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.
205 km from Spitz to Spitz, about 3 h 02 of riding. On the way it passes Pöchlarn - Vicus und Kastellbad, Wallsee - Kleinkastell, Enns - Legionslager Zentralbereich and back through Wallsee - Kleinkastell. The line favours views over speed.
For about 26 km this is Wachau Danube Road, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it — expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast.
The ride follows Pöchlarn - Vicus und Kastellbad → Wallsee - Kleinkastell for 51 km.
Above the Wachau, in the forested hills on the south bank, a watchtower stood in the Roman period, and its stones are a quiet reminder that this valley was once the border of an empire. The Danube was the northern frontier of the province of Noricum, and the Romans guarded it with forts and signal towers every few kilometres, a chain that now forms part of the UNESCO listing for the Danube Limes. The tower near St Johann im Mauerthale was one of these, placed to see along the river and warn of anyone crossing from the north. Not much remains but the foundations, and they sit in a place with a long view.
Read the complete St. Johann im Mauerthale - Wachtturm write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
St. Johann im Mauerthale - Wachtturm is where the day begins. Next is Pöchlarn - Vicus und Kastellbad.
Pöchlarn is a small town on the south bank of the Danube, a few kilometres upstream from Melk, where the river is broad and slow and the Wachau valley is about to begin. The Romans called it Arelape and kept a fort here on the frontier of the empire, with a civilian settlement, the vicus, and a bathhouse for the garrison. Not much is visible above ground, but the town is part of the Danube Limes World Heritage site, which traces that long line of forts and watchtowers through Austria.
Read the complete Pöchlarn - Vicus und Kastellbad write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Pöchlarn - Vicus und Kastellbad comes up about 26 km into the recorded legs. Next is Wallsee - Kleinkastell.
Wallsee is the kind of Danube town you only notice if you slow down: a market square, a big castle on a rock above the river, and a long, quiet waterfront where the cycle path runs past willows and moored boats. Beneath the streets lie the remains of a small Roman fort, one of the posts that lined the river frontier of the province of Noricum, and archaeologists have also traced a larger fort nearby. Both are part of the Danube Limes World Heritage listing inscribed in 2021, though above ground the medieval and Baroque town has long since taken over.
Read the complete Wallsee - Kleinkastell write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 77 km into the recorded legs you reach Wallsee - Kleinkastell. Next is Enns - Legionslager Zentralbereich.
Where the little River Enns joins the Danube, about twenty kilometres upstream of Linz, the Romans built their frontier. This was Lauriacum, headquarters of the Second Italic Legion, who were stationed here from the late second century to guard the northern edge of the empire, the province of Noricum, against the tribes beyond the river. Around the fortress grew a civilian town that at its height may have held many thousands of people, and later a bishop is said to have lived here. The modern town of Enns, which takes pride in being the oldest in Austria, grew up beside it, and the legionary camp lay under what is now a mix of fields, streets and suburbs.
Read the complete Enns - Legionslager Zentralbereich write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Enns - Legionslager Zentralbereich, about halfway. Next is back through Wallsee - Kleinkastell.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Wallsee - Kleinkastell write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Wallsee - Kleinkastell sits at 137 km, about halfway. Next is back through Pöchlarn - Vicus und Kastellbad.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Pöchlarn - Vicus und Kastellbad write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Pöchlarn - Vicus und Kastellbad comes up about 180 km into the recorded legs. Next is St. Johann im Mauerthale - Wachtturm, 34 km on.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete St. Johann im Mauerthale - Wachtturm write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
St. Johann im Mauerthale - Wachtturm closes the day.
St. Johann im Mauerthale - Wachtturm → Pöchlarn - Vicus und Kastellbad is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Pöchlarn - Vicus und Kastellbad → Wallsee - Kleinkastell is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Wallsee - Kleinkastell → Enns - Legionslager Zentralbereich is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Enns - Legionslager Zentralbereich → back through Wallsee - Kleinkastell is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Wallsee - Kleinkastell → back through Pöchlarn - Vicus und Kastellbad is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Pöchlarn - Vicus und Kastellbad → St. Johann im Mauerthale - Wachtturm is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.