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.
A 283 km round trip from Osterburken - roughly 3 h 52 in the saddle. The stops in between: Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl, Civil settlement of Niedernberg northern p, Watchtowers WP 5/11 to 5/12 and Fort site and civil settlement of Niedernb. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
Between the Odenwald and the Tauber country lies the Bauland, a high, open plateau of limestone, cornfields and small villages that most travellers cross without slowing down. Just south of Götzingen, among fields and woodland edges between Buchen and Osterburken, are the remains of a Roman building on the line of the Upper Germanic Limes. It is not a grand ruin, more a footprint in the ground, but it belongs to one of the best documented stretches of the frontier, the section that runs straight as a ruler through this part of northern Baden-Württemberg.
Read the complete Building remains south of Götzingen write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Building remains south of Götzingen is where the day begins. Next is Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl.
At Miltenberg, the Roman frontier did something unusual: it stopped being a wall and became a river. North of the town, the Main served as the frontier for some fifty kilometres, guarded by forts and watchtowers along its western bank, and here, where the river bends, the land frontier began again, heading south through the Odenwald. The watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 belong to this stretch, and while most are only traces in fields and forests, they are part of the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire. The Romans built forts at Miltenberg, too, and some of their finds are displayed in the town museum.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl comes up about 35 km into the recorded legs. Next is Civil settlement of Niedernberg northern p.
Niedernberg is a quiet village on the left bank of the Main, a few kilometres downstream from Aschaffenburg, where the river was the Roman frontier. The Upper German-Raetian Limes, after running across the Odenwald, used the Main as its boundary between Großkrotzenburg and Miltenberg, and a fort with a civil settlement stood at Niedernberg, guarding the river line. The northern part of the civil settlement is listed separately as part of the UNESCO site. There is little to see above ground, as the remains lie under fields and houses, but the location by the river makes the Roman logic clear.
Read the complete Civil settlement of Niedernberg northern p write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 68 km into the recorded legs you reach Civil settlement of Niedernberg northern p. Next is Watchtowers WP 5/11 to 5/12.
Between Hanau and the river Main, the plain is flat, fertile and dense with small towns, and it hardly looks like a frontier. Yet around the year 100 the Romans ran their Upper Germanic Limes down this way to meet the Main near Großkrotzenburg, with a palisade, ditch and a line of wooden watchtowers set at intervals of a few hundred metres. The towers on the maps are labelled by section and number, and WP 5/11 and 5/12 are two of them, neighbours in a long chain that once stretched across Germany for hundreds of kilometres.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 5/11 to 5/12 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Watchtowers WP 5/11 to 5/12, about halfway. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Niedernb.
For one stretch of the Roman frontier in Germany, the soldiers did not need to build a wall at all. Between Großkrotzenburg and Miltenberg, the Main river itself served as the border, the so-called wet Limes, guarded by a chain of forts along its western bank. Niedernberg, a village on the river just below Aschaffenburg, was one of them, with a fort and a civilian settlement beside it. Little survives above ground today; the remains lie beneath fields and houses. But the Main still flows past, broad and slow, and it is easy to picture patrol boats and soldiers watching the far bank. The site is part of the Upper German-Raetian Limes World Heritage listing.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Niedernb write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Fort site and civil settlement of Niedernb sits at 140 km, about halfway. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 5/11 to 5/12.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 5/11 to 5/12 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Watchtowers WP 5/11 to 5/12 comes up about 173 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Civil settlement of Niedernberg northern p.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Civil settlement of Niedernberg northern p write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 213 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Civil settlement of Niedernberg northern p. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl, late in the day. Next is Building remains south of Götzingen.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Building remains south of Götzingen write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 283 km.
Building remains south of Götzingen → Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl → Civil settlement of Niedernberg northern p is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Civil settlement of Niedernberg northern p → Watchtowers WP 5/11 to 5/12 is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 5/11 to 5/12 → Fort site and civil settlement of Niedernb is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort site and civil settlement of Niedernb → back through Watchtowers WP 5/11 to 5/12 is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 5/11 to 5/12 → back through Civil settlement of Niedernberg northern p is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Civil settlement of Niedernberg northern p → back through Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl → Building remains south of Götzingen is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.