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.
From Murrhardt it runs 75 km to Murrhardt; allow about 1 h 22 of riding. The stops in between: Fort site and civil settlement of Welheim, Fortlet of Freimühle and back through Fort site and civil settlement of Welheim. The line favours views over speed.
Murrhardt lies in the valley of the Murr, deep in the Swabian-Franconian Forest northeast of Stuttgart, a hilly, densely wooded region of streams, mills and small villages that feels a long way from the industrial heartland just to the west. The Romans built a fort here on the Limes, the frontier that ran through these forests from north to south, and a civil settlement grew up around it. The northern part of that settlement lies under parts of the modern town, and while there is little to see, the town's museum displays Roman finds, and the frontier through these woods is protected by its World Heritage status.
Read the complete Murrhardt civil settlement northern part write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Murrhardt civil settlement northern part is where the day begins. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Welheim-.
Welzheim sits up in the Swabian-Franconian Forest, a rolling upland of spruce, beech, deep stream valleys and old sawmills east of Stuttgart, and the Romans chose it for the same reason the forest still feels remote today: it was the edge. The Upper German-Raetian Limes ran dead straight through these woods, and Welzheim had not one fort but two, an east and a west fort, with a civilian settlement of traders, craftsmen and soldiers' families packed around them. The east fort has a reconstructed gate and a small archaeological park that gives you a good sense of scale, and the whole frontier line is part of a UNESCO site.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Welheim- write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Fort site and civil settlement of Welheim- comes up about 18 km into the recorded legs. Next is Fortlet of Freimühle.
Schwäbisch Gmünd sits in the Rems valley below the Swabian Jura, at the foot of the hill where the Staufer dynasty built their castle, and the Roman frontier ran through the same country. The Upper Germanic Limes crosses the Rems valley near here, and at Freimühle a small fortlet was set on the slope above the river to watch the line, a modest square of earth bank that archaeologists have traced and the town has marked. It is a quiet and easily missed spot, but a nice reminder that the Romans knew a good viewpoint.
Read the complete Fortlet of Freimühle write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 38 km into the recorded legs you reach Fortlet of Freimühle. Next is back through Fort site and civil settlement of Welheim-.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Welheim- write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Welheim-, late in the day. Next is Murrhardt civil settlement northern part.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Murrhardt civil settlement northern part write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Murrhardt civil settlement northern part. That is the ride.
Murrhardt civil settlement northern part → Fort site and civil settlement of Welheim- is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort site and civil settlement of Welheim- → Fortlet of Freimühle is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fortlet of Freimühle → back through Fort site and civil settlement of Welheim- is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Welheim- → Murrhardt civil settlement northern part is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.