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.
383 km from Žatec to Žatec, about 5 h 59 of riding. The stops in between: Mědník Hill Mining Landscape, Rother Berg Mining Landscape, Františkovy Lázne and back through Rother Berg Mining Landscape. It crosses from Czechia into Germany - carry ID and check vignette or toll rules. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Smell comes first here. Late in summer the air around Žatec turns green and faintly bitter, because this is the heart of the Saaz hop country and the harvest fills the lanes with the scent of cones being picked and dried. The hops grown on these slopes and flats along the Ohře river are the ones that give Czech lager, and Pilsner above all, its clean, spicy bite. The cultural landscape of the town and its fields earned UNESCO status in 2023, and the old hop-drying houses and brewery buildings in Žatec are the reason.
Read the complete Saaz Hop Landscape write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Saaz Hop Landscape is where the day begins. Next is Mědník Hill Mining Landscape.
Mědník is a small, steep hill on the Czech side of the Ore Mountains, or Krušné hory, the range that forms the border between Bohemia and Saxony. It rises above the village of Měděnec, whose name, like the hill's, comes from the Czech word for copper. For centuries, miners tunnelled into the hill for copper and iron ore, and the hill is now part of the Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region, inscribed by UNESCO in 2019 as a cross-border site.
Read the complete Mědník Hill Mining Landscape write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Mědník Hill Mining Landscape comes up about 57 km into the recorded legs. Next is Rother Berg Mining Landscape.
Schwarzenberg, in the western Erzgebirge, is a town of steep streets, slate roofs and a castle and church perched on a rock above the Schwarzwasser river, and the hills around it are riddled with old mine workings. The Rother Berg, the red mountain, takes its name from the iron ore that colours its soil, and it is one of the components of the Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region, the cross-border UNESCO site listed in 2019. For eight centuries, miners in these mountains dug for silver, tin, iron, cobalt and later uranium, and their work shaped not only the landscape but the culture of the whole region.
Read the complete Rother Berg Mining Landscape write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 96 km into the recorded legs you reach Rother Berg Mining Landscape. Next is Františkovy Lázne.
Františkovy Lázně, known in German as Franzensbad, is a small spa town in the far west of the Czech Republic that looks as if it has been painted in a single colour: yellow and white Empire-style buildings, colonnades and pavilions set in spacious parks, all laid out in the early nineteenth century around mineral springs. It was named after Emperor Francis I of Austria, and it became a fashionable resort, especially for women, because its waters and mud baths were believed to help with fertility. The bronze statue of a little boy holding a fish, known as František, is said to bring luck to women who touch it, and you will see that his foot has been polished by countless hands. Since 2021, the town has been part of the Great Spa Towns of Europe World Heritage site, along with its larger neighbours, Karlovy Vary and Mariánské Lázně.
Read the complete Františkovy Lázne write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Františkovy Lázne, about halfway. Next is back through Rother Berg Mining Landscape.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Rother Berg Mining Landscape write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Rother Berg Mining Landscape sits at 211 km, about halfway. Next is back through Mědník Hill Mining Landscape.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Mědník Hill Mining Landscape write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Mědník Hill Mining Landscape comes up about 327 km into the recorded legs. Next is Saaz Hop Landscape.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Saaz Hop Landscape write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Saaz Hop Landscape closes the day.
Saaz Hop Landscape → Mědník Hill Mining Landscape is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mědník Hill Mining Landscape → Rother Berg Mining Landscape is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Rother Berg Mining Landscape → Františkovy Lázne is 96 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Františkovy Lázne → back through Rother Berg Mining Landscape is 96 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Rother Berg Mining Landscape → back through Mědník Hill Mining Landscape is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Mědník Hill Mining Landscape → Saaz Hop Landscape is 56 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.