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 198 km round trip from Suzhou - roughly 2 h 49 in the saddle. On the way it passes Wuxi City Section of Jiangnan Canal, Changzhou City Section of Jiangnan Canal and back through Wuxi City Section of Jiangnan Canal. The line favours views over speed.
Suzhou is a city of canals and gardens, and the Garden of Cultivation is one of the smaller and quieter examples of an art that the Chinese took to extraordinary lengths. A scholar's garden here was not simply a plot of flowers. It was a miniature world, a landscape of rocks, water, trees, pavilions and walls, arranged to suggest mountains and rivers and to make a visitor feel they had stepped out of the city. UNESCO listed the classical gardens of Suzhou in 1997, adding more in 2000.
Read the complete The Garden of Cultivation write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The Garden of Cultivation is where the day begins. Next is Wuxi City Section of Jiangnan Canal.
The Grand Canal is the longest artificial waterway in the world, stretching from Beijing to Hangzhou, and some of its sections have been in use for more than two thousand years. In the Jiangnan region, south of the Yangtze, it flows through a landscape of rice paddies, lakes and old towns, and in Wuxi it runs right through the city. The canal was listed by UNESCO in 2014, and the Wuxi section includes historic streets, bridges and warehouses along its banks.
Read the complete Wuxi City Section of Jiangnan Canal write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Wuxi City Section of Jiangnan Canal comes up about 51 km into the recorded legs. Next is Changzhou City Section of Jiangnan Canal.
Changzhou does not appear on many bucket lists, which is a pity, because it holds a living stretch of the Grand Canal, the longest man-made waterway in the world. The canal here is the Jiangnan section, the southern part that links the Yangtze with Hangzhou, and it runs right through the city, past old lanes, stone bridges and modern towers. UNESCO added the Grand Canal to its list in 2014, and Changzhou's urban section is one of the segments that make up the listing.
Read the complete Changzhou City Section of Jiangnan Canal write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 99 km into the recorded legs you reach Changzhou City Section of Jiangnan Canal. Next is back through Wuxi City Section of Jiangnan Canal.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Wuxi City Section of Jiangnan Canal write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Wuxi City Section of Jiangnan Canal, late in the day. Next is The Garden of Cultivation.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Garden of Cultivation write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at The Garden of Cultivation. That is the ride.
The Garden of Cultivation → Wuxi City Section of Jiangnan Canal is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Wuxi City Section of Jiangnan Canal → Changzhou City Section of Jiangnan Canal is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Changzhou City Section of Jiangnan Canal → back through Wuxi City Section of Jiangnan Canal is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Wuxi City Section of Jiangnan Canal → The Garden of Cultivation is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.