East Wall Area 2E to 2F and Crooked Wall Area 4

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. East Wall Area 2E to 2F

   The Danevirke is a wall, or rather a series of walls, that once stretched across the neck of the Jutland peninsula, and this stretch is the eastern end, near the Windeby lake and the shore of the Baltic. The first earthworks went up in the seventh century, and later kings of Denmark extended them in several phases, culminating in a brick-faced wall built in the twelfth century under Valdemar the Great. The purpose was to protect the southern border against the Franks and the Saxons, and it worked more or less for several hundred years. A few steps along the grassy bank, and you can see a low ridge and a ditch, easily mistaken for a hedgerow.

   Read the complete East Wall Area 2E to 2F write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   East Wall Area 2E to 2F is where the day begins. Next is Kovirke Area 8.

2. 2. Kovirke Area 8

   Kovirke is the name of one of the oldest sections of the Danevirke, the great earthwork that guarded the southern border of Denmark for the better part of a thousand years. From the early eighth century, the Danes built ramparts, ditches and later brick walls across the narrow neck of land between the Baltic and the North Sea, and the system grew in stages. Neighbouring sections have names of their own, the Crooked Wall among them, and the Kovirke is among the earliest. The line runs through fields and woodland, a long bank that you can see best in the low light of morning or evening.

   Read the complete Kovirke Area 8 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Kovirke Area 8 comes up about 16 km into the recorded legs. Next is Crooked Wall Area 4.

3. 3. Crooked Wall Area 4

   Here the ground is flat, wet and green, and a long, low bank runs across it for no obvious reason. The bank is the Krummwall, the Crooked Wall, one of the oldest sections of the Danevirke, the great system of ramparts that the Danes built across the neck of the Jutland peninsula against their southern neighbours. The first banks go back to the early Middle Ages, and the line was added to and rebuilt for centuries, in timber, earth and brick, until the nineteenth century. UNESCO recognised the Danevirke, together with the Viking town of Hedeby, in 2018.

   Read the complete Crooked Wall Area 4 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 33 km into the recorded legs you reach Crooked Wall Area 4. Next is back through Kovirke Area 8.

4. 4. back through Kovirke Area 8

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Kovirke Area 8 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Kovirke Area 8, late in the day. Next is East Wall Area 2E to 2F.

5. 5. East Wall Area 2E to 2F

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete East Wall Area 2E to 2F write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at East Wall Area 2E to 2F. That is the ride.