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.
268 km from Weißenkirchen in der Wachau to Weißenkirchen in der Wachau, about 4 h 19 of riding. On the way it passes Zeiselmauer - Kleinkastell, Frontiers of the Roman Empire - The Danube and back through Zeiselmauer - Kleinkastell. The line favours views over speed.
On the quiet south bank of the Danube in the Wachau, opposite the wine village of Weißenkirchen, the little church of St. Lorenz has a secret in its walls. Part of the building stands on, and incorporates, the masonry of a Roman watchtower, one of a chain of small fortifications that guarded the river frontier of the province of Noricum in late antiquity. The Danube was the edge of the empire here, and soldiers in the tower kept watch over the far bank for raiders. Today the site is part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire, Danube Limes listing, inscribed by UNESCO in 2021.
Read the complete St. Lorenz - Wachtturm write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
St. Lorenz - Wachtturm is where the day begins. Next is Zeiselmauer - Kleinkastell.
Before there was a Vienna, there was a frontier. For some four hundred years the Danube formed the northern boundary of the Roman empire in central Europe, and a chain of forts, watchtowers and harbours kept watch along the south bank. Zeiselmauer, about thirty kilometres upstream from the modern capital, was one of them, and a stretch of Roman wall with a tower still stands in the village, incorporated into later buildings. The Danube Limes in Austria, Germany and Slovakia was listed by UNESCO in 2021.
Read the complete Zeiselmauer - Kleinkastell write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Zeiselmauer - Kleinkastell comes up about 64 km into the recorded legs. Next is Frontiers of the Roman Empire - The Danube.
Marcus Aurelius, emperor and philosopher, spent several years at Carnuntum during his wars against the Germanic tribes north of the Danube, and he is thought to have written part of his Meditations here; the third book carries the note that it was written at Carnuntum. In the second century, this was one of the most important places on the Roman frontier: a legionary fortress, an auxiliary fort and a civil town that grew into the capital of the province of Upper Pannonia, with tens of thousands of inhabitants. Today, the archaeological park at Petronell-Carnuntum and Bad Deutsch-Altenburg shows reconstructed houses, a bath and streets built using Roman methods, two amphitheatres, and the Heidentor, a great ruined triumphal arch standing alone in the fields. The Danube Limes became a World Heritage site in 2021.
Read the complete Frontiers of the Roman Empire - The Danube write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 134 km into the recorded legs you reach Frontiers of the Roman Empire - The Danube. Next is back through Zeiselmauer - Kleinkastell.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Zeiselmauer - Kleinkastell write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Zeiselmauer - Kleinkastell, late in the day. Next is St. Lorenz - Wachtturm, 73 km on.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete St. Lorenz - Wachtturm write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at St. Lorenz - Wachtturm. That is the ride.
St. Lorenz - Wachtturm → Zeiselmauer - Kleinkastell is 64 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Zeiselmauer - Kleinkastell → Frontiers of the Roman Empire - The Danube is 70 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Frontiers of the Roman Empire - The Danube → back through Zeiselmauer - Kleinkastell is 70 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Zeiselmauer - Kleinkastell → St. Lorenz - Wachtturm is 63 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.