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 260 km round trip from Songyang - roughly 3 h 53 in the saddle. It goes by way of Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han, Site of Han’gu Pass of Han Dynasty in Xin’ and back through Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han. Expect gradients and long views.
The oldest surviving observatory in China sits in an unassuming spot in Dengfeng, in Henan, and it makes astronomy look more like architecture. The Gaocheng Astronomical Observatory was built in 1276 under the Yuan dynasty by the astronomer Guo Shoujing, who designed a stout stone tower about 9 metres high with a long stone scale running north from its base. The tower was a giant gnomon: the sun cast a shadow along the scale, and by measuring its length at noon through the year, the astronomers could fix the solstices and the length of the year with remarkable accuracy. The calendar that Guo helped create was in use for several centuries.
Read the complete Observatory write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Observatory is where the day begins. Next is Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han.
Luoyang, in Henan province, is one of the four great ancient capitals of China, a city that served as the seat of more than a dozen dynasties over a thousand years. East of the modern city, in the fields along the Luo river, lie the remains of the capital of the Eastern Han dynasty, which ruled from Luoyang from the first to the early third century AD, and of the later Wei, Jin and Northern Wei capitals built on the same site. The site is part of the UNESCO-listed Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor, inscribed in 2014.
Read the complete Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han comes up about 78 km into the recorded legs. Next is Site of Han’gu Pass of Han Dynasty in Xin’.
The Hangu Pass is one of the legendary places of Chinese history. According to tradition, it was at the old Hangu Pass, guarding the narrow road between the Central Plain and the Wei valley, that the philosopher Laozi, leaving China on the back of an ox, was asked by the gatekeeper to write down his wisdom before passing, and the result was the Tao Te Ching. That pass lies further west, near Lingbao. In 114 BC, under the Han dynasty, the pass was moved east to Xin'an county, near Luoyang, and it is the remains of this later Han pass, with its gate, walls and stretches of ancient road, that form part of the Silk Roads World Heritage site, on the route between the capitals of Chang'an and Luoyang and on towards Central Asia.
Read the complete Site of Han’gu Pass of Han Dynasty in Xin’ write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 126 km into the recorded legs you reach Site of Han’gu Pass of Han Dynasty in Xin’. Next is back through Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han, late in the day. Next is Observatory.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Observatory write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Observatory. That is the ride.
Observatory → Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han is 78 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han → Site of Han’gu Pass of Han Dynasty in Xin’ is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Site of Han’gu Pass of Han Dynasty in Xin’ → back through Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han → Observatory is 77 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.