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 298 km round trip from Bad Hönningen - roughly 5 h 06 in the saddle. On the way it passes Watchtower WP 1/64, Watchtowers WP WP 2/23 to 2/26 including f, Watchtowers WP 3/20 to 3/22 and Fortlet Lochmühle. The line favours views over speed.
For about 33 km this is Moselle Wine Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it — expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast.
The ride follows Watchtowers WP 3/20 to 3/22 → Fortlet Lochmühle for 38 km.
Two thousand years ago, the frontier of the Roman Empire in Germany began right here. The Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes, a line of watchtowers, forts, palisades and ditches stretching more than five hundred kilometres to the Danube, started on the right bank of the Rhine at Rheinbrohl, and the watchtowers numbered WP 1/1 and onwards marched away from the river into the wooded hills. This little section between Rheinbrohl and Bad Hönningen is the very beginning of the line, part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage site.
Read the complete Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a is where the day begins. Next is Watchtower WP 1/64.
Höhr-Grenzhausen smells of clay and fire. The town, in the Westerwald hills north east of Koblenz, is the heart of the Kannenbäckerland, the jug-bakers' land, where potters have been making salt-glazed stoneware for centuries, with its characteristic grey body and cobalt blue decoration. Westerwald stoneware jugs, mugs and pots were exported across Europe and beyond, and the craft is still alive today, with workshops, a ceramics museum and a college for ceramic design. The Roman frontier ran right past the town, and the site of watchtower WP 1/64, near Höhr-Grenzhausen, is one of the many traces of the Upper German Limes, part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/64 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Watchtower WP 1/64 comes up about 33 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtowers WP WP 2/23 to 2/26 including f.
North of the Taunus ridge, the Limes crossed a high, open plateau between the Rhine and the Lahn, and the stretch with watchtowers 2/23 to 2/26 runs through the farmland and woods near Miehlen and Singhofen in the Rhein-Lahn district. The remains here are subtle, mostly low banks and the traces of towers in fields and forest edges, but the line of the frontier is marked by the long-distance Limes trail and information boards. This is part of the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire, a stretch of the line that few visitors ever see.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP WP 2/23 to 2/26 including f write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 76 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtowers WP WP 2/23 to 2/26 including f. Next is Watchtowers WP 3/20 to 3/22.
The Taunus is the low, wooded range north of Frankfurt, and the Romans chose it as the place to draw their line. The Limes crossed the ridge at a height that gave good views over both sides, and watchtowers placed close together made it possible to send signals by fire and smoke from tower to tower. The numbers, such as WP 3/20, are from the survey carried out by German archaeologists at the end of the nineteenth century, and they refer to the third section of the line. The Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes was listed by UNESCO in 2005.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 3/20 to 3/22 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Watchtowers WP 3/20 to 3/22, about halfway. Next is Fortlet Lochmühle.
The Lochmühle is a small fortlet on the Limes in the Taunus, near Wehrheim and the famous Saalburg, and it guarded a spot where the frontier crossed the valley of the Erlenbach stream. Fortlets like this were small outposts, housing a handful of soldiers who watched the border and controlled traffic, and they formed a link between the watchtowers and the larger forts. Its remains are modest, but the location, in a quiet valley surrounded by forest, has a peaceful charm. The name comes from a nearby mill, now a popular leisure park for families with play areas and farm animals.
Read the complete Fortlet Lochmühle write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Fortlet Lochmühle sits at 140 km, about halfway. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 3/20 to 3/22.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 3/20 to 3/22 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Watchtowers WP 3/20 to 3/22 comes up about 189 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Watchtowers WP WP 2/23 to 2/26 including f.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP WP 2/23 to 2/26 including f write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 226 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Watchtowers WP WP 2/23 to 2/26 including f. Next is back through Watchtower WP 1/64.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/64 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Watchtower WP 1/64, late in the day. Next is Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 298 km.
Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a → Watchtower WP 1/64 is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 1/64 → Watchtowers WP WP 2/23 to 2/26 including f is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP WP 2/23 to 2/26 including f → Watchtowers WP 3/20 to 3/22 is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 3/20 to 3/22 → Fortlet Lochmühle is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fortlet Lochmühle → back through Watchtowers WP 3/20 to 3/22 is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 3/20 to 3/22 → back through Watchtowers WP WP 2/23 to 2/26 including f is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP WP 2/23 to 2/26 including f → back through Watchtower WP 1/64 is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtower WP 1/64 → Limes section between watchtowers WP 1/2 a is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.