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 347 km round trip from Gatchina - roughly 4 h 54 in the saddle. On the way it passes The Ratkov-Rozhnov'a Estate «Dubki», Schlisselburg. Old Ladoga and New Ladoga c and back through The Ratkov-Rozhnov'a Estate «Dubki». It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
For about 67 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.
101 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it. Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through.
Gatchina is the kind of town you reach by flat, straight Ingrian roads, and the first impression is of birch, pine and wide skies rather than anything dramatic. Forty-odd kilometres south-west of St Petersburg, it sits on land that was once swampy and sparsely settled, until the eighteenth century decided otherwise. Catherine the Great gave the estate to her favourite Grigory Orlov, and the architect Antonio Rinaldi built him a severe, castle-like palace of local limestone beside a lake. After Orlov died it passed to her son Paul, who made it his private kingdom, drilled his soldiers on the parade ground and added the odd fortress-style touches that suited his nature.
Read the complete Historical Centre of the Town of Gatchina write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Historical Centre of the Town of Gatchina is where the day begins. Next is The Ratkov-Rozhnov'a Estate «Dubki».
Lomonosov used to be called Oranienbaum, and the name still describes it well: an orange tree, a German version of a Russian palace town. Prince Menshikov, Peter the Great's closest associate, began building it in the early eighteenth century, and later it passed to the imperial family. The town lies on the south shore of the Gulf of Finland, a few kilometres west of Peterhof, and the palaces and parks of Oranienbaum are part of the UNESCO listing for the historic centre of Saint Petersburg. The Ratkov-Rozhnov estate called Dubki belongs to the same belt of country dachas and manors, and it takes its name from the little oaks that once grew there.
Read the complete The Ratkov-Rozhnov'a Estate «Dubki» write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The Ratkov-Rozhnov'a Estate «Dubki» comes up about 67 km into the recorded legs. Next is Schlisselburg. Old Ladoga and New Ladoga c, 81 km on.
The fortress at Shlisselburg is built on an island in the river, at the very spot where the Neva leaves Lake Ladoga, and whoever held it held the water road between the Baltic and the heart of Russia. The Novgorodians built the first wooden walls in 1323, and called the place Oreshek, which means little nut, after the island's shape. Over the next four centuries it passed between Russians and Swedes, until in 1702 Peter the Great stormed it on his way to the sea, and renamed it Schlusselburg, the key fortress, a key that would unlock the Baltic. Within a year he had founded Saint Petersburg downstream.
Read the complete Schlisselburg. Old Ladoga and New Ladoga c write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 171 km into the recorded legs you reach Schlisselburg. Old Ladoga and New Ladoga c. Next is back through The Ratkov-Rozhnov'a Estate «Dubki».
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Ratkov-Rozhnov'a Estate «Dubki» write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through The Ratkov-Rozhnov'a Estate «Dubki», late in the day. Next is Historical Centre of the Town of Gatchina.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Historical Centre of the Town of Gatchina write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Historical Centre of the Town of Gatchina. That is the ride.
Historical Centre of the Town of Gatchina → The Ratkov-Rozhnov'a Estate «Dubki» is 67 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Ratkov-Rozhnov'a Estate «Dubki» → Schlisselburg. Old Ladoga and New Ladoga c is 104 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Schlisselburg. Old Ladoga and New Ladoga c → back through The Ratkov-Rozhnov'a Estate «Dubki» is 103 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through The Ratkov-Rozhnov'a Estate «Dubki» → Historical Centre of the Town of Gatchina is 73 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.