 km in you reach back through Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan”.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan” write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan”, late in the day. Next is Jerusalem.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Jerusalem write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 269 km.
Jerusalem → Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan” is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan” → Caves of Maresha and Bet-Guvrin in the Jud is 91 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Caves of Maresha and Bet-Guvrin in the Jud → back through Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan” is 91 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan” → Jerusalem is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.