Why this ride
An 82 km round trip from Kronstadt - roughly 1 h 14 in the saddle. The stops in between: Northern battery No. 6, The Village of Olgino and back through Northern battery No. 6. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The Barrier of Pile and The Village of Olgino
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 82 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 14
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
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.
Scenic road chapters
Saint Petersburg Imperial Shore
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For 17 km this is Saint Petersburg Imperial Shore, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 17 km
- Named road
- Saint Petersburg Imperial Shore
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. The Barrier of Pile
Izhora is an old name for this part of the coast. Long before Saint Petersburg, the land between the Neva and the Luga belonged to the Izhorians, a small Finnic people who fished, farmed and served as pilots on the river, and whose language survives only in a few villages. Bolshaya Izhora, the Great Izhora, is a modest settlement on the shore, with a church, some dachas and a sea wall, and the nearest town of any size is Kronstadt across the water. The point on the map sits at the edge of the gulf, in reed and low scrub, where the shallows run out for hundreds of metres and the horizon is a thin line of cranes and chimneys.
Read the complete The Barrier of Pile write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The Barrier of Pile is where the day begins. Next is Northern battery No. 6, 17 km on.
2. Northern battery No. 6
Kronstadt's guns were never only on the island. Peter the Great founded the fortress on Kotlin Island in 1703 to shut the mouth of the Neva, and over the next two centuries the defences spread across the shallows of the gulf, onto artificial islands and onto the northern shore, where numbered batteries covered the channel from the Karelian side. Northern Battery No. 6 belongs to that system, a low earthwork-and-masonry position on the coast near Gorskaya and Aleksandrovskaya, the old Gulf resort belt west of Lisy Nos.
Read the complete Northern battery No. 6 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Northern battery No. 6 comes up 17 km in. Next is The Village of Olgino.
3. The Village of Olgino
On the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland, just beyond the city's edge, Olgino is a place of pines, sand and low wooden houses, a seaside suburb that grew up a century and more ago as a retreat for Saint Petersburg families who wanted fresh air and the beach without travelling far. It is part of the World Heritage Site that wraps the historic city and its surroundings, which includes not only palaces but villages, parks and landscapes like this one.
Read the complete The Village of Olgino write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
34 km in you reach The Village of Olgino. Next is back through Northern battery No. 6, 16 km on.
4. back through Northern battery No. 6
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Northern battery No. 6 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Northern battery No. 6, late in the day. Next is The Barrier of Pile.
5. The Barrier of Pile
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Barrier of Pile write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at The Barrier of Pile. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
The Barrier of Pile to Northern battery No. 6
The Barrier of Pile → Northern battery No. 6 is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Northern battery No. 6 to The Village of Olgino
Northern battery No. 6 → The Village of Olgino is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Village of Olgino to back through Northern battery No. 6
The Village of Olgino → back through Northern battery No. 6 is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Northern battery No. 6 to The Barrier of Pile
back through Northern battery No. 6 → The Barrier of Pile is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.