Why this ride
233 km from Alfter to Alfter, about 4 h 15 of riding. It goes by way of Iversheim, Fortlet Rheinbohl, Watchtower WP 1/51 and back through Fortlet Rheinbohl. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Kottenforst Nord | Dürrenbruch 1 and Watchtower WP 1/51
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 233 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 15
- 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. Kottenforst Nord | Dürrenbruch 1
A forest closer to a city than most people realise, the Kottenforst spreads over a low ridge between Bonn and the Eifel foothills, and the Dürrenbruch is one of the quiet corners of its northern half. The old prince-electors of Cologne used it as a hunting ground, cutting long straight rides through the trees that radiate like the spokes of a wheel, which is why the forest feels strangely geometrical when you look at a map. Today it is a Bonn-area refuge of beech, oak and hornbeam, cut by cycle paths and walking trails.
Read the complete Kottenforst Nord | Dürrenbruch 1 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kottenforst Nord | Dürrenbruch 1 is where the day begins. Next is Iversheim.
2. Iversheim
Iversheim is a village in the valley of the Erft, at the northern edge of the Eifel, just downstream from the old spa town of Bad Münstereifel. It is known for one thing: a Roman lime-burning works, one of the best preserved in Europe. The Romans built a series of kilns here to burn limestone from the surrounding hills into quicklime, which was used to make mortar for the forts, towns and roads of the province of Lower Germany. The kilns were worked by detachments of soldiers from the Rhine legions, as inscriptions found on the site show.
Read the complete Iversheim write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Iversheim comes up about 29 km into the recorded legs. Next is Fortlet Rheinbohl.
3. Fortlet Rheinbohl
Rheinbrohl is where Germany's longest Roman frontier begins. The Upper Germanic Limes, a line of watchtowers, palisades and forts, starts at the Rhine here and runs east and south for some five hundred kilometres across Germany. At the Rheinbohl fortlet you can see the lines of a small Roman post, a few dozen soldiers who watched the river approach and the crossing over to the left bank. It is a modest place in terms of stonework, but the idea is wonderfully clear: an empire decided that this is where it ended, and put a post on the end of it.
Read the complete Fortlet Rheinbohl write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 89 km into the recorded legs you reach Fortlet Rheinbohl. Next is Watchtower WP 1/51.
4. Watchtower WP 1/51
The Upper Germanic Limes does not start with a bang. Near Bendorf, on the slopes where the Westerwald drops toward the Rhine at the Neuwied basin, it is a matter of reading the woods: a low bank here, a shallow ditch there, and the spot where a Roman watchtower once stood, numbered by archaeologists as WP 1/51. The towers were placed within sight of each other, timber at first and later stone, so that a signal could pass along the frontier faster than any rider. Standing here among the beech trees you are close to the northern end of a border that ran more than five hundred kilometres to the Danube.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/51 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtower WP 1/51, about halfway. Next is back through Fortlet Rheinbohl.
5. back through Fortlet Rheinbohl
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fortlet Rheinbohl write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Fortlet Rheinbohl sits at 143 km, about halfway. Next is back through Iversheim.
6. back through Iversheim
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Iversheim write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Iversheim comes up about 203 km into the recorded legs. Next is Kottenforst Nord | Dürrenbruch 1.
7. Kottenforst Nord | Dürrenbruch 1
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Kottenforst Nord | Dürrenbruch 1 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kottenforst Nord | Dürrenbruch 1 closes the day.
Leg by leg
Kottenforst Nord | Dürrenbruch 1 to Iversheim
Kottenforst Nord | Dürrenbruch 1 → Iversheim is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Iversheim to Fortlet Rheinbohl
Iversheim → Fortlet Rheinbohl is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fortlet Rheinbohl to Watchtower WP 1/51
Fortlet Rheinbohl → Watchtower WP 1/51 is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 1/51 to back through Fortlet Rheinbohl
Watchtower WP 1/51 → back through Fortlet Rheinbohl is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fortlet Rheinbohl to back through Iversheim
back through Fortlet Rheinbohl → back through Iversheim is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Iversheim to Kottenforst Nord | Dürrenbruch 1
back through Iversheim → Kottenforst Nord | Dürrenbruch 1 is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.