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.
160 km from Ellwangen to Ellwangen, about 2 h 55 of riding. It goes by way of Fort site and civil settlement of Aalen, Fort site and civil settlement of Schirenh, Watchtowers WP 9/101 to 9/131 including th and back through Fort site and civil settlement of Schirenh. 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 Fort site and civil settlement of Aalen.
The largest Roman cavalry fort north of the Alps stood on the site of today's Aalen, in the eastern Swabian Jura. It was home to a regiment of a thousand horsemen, the ala II Flavia, the most prestigious cavalry unit on the Raetian frontier, and its walls enclosed a huge area, with barracks, stables, granaries and a headquarters building. Beside it grew a civilian settlement, with traders, craftsmen and families. Today the site is home to the Limesmuseum Aalen, one of the most important museums of the Roman frontier in Germany, with excavated foundations, reconstructions and a rich collection of finds. It is part of the Upper German-Raetian Limes World Heritage site.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Aalen write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Fort site and civil settlement of Aalen comes up about 21 km into the recorded legs. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Schirenh.
On the southern edge of Schwäbisch Gmünd, near the Schirenhof farm, the outline of a Roman fort and the foundations of its bath house lie in the grass, with walls and hypocaust heating systems laid out for visitors to see. The fort guarded the point where the Upper Germanic Limes met the Raetian Limes, the two great frontier lines of Roman Germany, and a civilian settlement grew up around it. The site is part of the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire, and it is one of the more rewarding Limes stops in Baden-Württemberg, with visible remains and a lovely setting above the town.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Schirenh write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 51 km into the recorded legs you reach Fort site and civil settlement of Schirenh. 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.
Watchtowers WP 9/101 to 9/131 including th, about halfway. Next is back through Fort site and civil settlement of Schirenh.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Schirenh write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Schirenh sits at 110 km, about halfway. Next is back through Fort site and civil settlement of Aalen.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Aalen write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Aalen comes up about 139 km into the recorded legs. 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.
Building remains of south of Pfahlheim closes the day.
Building remains of south of Pfahlheim → Fort site and civil settlement of Aalen is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort site and civil settlement of Aalen → Fort site and civil settlement of Schirenh is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort site and civil settlement of Schirenh → Watchtowers WP 9/101 to 9/131 including th is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 9/101 to 9/131 including th → back through Fort site and civil settlement of Schirenh is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Schirenh → back through Fort site and civil settlement of Aalen is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Aalen → Building remains of south of Pfahlheim is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.