Why this ride
A 335 km round trip from Friedberg - roughly 4 h 24 in the saddle. The stops in between: Watchtower WP 3/1 to 3/14 including the ci, Watchtower WP 1/61 and back through Watchtower WP 3/1 to 3/14 including the ci.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Fort site and civil settlement of Friedber and Watchtower WP 1/61
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 335 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 24
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Fort site and civil settlement of Friedber
Friedberg's castle stands on a basalt ridge above the Wetterau, a walled enclosure so large it is almost a town of its own, with a tall round tower, the Adolfsturm, rising above the trees. What most visitors walking through the castle gate do not know is that they are standing on a Roman fort. The legions chose this same ridge in the first century AD, and a fort with a civil settlement grew up here, linked by road to the Limes a few kilometres to the north and west.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Friedber write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Fort site and civil settlement of Friedber is where the day begins. Next is Watchtower WP 3/1 to 3/14 including the ci.
2. Watchtower WP 3/1 to 3/14 including the ci
The Taunus is the green upland that keeps Frankfurt's weekend riders sane, and running right across it is the line of the Roman frontier. The stretch of watchtowers numbered 3/1 to 3/14 lies near Taunusstein, north of Wiesbaden, where the Upper Germanic Limes crossed the ridge, and it includes the remains of forts and their civilian settlements. One of the best known nearby is the fort of Zugmantel, near the hamlet of Orlen, where the outline of the fort, the palisade line and reconstructed watchtowers give a real sense of the frontier. The whole line is part of the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 3/1 to 3/14 including the ci write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtower WP 3/1 to 3/14 including the ci comes up about 85 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtower WP 1/61.
3. Watchtower WP 1/61
Höhr-Grenzhausen is clay country, and that decides almost everything about this part of the Westerwald. The hills hold a thick seam of fine, high-quality stoneware clay, and for centuries the area has been known as the Kannenbäckerland, the land of the jug makers. Grey salt-glazed pottery with blue decoration, called Westerwald stoneware, was exported across Europe from here, and workshops and a ceramics museum still keep the trade alive. It is a surprising backdrop for a Roman watchtower, but the Romans were here first, and WP 1/61 is one of the numbered posts of the Upper German-Raetian Limes, which UNESCO listed in 2005.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/61 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 155 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtower WP 1/61. Next is back through Watchtower WP 3/1 to 3/14 including the ci.
4. back through Watchtower WP 3/1 to 3/14 including the ci
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 3/1 to 3/14 including the ci write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Watchtower WP 3/1 to 3/14 including the ci, late in the day. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Friedber.
5. Fort site and civil settlement of Friedber
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Friedber write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Fort site and civil settlement of Friedber. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Fort site and civil settlement of Friedber to Watchtower WP 3/1 to 3/14 including the ci
Fort site and civil settlement of Friedber → Watchtower WP 3/1 to 3/14 including the ci is 85 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 3/1 to 3/14 including the ci to Watchtower WP 1/61
Watchtower WP 3/1 to 3/14 including the ci → Watchtower WP 1/61 is 70 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 1/61 to back through Watchtower WP 3/1 to 3/14 including the ci
Watchtower WP 1/61 → back through Watchtower WP 3/1 to 3/14 including the ci is 94 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtower WP 3/1 to 3/14 including the ci to Fort site and civil settlement of Friedber
back through Watchtower WP 3/1 to 3/14 including the ci → Fort site and civil settlement of Friedber is 85 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.