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 381 km round trip from Trier - roughly 5 h 28 in the saddle. The stops in between: Völklingen Ironworks, Place Stanislas and back through Völklingen Ironworks. It crosses from Germany into France - carry ID and check the toll rules. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
A Roman bridge still carries traffic across the Moselle at Trier, and that is not a figure of speech. The stone piers of the Romerbrucke, the old bridge in the centre of town, date to the second century AD, which makes it the oldest bridge north of the Alps, and cars, cyclists and pedestrians cross it every day on a road deck rebuilt many times over. Trier itself was founded as Augusta Treverorum in the reign of Augustus, grew into one of the great cities of the western empire, and served for a time as an imperial residence. The Emperor Constantine had a basilica built here, still standing with its great hall, and a monumental gate made of dark sandstone, the Porta Nigra, has dominated the northern entrance of the town for eighteen centuries.
Read the complete Moselle Bridge write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Moselle Bridge is where the day begins. Next is Völklingen Ironworks.
Rust, soot and colossal machinery: the Völklingen Ironworks is a cathedral of heavy industry, and walking through it is an overwhelming experience. Founded in 1873 and developed by the Röchling family into one of the largest iron producers in Europe, the works produced pig iron from 1883 until 1986, when the blast furnaces were shut down. Instead of being demolished, the complex was preserved, and in 1994 it became the first industrial monument from the heyday of heavy industry to be listed by UNESCO. Today visitors can climb the blast furnaces, walk through the huge blowing engine hall, and explore the coking plant and the ore storage, much of which has been taken over by nature, with birch trees and wild plants growing among the steel.
Read the complete Völklingen Ironworks write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Völklingen Ironworks comes up about 76 km into the recorded legs. Next is Place Stanislas.
Place Stanislas in Nancy is the work of a king without a kingdom. Stanislas Leszczyński, twice king of Poland and father-in-law of Louis XV, was given the Duchy of Lorraine in 1737 as a consolation prize, and he spent the rest of his life rebuilding its capital. The great square that bears his name, laid out in the 1750s by the architect Emmanuel Héré, links the old medieval town with the newer quarter, and it is one of the most harmonious public spaces in Europe. Pale stone buildings with curved corners stand around a wide cobbled space, and a statue of the duke stands in the middle.
Read the complete Place Stanislas write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 189 km into the recorded legs you reach Place Stanislas. Next is back through Völklingen Ironworks.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Völklingen Ironworks write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Völklingen Ironworks, late in the day. Next is Moselle Bridge.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Moselle Bridge write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Moselle Bridge. That is the ride.
Moselle Bridge → Völklingen Ironworks is 76 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Völklingen Ironworks → Place Stanislas is 113 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Place Stanislas → back through Völklingen Ironworks is 112 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Völklingen Ironworks → Moselle Bridge is 80 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.