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.
A 151 km round trip from Weißenburg in Bayern - roughly 2 h 57 in the saddle. 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. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
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.
Under the modern town of Weißenburg, in Franconia, lie the remains of a Roman fort called Biriciana, and it holds one of the best finds of the frontier. The fort was built in the second century to guard the line of the Raetian Limes, and a civil settlement grew up next to it, and in the third century it had a bathhouse that is the best preserved Roman bath north of the Alps. The walls of the baths still stand to a good height, with the heating system, the changing rooms and the pools, and a modern building protects them. Next to the baths is a museum, which holds a hoard of silver and bronze objects found in 1979 during building work, including statuettes of gods that were buried in a pit, probably to hide them.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Weissenb write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Fort site and civil settlement of Weissenb 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 24 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 51 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 128 km into the recorded legs. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Weissenb.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Weissenb write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Fort site and civil settlement of Weissenb closes the day.
Fort site and civil settlement of Weissenb → Watchtower WP 13/54 is 24 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 Weissenb is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.