Pöchlarn - Kastell Zentralbereich and Kalkalpen - Bodinggraben
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
290 km
Riding-time estimate
4 h 17
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.
A 290 km round trip from Klein-Pöchlarn - roughly 4 h 17 in the saddle. The stops in between: Albing - Legionslager, Kalkalpen - Bodinggraben and back through Albing - Legionslager. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,150 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Pöchlarn - Kastell Zentralbereich
Pochlarn is a quiet town on the Danube, but it has been famous for a long time. The Romans had a fort here called Arelape, built to guard the river and the mouth of the Erlauf, which flows in from the south. Later, in the medieval epic known as the Nibelungenlied, the town appears under the name Bechelaren, home of the margrave Rudiger, a loyal knight who is torn between his oath and his love. The region from Melk to Pochlarn is still called the Nibelungengau because of this.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Pöchlarn - Kastell Zentralbereich is where the day begins. Next is Albing - Legionslager.
2. Albing - Legionslager
There is almost nothing to see at Albing, and that is exactly what makes it a good story. Under these fields near the confluence of the Enns and the Danube lay one of the largest Roman military bases ever built in what is now Austria, a full legionary fortress raised in the later second century, around the time of the Marcomannic Wars, when Rome was fighting hard to hold the Danube against peoples from the north. It was planned on a grand scale and then, it seems, given up very soon after, probably because the site was too exposed to floods. The legion moved a few kilometres south to Lauriacum, the camp at today's Enns.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Albing - Legionslager comes up about 70 km into the recorded legs. Next is Kalkalpen - Bodinggraben.
3. Kalkalpen - Bodinggraben
Where the Pyhrn pass road drops from the Totes Gebirge toward the Enns and the Steyr valleys, Austria keeps one of its most important pieces of old forest. Kalkalpen National Park covers a large area of limestone mountains, gorges and woodland in Upper Austria, and its beech forests are among the last in Europe where trees have been left to grow, fall and rot undisturbed. They are part of a UNESCO listing called the Ancient Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe, a strange name for what is, in the end, a green cathedral of grey trunks and soft, filtered light.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Pöchlarn - Kastell Zentralbereich. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Pöchlarn - Kastell Zentralbereich to Albing - Legionslager
Pöchlarn - Kastell Zentralbereich → Albing - Legionslager is 70 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Albing - Legionslager to Kalkalpen - Bodinggraben
Albing - Legionslager → Kalkalpen - Bodinggraben is 77 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Kalkalpen - Bodinggraben to back through Albing - Legionslager
Kalkalpen - Bodinggraben → back through Albing - Legionslager is 72 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Albing - Legionslager to Pöchlarn - Kastell Zentralbereich
back through Albing - Legionslager → Pöchlarn - Kastell Zentralbereich is 70 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.