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 Luoyang - roughly 3 h 34 in the saddle. The stops in between: Songyang Academy of Classical Learning, Longmen Grottoes and back through Songyang Academy of Classical Learning. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
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 is where the day begins. Next is Songyang Academy of Classical Learning.
Long before there were universities in Europe, Chinese scholars gathered at academies in quiet places to read, argue and teach, and the Songyang Academy at the foot of Mount Song was one of the four great ones of the Song dynasty. It began life as a Buddhist temple and a Daoist retreat, and in the eleventh century it was turned into a school. Its most famous teachers were the brothers Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi, who helped shape the school of thought called Neo-Confucianism. The buildings you see today are mostly later rebuildings, in the Ming and Qing styles, with courtyards and halls in grey brick and tile.
Read the complete Songyang Academy of Classical Learning write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Songyang Academy of Classical Learning comes up about 61 km into the recorded legs. Next is Longmen Grottoes.
South of Luoyang, the river Yi cuts through a narrow gap between two limestone hills, and for about a kilometre the cliffs on both sides are honeycombed with caves, niches and carvings. Over around four centuries, starting in the late fifth century under the Northern Wei dynasty and continuing through the Tang, Buddhist sculptors carved tens of thousands of statues into the rock, from tiny figures a few centimetres high to colossal Buddhas. The Longmen Grottoes were listed by UNESCO in 2000 and are among the finest examples of Chinese Buddhist art.
Read the complete Longmen Grottoes write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 130 km into the recorded legs you reach Longmen Grottoes. Next is back through Songyang Academy of Classical Learning.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Songyang Academy of Classical Learning write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Songyang Academy of Classical Learning, late in the day. Next is 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 at Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han. That is the ride.
Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han → Songyang Academy of Classical Learning is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Songyang Academy of Classical Learning → Longmen Grottoes is 69 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Longmen Grottoes → back through Songyang Academy of Classical Learning is 69 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Songyang Academy of Classical Learning → Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.