Fort site and civil settlement of Gnotzhei and Water Management System of Augsburg
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
276 km
Riding-time estimate
4 h 56
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.
A 276 km round trip from Wassertrüdingen - roughly 4 h 56 in the saddle. On the way it passes Fort site and civil settlement of Pfünz, Water Management System of Augsburg and back through Fort site and civil settlement of Pfünz. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Scenic road chapters
Fort site and civil settlement of Pfünz → Water Management System of A
Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through. 85 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it.
Chapter facts
Length
73 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Fort site and civil settlement of Gnotzhei
The name Heidenheim, the heathen's home, is old and has nothing to do with the famous city of the same name in Württemberg. This one is a small village on the Hahnenkamm ridge in Middle Franconia, with a big church for its size, and it takes you to a corner of Bavaria where the Roman frontier cuts through gentle farmland. Close to Gnotzheim, a fort and a civil settlement once stood here on the Raetian Limes, the Roman border that ran across southern Germany. Soldiers lived inside the walls while merchants, craftsmen and families huddled outside, and today the site is mostly a quiet field with the odd information board.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Fort site and civil settlement of Gnotzhei is where the day begins. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Pfünz.
2. Fort site and civil settlement of Pfünz
Above the village of Pfünz, on a spur of white Jura limestone looking down into the Altmühl valley, the Romans built a fort they called Vetoniana. Today a reconstructed gate and a stretch of wall stand on the hilltop, and from up there you understand the choice at once: the valley floor curls below you, the river meanders slowly, and anyone moving along it would have been seen hours before they arrived.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Fort site and civil settlement of Pfünz comes up about 65 km into the recorded legs. Next is Water Management System of Augsburg.
3. Water Management System of Augsburg
Augsburg was a Roman town, a medieval free imperial city and the home of the fabulously rich Fugger banking family, but the thing that held it all together was water. Over the centuries, the city built an intricate network of canals fed by the Lech and Wertach rivers, water towers, pumping stations and fountains, supplying clean drinking water to the citizens and power to mills and workshops. The system was so advanced that UNESCO inscribed it in 2019, recognising twenty-two sites, from the water towers at the Red Gate, dating back to the fifteenth century, to the great Renaissance fountains dedicated to Augustus, Mercury and Hercules on the main street.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Fort site and civil settlement of Gnotzhei. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Fort site and civil settlement of Gnotzhei to Fort site and civil settlement of Pfünz
Fort site and civil settlement of Gnotzhei → Fort site and civil settlement of Pfünz is 65 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort site and civil settlement of Pfünz to Water Management System of Augsburg
Fort site and civil settlement of Pfünz → Water Management System of Augsburg is 73 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Water Management System of Augsburg to back through Fort site and civil settlement of Pfünz
Water Management System of Augsburg → back through Fort site and civil settlement of Pfünz is 72 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Pfünz to Fort site and civil settlement of Gnotzhei
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Pfünz → Fort site and civil settlement of Gnotzhei is 66 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.