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 Mainhardt it runs 75 km to Mainhardt; allow about 1 h 29 of riding. The stops in between: Fort site and civil settlement of Murrhard, Fort site and civil settlement of Welheim and back through Fort site and civil settlement of Murrhard.
Mainhardt sits high in the Swabian-Franconian Forest, between Heilbronn and Schwäbisch Hall, on a wooded plateau that the Romans chose for one of the forts guarding their frontier. The Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes runs through here on its long, ruler-straight stretch heading south towards Welzheim, and along it stood watchtowers every few hundred metres, with small buildings nearby for the soldiers who manned them. The remains south of one of these towers are modest, low foundations in a clearing or under the forest floor, but they are part of the World Heritage frontier that runs for more than five hundred kilometres across Germany. The village has a small Roman museum that explains the fort and its garrison.
Read the complete Building remains south of the watchtower W write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Building remains south of the watchtower W is where the day begins. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Murrhard.
A Roman cohort fort once stood where Murrhardt's streets now run, on the Upper Germanic Limes as it cut south through the forest toward Welzheim, and a civilian settlement of traders, craftsmen and soldiers' families grew up around it. Some remains have been found under the town, and the local museum tells the story. The Romans left, but the site remained attractive, and in the early Middle Ages a monastery was founded here, associated with Saint Walterich, a hermit whose small chapel, the Walterichskapelle, is a jewel of late Romanesque architecture.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Murrhard write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Fort site and civil settlement of Murrhard comes up about 20 km into the recorded legs. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Welheim-.
Welzheim sits up in the Swabian-Franconian Forest, a rolling upland of spruce, beech, deep stream valleys and old sawmills east of Stuttgart, and the Romans chose it for the same reason the forest still feels remote today: it was the edge. The Upper German-Raetian Limes ran dead straight through these woods, and Welzheim had not one fort but two, an east and a west fort, with a civilian settlement of traders, craftsmen and soldiers' families packed around them. The east fort has a reconstructed gate and a small archaeological park that gives you a good sense of scale, and the whole frontier line is part of a UNESCO site.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Welheim- write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 37 km into the recorded legs you reach Fort site and civil settlement of Welheim-. Next is back through Fort site and civil settlement of Murrhard.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Murrhard write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Murrhard, late in the day. Next is Building remains south of the watchtower W.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Building remains south of the watchtower W write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Building remains south of the watchtower W. That is the ride.
Building remains south of the watchtower W → Fort site and civil settlement of Murrhard is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort site and civil settlement of Murrhard → Fort site and civil settlement of Welheim- is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort site and civil settlement of Welheim- → back through Fort site and civil settlement of Murrhard is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Murrhard → Building remains south of the watchtower W is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.