CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
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.
From Ellwangen it runs 328 km to Ellwangen; allow about 5 h 40 of riding. It goes by way of Watchtowers WP 12/40 to 12/59, Watchtowers WP 9/101 to 9/131 including th, Watchtowers WP 9/33 to 9/35 and Fort site and civil settlement of Osterbur. The line favours views over speed.
The name of the village gives the game away. Pfahlheim, a part of Ellwangen in the Ostalb, takes its name from the Pfahl, the stake line, which is what generations of farmers called the Roman frontier that ran through their fields. Here, at the edge of what is now Baden-Württemberg, the Upper German Limes and the Raetian Limes met, and the building remains south of the village are one of many small components of the UNESCO-listed Upper German-Raetian Limes. The frontier ran almost dead straight across this country for long distances, ignoring hills and streams in a way that still baffles people. There is very little to see on the ground today, perhaps a low bank or a signboard, but the line can be traced by eye if you know where to look.
Read the complete Building remains of south of Pfahlheim write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Building remains of south of Pfahlheim is where the day begins. Next is Watchtowers WP 12/40 to 12/59.
The Romans called it the edge of the world they cared about, and in the Rems valley east of Schwäbisch Gmünd you can still trace where they drew the line. A string of watchtower sites, numbered by archaeologists along the stretch between Mögglingen, Heuchlingen and Böbingen, marks the course of the Raetian Limes, the frontier that guarded the province of Raetia in the second and third centuries. Here the frontier was a stone wall, which later locals, puzzled by the long ruined bank, called the Teufelsmauer, the Devil's Wall.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 12/40 to 12/59 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Watchtowers WP 12/40 to 12/59 comes up about 35 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtowers WP 9/101 to 9/131 including th.
There is a stretch of the Roman frontier in southern Germany that runs almost perfectly straight for about eighty kilometres, from Walldürn in the Odenwald to near Welzheim in the Swabian-Franconian Forest, ignoring hills and valleys alike, as if the surveyors had simply drawn a line on a map. The watchtowers numbered WP 9/101 to 9/131 stand near the southern end of that line, in the forests around Kaisersbach and Welzheim, where the Limes finally turns.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 9/101 to 9/131 including th write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 71 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtowers WP 9/101 to 9/131 including th. Next is Watchtowers WP 9/33 to 9/35.
Öhringen had not one but two Roman forts, known today as the Bürgkastell and the Rendelkastell, both on the Upper Germanic Limes, which ran past the town on its way south. The watchtowers numbered here were part of that frontier, and the town grew partly on the remains of the Roman settlement that clustered around the forts. Little is visible above ground, but finds are displayed in the local museum, and the line of the Limes can be followed on foot or by bike through the surrounding countryside.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 9/33 to 9/35 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Watchtowers WP 9/33 to 9/35, about halfway. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Osterbur.
Osterburken is a small town in the Bauland of northern Baden-Württemberg, and the Romans left it one of the most interesting fort sites on the Upper German Limes. The fort here was built in the second century AD, when the frontier was moved forward, and it had an unusual annex fort added later, with walls that ran down the slope toward the stream, making it one of the few double fort complexes on the Limes. Large sections of the walls have been excavated and conserved, and the Roman museum next to the site displays finds from the fort and the civil settlement. The Upper German-Raetian Limes became a UNESCO site in 2005.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Osterbur write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Fort site and civil settlement of Osterbur sits at 149 km, about halfway. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 9/33 to 9/35.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 9/33 to 9/35 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Watchtowers WP 9/33 to 9/35 comes up about 207 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 9/101 to 9/131 including th.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 9/101 to 9/131 including th write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 258 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Watchtowers WP 9/101 to 9/131 including th. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 12/40 to 12/59.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 12/40 to 12/59 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Watchtowers WP 12/40 to 12/59, late in the day. Next is Building remains of south of Pfahlheim.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Building remains of south of Pfahlheim write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 328 km.
Building remains of south of Pfahlheim → Watchtowers WP 12/40 to 12/59 is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 12/40 to 12/59 → Watchtowers WP 9/101 to 9/131 including th is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 9/101 to 9/131 including th → Watchtowers WP 9/33 to 9/35 is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 9/33 to 9/35 → Fort site and civil settlement of Osterbur is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort site and civil settlement of Osterbur → back through Watchtowers WP 9/33 to 9/35 is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 9/33 to 9/35 → back through Watchtowers WP 9/101 to 9/131 including th is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 9/101 to 9/131 including th → back through Watchtowers WP 12/40 to 12/59 is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 12/40 to 12/59 → Building remains of south of Pfahlheim is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.