CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. 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 345 km round trip from Luoyang - roughly 4 h 32 in the saddle. The stops in between: Longmen Grottoes, Site of Han’gu Pass of Han Dynasty in Xin’, Site of Shihao Section of Xiaohan Ancient and back through Site of Han’gu Pass of Han Dynasty in Xin’. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
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 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.
Longmen Grottoes comes up 60 km in. 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.
119 km in you reach Site of Han’gu Pass of Han Dynasty in Xin’. Next is Site of Shihao Section of Xiaohan Ancient.
The Silk Road is often imagined as a line across a desert, but in places it was a road cut into rock. The Xiaohan ancient road runs through the mountains of Henan province, linking Luoyang, the Han and Tang capital, with the west through the narrow pass at Hangu. The Shihao section is a stretch of the road that survives in the loess hills, with ruts cut into the stone by wheels. UNESCO listed it as part of the Silk Roads network in 2014.
Read the complete Site of Shihao Section of Xiaohan Ancient write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Site of Shihao Section of Xiaohan Ancient, about halfway. Next is back through Site of Han’gu Pass of Han Dynasty in Xin’.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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.
back through Site of Han’gu Pass of Han Dynasty in Xin’ sits at 238 km, about halfway. Next is back through Longmen Grottoes.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Longmen Grottoes write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Longmen Grottoes comes up 298 km in. 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.
Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han closes the day.
Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han → Longmen Grottoes is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Longmen Grottoes → Site of Han’gu Pass of Han Dynasty in Xin’ is 53 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Site of Han’gu Pass of Han Dynasty in Xin’ → Site of Shihao Section of Xiaohan Ancient is 81 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Site of Shihao Section of Xiaohan Ancient → back through Site of Han’gu Pass of Han Dynasty in Xin’ is 81 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Site of Han’gu Pass of Han Dynasty in Xin’ → back through Longmen Grottoes is 53 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Longmen Grottoes → Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.