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 147 km round trip from Songyang - roughly 2 h 18 in the saddle. On the way it passes Architectural Complex of Shaolin Temple, Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han and back through Architectural Complex of Shaolin Temple. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
At the foot of Mount Song, one of the five sacred mountains of China, stand three pairs of free-standing stone gateways that have been waiting for the better part of two thousand years. They are que, tall, pillar-like towers that marked the approach to a temple or tomb in Han dynasty China, and the ones at Dengfeng belong to the temples of Mount Song, as ceremonial entrance markers. The Taishi Que, the western gate of the Zhongyue Temple, dates from the second century, and is covered with carved scenes of hunting, chariots, dancers and animals, in a lively, rough, vigorous style. They are among the oldest such structures in China and they are part of the UNESCO listing of the Historic Monuments of Dengfeng.
Read the complete Taishi Que Gates write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Taishi Que Gates is where the day begins. Next is Architectural Complex of Shaolin Temple.
Ask most people where kung fu comes from and they will name this temple, even if they have no idea where it is. The Shaolin Temple stands at the foot of Mount Song in Henan province, central China, near the city of Dengfeng. It was founded at the end of the fifth century for an Indian monk, and tradition says that Bodhidharma, the legendary founder of Chan, or Zen, Buddhism, meditated in a cave on the mountain above for nine years. The monks' martial arts became famous over the centuries, and today Shaolin is as much a brand as a monastery.
Read the complete Architectural Complex of Shaolin Temple write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Architectural Complex of Shaolin Temple comes up about 17 km into the recorded legs. Next is Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han.
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.
about 71 km into the recorded legs you reach Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han. Next is back through Architectural Complex of Shaolin Temple.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Architectural Complex of Shaolin Temple write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Architectural Complex of Shaolin Temple, late in the day. Next is Taishi Que Gates.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Taishi Que Gates write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Taishi Que Gates. That is the ride.
Taishi Que Gates → Architectural Complex of Shaolin Temple is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Architectural Complex of Shaolin Temple → Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han is 54 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han → back through Architectural Complex of Shaolin Temple is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Architectural Complex of Shaolin Temple → Taishi Que Gates is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.