Why this ride
A 171 km round trip from Wilburgstetten - roughly 2 h 59 in the saddle. It goes by way of Watchtowers WP 13/37 to 13/40, Watchtower WP 14/28, Watchtower WP 13/50 and back through Watchtower WP 14/28.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Limessection between Watchtowers WP 13/5 a and Watchtower WP 13/50
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 171 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 59
- 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.
Scenic road chapters
Romantic Road
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 27 km this is Romantic Road, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 27 km
- Named road
- Romantic Road
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Limessection between Watchtowers WP 13/5 a
In the fields near Wilburgstetten, in the west of Franconia, a low ridge runs across the landscape, overgrown with grass and bushes. It looks like nothing much, but it is the remains of the Raetian Limes, the stone wall that marked the frontier of the Roman province of Raetia in the second and third centuries. Unlike the Upper German Limes to the north west, which was mostly a palisade and ditch, the Raetian section was eventually built as a continuous stone wall, more than a hundred and sixty kilometres long. Local people later called it the Teufelsmauer, the Devil's Wall, believing it could only have been built by supernatural forces. The section between watchtowers here is part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site.
Read the complete Limessection between Watchtowers WP 13/5 a write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Limessection between Watchtowers WP 13/5 a is where the day begins. Next is Watchtowers WP 13/37 to 13/40.
2. Watchtowers WP 13/37 to 13/40
In this corner of Franconia, the Roman frontier is a straight line. From the Danube near Eining the Raetian Limes ran north and then swung west across a quiet landscape of low hills and fields, and in the section near Wassertrudingen, the line is as ruler-straight as anything the Romans ever built. Here the frontier was a stone wall, unlike the timber palisade further north, and it ran between towers numbered by archaeologists. The group 13/37 to 13/40 is a short stretch of that wall and its watchtowers.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 13/37 to 13/40 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 13/37 to 13/40 comes up about 27 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtower WP 14/28.
3. Watchtower WP 14/28
Near the Franconian town of Pleinfeld, the Raetian Limes, the stone wall that marked the frontier of the province of Raetia, crossed a landscape of woods, fields and small rivers, and a watchtower stood here, one of hundreds along the line. Watchtower WP 14/28 is now a low mound or reconstructed foundation, but it is part of the Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes World Heritage listing. The frontier here was a stone wall, known locally as the Teufelsmauer, the devil's wall, because medieval villagers could not believe that humans had built it.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 14/28 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 62 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtower WP 14/28. Next is Watchtower WP 13/50.
4. Watchtower WP 13/50
In the middle of Franconia lies a string of lakes that did not exist fifty years ago. The Franconian Lake District was created by dams on the Altmuhl and other rivers, to hold floodwater and feed the Main-Danube canal, and the biggest of these lakes, the Altmuhlsee, lies right beside Gunzenhausen. Birds love it. The lake is a protected area for waders and ducks, and storks nest on the rooftops in the nearby villages.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 13/50 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtower WP 13/50, about halfway. Next is back through Watchtower WP 14/28.
5. back through Watchtower WP 14/28
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 14/28 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Watchtower WP 14/28 sits at 114 km, about halfway. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 13/37 to 13/40.
6. back through Watchtowers WP 13/37 to 13/40
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 13/37 to 13/40 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Watchtowers WP 13/37 to 13/40 comes up about 144 km into the recorded legs. Next is Limessection between Watchtowers WP 13/5 a.
7. Limessection between Watchtowers WP 13/5 a
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Limessection between Watchtowers WP 13/5 a write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Limessection between Watchtowers WP 13/5 a closes the day.
Leg by leg
Limessection between Watchtowers WP 13/5 a to Watchtowers WP 13/37 to 13/40
Limessection between Watchtowers WP 13/5 a → Watchtowers WP 13/37 to 13/40 is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 13/37 to 13/40 to Watchtower WP 14/28
Watchtowers WP 13/37 to 13/40 → Watchtower WP 14/28 is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 14/28 to Watchtower WP 13/50
Watchtower WP 14/28 → Watchtower WP 13/50 is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 13/50 to back through Watchtower WP 14/28
Watchtower WP 13/50 → back through Watchtower WP 14/28 is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtower WP 14/28 to back through Watchtowers WP 13/37 to 13/40
back through Watchtower WP 14/28 → back through Watchtowers WP 13/37 to 13/40 is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 13/37 to 13/40 to Limessection between Watchtowers WP 13/5 a
back through Watchtowers WP 13/37 to 13/40 → Limessection between Watchtowers WP 13/5 a is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
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