Why this ride
94 km from Kiel to Kiel, about 1 h 34 of riding. The stops in between: East Wall Area 2E to 2F, East Wall Area 2D, East Wall Area 1A to 1C and Offshore Work.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Kiel afternoon · Offshore Work
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 94 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 34
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. 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. Kiel
Kiel is a city that faces the water in every direction. It sits at the head of the Kiel Fjord, a long inlet of the Baltic, and at the eastern end of the Kiel Canal, which cuts across the base of the Jutland peninsula to the North Sea and is the busiest artificial waterway in the world by ship traffic. Cargo ships, tankers and ferries pass in a line, and from the high bridges you can watch giant vessels slide past apparently at roof level. The canal was opened in 1895, and for its size and importance it deserves more visitors than it gets.
Read the complete Kiel write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kiel is where the day begins. Next is East Wall Area 2E to 2F.
2. East Wall Area 2E to 2F
The Danevirke is a wall, or rather a series of walls, that once stretched across the neck of the Jutland peninsula, and this stretch is the eastern end, near the Windeby lake and the shore of the Baltic. The first earthworks went up in the seventh century, and later kings of Denmark extended them in several phases, culminating in a brick-faced wall built in the twelfth century under Valdemar the Great. The purpose was to protect the southern border against the Franks and the Saxons, and it worked more or less for several hundred years. A few steps along the grassy bank, and you can see a low ridge and a ditch, easily mistaken for a hedgerow.
Read the complete East Wall Area 2E to 2F write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
East Wall Area 2E to 2F comes up about 33 km into the recorded legs. Next is East Wall Area 2D.
3. East Wall Area 2D
For anyone who likes to see how a frontier was really made, the East Wall of the Danevirke is a good place to stand. It is a long rampart running north-south across the base of the Jutland peninsula, a bank of earth and clay, with traces of timber and later brick, and in the section by Windeby you can see it as a low ridge across the fields. The Danes built and rebuilt it over several centuries, and it was one of the largest construction projects of the early medieval north.
Read the complete East Wall Area 2D write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
At least about 34 km into the recorded legs you reach East Wall Area 2D. Next is East Wall Area 1A to 1C.
4. East Wall Area 1A to 1C
When the Vikings built their trading town of Hedeby at the head of the Schlei, a long narrow inlet of the Baltic, they chose a spot with a short portage to the North Sea rivers, making it one of the great crossroads of Northern Europe. To protect the isthmus between the two seas, the Danes built a long earthwork called the Danevirke, begun in the eighth century and strengthened for centuries after, with a rampart, a ditch and in places a brick wall added in the twelfth century by King Valdemar. Hedeby and the Danevirke are together a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The East Wall, the Ostwall, is the eastern arm of the system, running through the countryside near Kosel above the Schlei.
Read the complete East Wall Area 1A to 1C write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
East Wall Area 1A to 1C, about halfway. Next is Offshore Work.
5. Offshore Work
The word on the sign suggests a ship, but the offshore work here is a piece of earthwork, an outlying defence belonging to the old Danevirke system. The ground is south of the Schlei, the long narrow fjord that cuts inland from the Baltic to Schleswig, between the villages of Fahrdorf, Schaalby and Fleckeby. In practice, for a rider, the label is a pointer to a landscape rather than a single monument: low farmland, hedged fields, small woods and quiet lanes that run down to the water.
Read the complete Offshore Work write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Offshore Work sits at 53 km, about halfway. Next is back through East Wall Area 1A to 1C.
6. back through East Wall Area 1A to 1C
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete East Wall Area 1A to 1C write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through East Wall Area 1A to 1C comes up about 59 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through East Wall Area 2D.
7. back through East Wall Area 2D
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete East Wall Area 2D write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 62 km into the recorded legs you reach back through East Wall Area 2D. Next is back through East Wall Area 2E to 2F.
8. back through East Wall Area 2E to 2F
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete East Wall Area 2E to 2F write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through East Wall Area 2E to 2F, late in the day. Next is Kiel.
9. Kiel
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Kiel write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 94 km.
Leg by leg
Kiel to East Wall Area 2E to 2F
Kiel → East Wall Area 2E to 2F is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
East Wall Area 1A to 1C to Offshore Work
East Wall Area 1A to 1C → Offshore Work is 11 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Offshore Work to back through East Wall Area 1A to 1C
Offshore Work → back through East Wall Area 1A to 1C is 11 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through East Wall Area 2E to 2F to Kiel
back through East Wall Area 2E to 2F → Kiel is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.