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.
266 km from Rudabánya to Rudabánya, about 4 h 57 of riding. It goes by way of Component of Esztramos Hill, Component of Koniar plateau, Dobšinská Ice Cave and back through Component of Koniar plateau. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 800 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It crosses from Hungary into Slovakia - carry ID and check vignette or toll rules. The line favours views over speed.
Under the hills on the border of Hungary and Slovakia lies one of the largest cave systems in Europe. The Baradla cave, entered from Aggtelek on the Hungarian side and from Domica on the Slovak side, runs for some twenty-five kilometres through limestone, a gallery of stalactites, stalagmites and underground rivers, and parts of it are open to visitors. It is the heart of the Aggtelek and Slovak Karst, a cross-border UNESCO site of more than seven hundred caves, listed in 1995 and extended in 2000. Concerts are held in the largest chamber, where the acoustics are excellent, and the temperature underground stays at a constant cool level, a relief in summer.
Read the complete Caves of Aggtelek Karst and Slovak Karst write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Caves of Aggtelek Karst and Slovak Karst is where the day begins. Next is Component of Esztramos Hill.
Esztramos is a lumpy limestone hill rising from the valley of the Bódva in north-eastern Hungary, a stone's throw from the Slovak border. For much of the twentieth century it was quarried for limestone and iron ore, and in the process the miners broke into caves hidden inside it, full of crystal formations. The Rákóczi Cave, the best known of them, has delicate aragonite crystals and pools, and the hill now forms part of the Caves of Aggtelek Karst and Slovak Karst, a World Heritage site shared between the two countries. Visits to the cave are limited and usually need to be booked, so check before you count on getting inside.
Read the complete Component of Esztramos Hill write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Component of Esztramos Hill comes up about 25 km into the recorded legs. Next is Component of Koniar plateau.
The Koniar plateau is a slab of limestone lifted above the surrounding valleys in southern Slovakia, one of the high karst tablelands that together make up the Slovak Karst. From the road it looks like nothing much: open grassland, scattered trees, a few pastures, steep wooded edges falling to the valleys of the Slaná and its tributaries. The interest is underneath. Rain soaks straight through the limestone, carving caves, shafts and swallow holes, and the whole cave system of the Slovak Karst and Hungary's Aggtelek, just over the border, is protected as a single World Heritage site. Nearby you will find the Ochtinská aragonite cave, filled with white needle-like crystals, the Gombasecká cave with its thin straw stalactites and, further north, the Dobšinská ice cave.
Read the complete Component of Koniar plateau write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 85 km into the recorded legs you reach Component of Koniar plateau. Next is Dobšinská Ice Cave.
Step out of a warm summer day into the Dobšinská Ice Cave and the temperature drops to just below freezing within a few metres. The cave, on the northern edge of the Slovak Paradise in eastern Slovakia, holds a vast mass of ice, tens of thousands of cubic metres, with frozen floors, walls and columns that have built up over thousands of years. It was explored in 1870 by Eugen Ruffinyi, opened to visitors soon after, and became one of the first caves in Europe to be lit by electricity. It is part of the UNESCO-listed Caves of Aggtelek Karst and Slovak Karst, shared with Hungary.
Read the complete Dobšinská Ice Cave write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Dobšinská Ice Cave, about halfway. Next is back through Component of Koniar plateau.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Component of Koniar plateau write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Component of Koniar plateau sits at 145 km, about halfway. Next is back through Component of Esztramos Hill.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Component of Esztramos Hill write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Component of Esztramos Hill comes up about 241 km into the recorded legs. Next is Caves of Aggtelek Karst and Slovak Karst.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Caves of Aggtelek Karst and Slovak Karst write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Caves of Aggtelek Karst and Slovak Karst closes the day.
Caves of Aggtelek Karst and Slovak Karst → Component of Esztramos Hill is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Component of Esztramos Hill → Component of Koniar plateau is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Component of Koniar plateau → Dobšinská Ice Cave is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Dobšinská Ice Cave → back through Component of Koniar plateau is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Component of Koniar plateau → back through Component of Esztramos Hill is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Component of Esztramos Hill → Caves of Aggtelek Karst and Slovak Karst is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.