Why this ride
From Kiel it runs 118 km to Kiel; allow about 2 h 01 of riding. On the way it passes East Wall Area 1A to 1C, Offshore Work, Kovirke Area 8 and Kovirke Area 7.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Kiel day out · Kovirke Area 7
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 118 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 01
- 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 1A to 1C.
2. 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 comes up about 36 km into the recorded legs. Next is Offshore Work.
3. 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
At least about 46 km into the recorded legs you reach Offshore Work. Next is Kovirke Area 8.
4. Kovirke Area 8
Kovirke is the name of one of the oldest sections of the Danevirke, the great earthwork that guarded the southern border of Denmark for the better part of a thousand years. From the early eighth century, the Danes built ramparts, ditches and later brick walls across the narrow neck of land between the Baltic and the North Sea, and the system grew in stages. Neighbouring sections have names of their own, the Crooked Wall among them, and the Kovirke is among the earliest. The line runs through fields and woodland, a long bank that you can see best in the low light of morning or evening.
Read the complete Kovirke Area 8 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kovirke Area 8, about halfway. Next is Kovirke Area 7.
5. Kovirke Area 7
South of Schleswig, in the narrow neck of land where the Jutland peninsula pinches itself between the Baltic and the North Sea marshes, lies one of the longest ancient monuments in Europe. This is the Danevirke, a system of earth ramparts, ditches and walls that runs for about thirty kilometres across the country, and the label here, Kovirke Area 7, refers to one of its sections, the Kovirke, whose name is usually translated as the Cow Work. Today the walls are grassy banks in fields, easy to miss if you are riding fast, but they once barred the way into Denmark.
Read the complete Kovirke Area 7 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kovirke Area 7 sits at 62 km, about halfway. Next is back through Kovirke Area 8.
6. back through Kovirke Area 8
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Kovirke Area 8 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Kovirke Area 8 comes up about 60 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Offshore Work.
7. back through Offshore Work
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
about 71 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Offshore Work. Next is back through East Wall Area 1A to 1C.
8. 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, 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 118 km.
Leg by leg
Kiel to East Wall Area 1A to 1C
Kiel → East Wall Area 1A to 1C is 36 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 10 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Offshore Work to Kovirke Area 8
Offshore Work → Kovirke Area 8 is 12 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Kovirke Area 8 to back through Offshore Work
back through Kovirke Area 8 → back through Offshore Work is 11 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Offshore Work to back through East Wall Area 1A to 1C
back through Offshore Work → back through East Wall Area 1A to 1C is 10 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through East Wall Area 1A to 1C to Kiel
back through East Wall Area 1A to 1C → Kiel is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.