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.
147 km from Weißenburg in Bayern to Weißenburg in Bayern, about 2 h 51 of riding. The stops in between: Watchtower WP 13/54, Fort site and civil settlement of Ruffenho, Building remains of south of Pfahlheim and back through Fort site and civil settlement of Ruffenho. The line favours views over speed.
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 25 km this is Romantic Road, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Ellingen is a small town that punches well above its weight. Its centre is dominated by a vast baroque palace built by the Teutonic Order, the German crusading knights who later became a religious and administrative order, and who ran a commandery here for centuries. The palace, with its church, courtyards and gardens, is far grander than you would expect in such a small place. Just outside the town, the Romans had an earlier presence: a fort called Sablonetum stood here on the Raetian Limes, with a civil settlement beside it, guarding the frontier as it crossed the countryside north of Weißenburg. Its outline has been marked in the fields, and it is part of the World Heritage site of the Upper German-Raetian Limes.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Ellingen write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Fort site and civil settlement of Ellingen is where the day begins. Next is Watchtower WP 13/54.
Gunzenhausen is a small town in Middle Franconia, on the Altmühl river, and the Roman frontier ran right through it. Watchtower WP 13/54 stood within what is now the town, and the course of the frontier is traced through the streets. It is unusual to find the Roman frontier in an urban setting, and it is a nice surprise as you wander the streets.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 13/54 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Watchtower WP 13/54 comes up about 21 km into the recorded legs. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Ruffenho.
There is nothing to climb at Ruffenhofen, and that is the clever part. The Roman fort here, on gently rising ground above the Wörnitz near Weiltingen and Wittelshofen, has never been rebuilt in stone. Instead, the outline of the walls, gates and the buildings of the settlement around it has been traced across the fields with hedges, trees and mown strips, so the whole place reads like a plan drawn in plants. From the little viewing hill you can see the shape of a garrison that has been underground for seventeen centuries.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Ruffenho write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 48 km into the recorded legs you reach Fort site and civil settlement of Ruffenho. Next is Building remains of south of Pfahlheim.
The name of the village gives the game away. Pfahlheim, a part of Ellwangen in the Ostalb, takes its name from the Pfahl, the stake line, which is what generations of farmers called the Roman frontier that ran through their fields. Here, at the edge of what is now Baden-Württemberg, the Upper German Limes and the Raetian Limes met, and the building remains south of the village are one of many small components of the UNESCO-listed Upper German-Raetian Limes. The frontier ran almost dead straight across this country for long distances, ignoring hills and streams in a way that still baffles people. There is very little to see on the ground today, perhaps a low bank or a signboard, but the line can be traced by eye if you know where to look.
Read the complete Building remains of south of Pfahlheim write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Building remains of south of Pfahlheim, about halfway. Next is back through Fort site and civil settlement of Ruffenho.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Ruffenho write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Ruffenho sits at 105 km, about halfway. Next is back through Watchtower WP 13/54.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 13/54 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Watchtower WP 13/54 comes up about 125 km into the recorded legs. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Ellingen.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Ellingen write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Fort site and civil settlement of Ellingen closes the day.
Fort site and civil settlement of Ellingen → Watchtower WP 13/54 is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 13/54 → Fort site and civil settlement of Ruffenho is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort site and civil settlement of Ruffenho → Building remains of south of Pfahlheim is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Building remains of south of Pfahlheim → back through Fort site and civil settlement of Ruffenho is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Ruffenho → back through Watchtower WP 13/54 is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtower WP 13/54 → Fort site and civil settlement of Ellingen is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.