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 Kronstadt it runs 191 km to Kronstadt; allow about 3 h 34 of riding. It goes by way of Kronstadtsky, Peterhofskaya Road, The Palace and Park Ensemble of the Villag and back through Peterhofskaya Road. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
For about 24 km this is Saint Petersburg Imperial Shore, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it — expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast.
The ride follows Peterhofskaya Road → The Palace and Park Ensemble of the Villag for 24 km.
Fort Obruchev stands on a man-made islet in the shallows of the Gulf of Finland, one of the chain of sea forts that gave Kronstadt its reputation as the strongest naval fortress in the world. Named, as I understand it, for General Nikolai Obruchev, a leading military planner of the late nineteenth century, it belongs to the northern line of the defences, built of granite and brick with casemates facing the main channel. Eight kilometres from Kronstadt town, it is reachable by boat or visible from the ring road across the dam, and in practice many of these forts are closed, derelict and under military control, so view it from a distance rather than expecting to land.
Read the complete Fort «Obrutchev» write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Fort «Obrutchev» is where the day begins. Next is Kronstadtsky.
This stretch is the north shore of the Gulf of Finland, the coast that runs west from the Neva delta toward Sestroretsk and the Karelian Isthmus. The label points to the Kronstadtsky district name rather than a single monument, so think of it as a tract of seaside land, with the port town of Lisiy Nos about five kilometres away and the larger suburb of Lakhtinsky eight kilometres off. Lisiy Nos means Fox's Nose, a cape that pokes out into the gulf, and from here on a clear day you can look south across the water to the low silhouette of Kotlin Island.
Read the complete Kronstadtsky write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Kronstadtsky comes up about 24 km into the recorded legs. Next is Peterhofskaya Road.
Peterhofskaya Road was once the grandest road out of St Petersburg. Running southwest from the city along the shore of the Gulf of Finland toward Strelna and Peterhof, it was lined in the eighteenth century with country estates, dachas and palaces built by the nobility, who wanted to be close to the imperial residences along the coast. Peter the Great started the trend, granting plots to courtiers along the road, and the result was a chain of estates with gardens, parks and ponds stretching for miles. Many of these estates survive in some form, and the road and its surroundings are part of the UNESCO listing of the historic centre of St Petersburg and related groups of monuments.
Read the complete Peterhofskaya Road write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 72 km into the recorded legs you reach Peterhofskaya Road. Next is The Palace and Park Ensemble of the Villag.
The village of Taitsy, south of Saint Petersburg near Krasnoye Selo, is home to an estate built in the eighteenth century for the Demidov family, the industrial dynasty whose fortune came from iron and metalworks in the Urals. The classical manor house, attributed to the architect Ivan Starov, stands in a landscape park with ponds and springs, and those springs mattered far beyond the estate: the Taitsy water conduit, built in the eighteenth century, carried water from here to the palaces and fountains of Tsarskoye Selo.
Read the complete The Palace and Park Ensemble of the Villag write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The Palace and Park Ensemble of the Villag, about halfway. Next is back through Peterhofskaya Road.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Peterhofskaya Road write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Peterhofskaya Road sits at 99 km, about halfway. Next is back through Kronstadtsky.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Kronstadtsky write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Kronstadtsky comes up about 166 km into the recorded legs. Next is Fort «Obrutchev».
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fort «Obrutchev» write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Fort «Obrutchev» closes the day.
Fort «Obrutchev» → Kronstadtsky is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kronstadtsky → Peterhofskaya Road is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Peterhofskaya Road → The Palace and Park Ensemble of the Villag is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Palace and Park Ensemble of the Villag → back through Peterhofskaya Road is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Peterhofskaya Road → back through Kronstadtsky is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Kronstadtsky → Fort «Obrutchev» is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.