Why this ride
97 km from Pavlovsk to Pavlovsk, about 2 h 02 of riding. The stops in between: Pulkovskaya Observatory, Dudergofskaya Elevation and back through Pulkovskaya Observatory. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
«The Menagerie» and Dudergofskaya Elevation
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 97 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 02
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. «The Menagerie»
Pavlovsk is the least showy of the great palaces around St Petersburg, and for that reason the pleasantest. The estate lies a few kilometres from Pushkin, on the Slavyanka river, in a park that spreads over hundreds of hectares of woodland, meadow and winding water. Catherine the Great gave the land to her son Paul in 1777, and the Scottish architect Charles Cameron, later joined by Brenna and others, gave it its look, with pavilions, bridges and a colonnaded Temple of Friendship set among the trees.
Read the complete «The Menagerie» write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
«The Menagerie» is where the day begins. Next is Pulkovskaya Observatory.
2. Pulkovskaya Observatory
On the Pulkovo heights, the low ridge south of St Petersburg, an observatory has been watching the sky since 1839. It was founded by Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve, the German-born astronomer who became its first director, and it quickly became one of the leading observatories in the world, with the largest refracting telescope of its day. The Pulkovo meridian, running through the observatory's main building, served as the reference for Russian maps for many years. Struve also led the measurement of the Struve Geodetic Arc, a chain of survey triangulations stretching from the Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea, which helped determine the size and shape of the earth and is now a UNESCO site.
Read the complete Pulkovskaya Observatory write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Pulkovskaya Observatory comes up about 19 km into the recorded legs. Next is Dudergofskaya Elevation.
3. Dudergofskaya Elevation
The land around St Petersburg is almost perfectly flat, so any hill gets noticed. The Duderhof Heights, a pair of wooded hills rising south of the city near Krasnoye Selo, are the highest ground for many kilometres around, with the higher one, Voronya Gora or Crow Hill, reaching a little under two hundred metres above sea level. From the top, on a clear day, you can see the gilded domes of the city and the waters of the Gulf of Finland.
Read the complete Dudergofskaya Elevation write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 45 km into the recorded legs you reach Dudergofskaya Elevation. Next is back through Pulkovskaya Observatory.
4. back through Pulkovskaya Observatory
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Pulkovskaya Observatory write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Pulkovskaya Observatory, late in the day. Next is «The Menagerie».
5. «The Menagerie»
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete «The Menagerie» write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at «The Menagerie». That is the ride.
Leg by leg
«The Menagerie» to Pulkovskaya Observatory
«The Menagerie» → Pulkovskaya Observatory is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Pulkovskaya Observatory to Dudergofskaya Elevation
Pulkovskaya Observatory → Dudergofskaya Elevation is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Dudergofskaya Elevation to back through Pulkovskaya Observatory
Dudergofskaya Elevation → back through Pulkovskaya Observatory is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Pulkovskaya Observatory to «The Menagerie»
back through Pulkovskaya Observatory → «The Menagerie» is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.