Why this ride
From Alfter it runs 265 km to Alfter; allow about 3 h 23 of riding. The stops in between: Dormagen, Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex in and back through Dormagen.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Kottenforst Süd | Oben der Krayermaar and Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex in
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 265 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 23
- 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 Süd | Oben der Krayermaar
The southern Kottenforst is the Bonn locals' own backyard, and on a fine Sunday it feels like it. Tracks and rides cross the woodland in all directions, and the people on them are walkers, joggers, riders and families on bicycles rather than motorbikes. The name on the label, with its mention of a pond-like hollow called Maar, hints at the wet, clay-lined depressions that dot this plateau and hold water after rain. Underneath lie old Roman remains too, including part of the Eifel aqueduct that carried water toward Cologne, though you will see it only if you know where to look.
Read the complete Kottenforst Süd | Oben der Krayermaar write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kottenforst Süd | Oben der Krayermaar is where the day begins. Next is Dormagen.
2. Dormagen
Dormagen is not the sort of place that ends up on postcards, and it does not try to be. It is a working town of some sixty thousand on the left bank of the Rhine between Cologne and Düsseldorf, dominated on its northern side by a huge chemical park whose pipes and stacks glow at night. Yet the name itself comes from Roman times: Durnomagus was a fort on the Lower German Limes, the Rhine frontier that UNESCO listed in 2021, and a cavalry unit was stationed here to patrol the river and the road along it.
Read the complete Dormagen write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Dormagen comes up about 63 km into the recorded legs. Next is Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex in.
3. Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex in
The headframe of Shaft XII at Zollverein, with its red steel lattice and double wheels, is the Eiffel Tower of the Ruhr, and it is easy to see why. Designed by the architects Fritz Schupp and Martin Kremmer and opened in 1932, the shaft and its surrounding buildings were built in a clean, functional style influenced by the Bauhaus, and it was hailed as the most beautiful coal mine in the world. At its peak, Zollverein was one of the largest and most productive mines in Europe, and the adjacent coking plant processed coal into coke for the steel industry. The mine closed in 1986, the coking plant in 1993, and UNESCO listed the complex in 2001.
Read the complete Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex in write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 133 km into the recorded legs you reach Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex in. Next is back through Dormagen.
4. back through Dormagen
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Dormagen write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Dormagen, late in the day. Next is Kottenforst Süd | Oben der Krayermaar.
5. Kottenforst Süd | Oben der Krayermaar
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Kottenforst Süd | Oben der Krayermaar write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Kottenforst Süd | Oben der Krayermaar. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Kottenforst Süd | Oben der Krayermaar to Dormagen
Kottenforst Süd | Oben der Krayermaar → Dormagen is 63 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Dormagen to Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex in
Dormagen → Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex in is 70 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex in to back through Dormagen
Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex in → back through Dormagen is 72 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Dormagen to Kottenforst Süd | Oben der Krayermaar
back through Dormagen → Kottenforst Süd | Oben der Krayermaar is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.