Why this ride
A 347 km round trip from Pushkin - roughly 4 h 59 in the saddle. It goes by way of The Maximov's Datcha, The Road of Life and back through The Maximov's Datcha. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The Otdelny Park and The Road of Life
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 347 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 59
- 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.
Scenic road chapters
Saint Petersburg Imperial Shore
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 56 km this is Saint Petersburg Imperial Shore, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 56 km
- Named road
- Saint Petersburg Imperial Shore
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. The Otdelny Park
Pavlovsk and Pushkin sit side by side on the plain south of Saint Petersburg, and both grew from the imperial taste for country palaces. Pushkin was once Tsarskoye Selo, the Tsar's Village, where Catherine the Great had a palace of blue and white with a facade that stretches for hundreds of metres, and where the Amber Room once stood. Pavlovsk was a smaller palace for her son Paul, set in one of the largest landscape parks in Europe. The name means separate or detached, and it points to a part of the landscape set apart from the main royal grounds.
Read the complete The Otdelny Park write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The Otdelny Park is where the day begins. Next is The Maximov's Datcha.
2. The Maximov's Datcha
The south shore of the Gulf of Finland west of St Petersburg is a strip of dachas, palaces and old military ground, and the place marked here as Maximov's Datcha sits within it, a couple of kilometres from the town of Lomonosov.
Read the complete The Maximov's Datcha write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The Maximov's Datcha comes up about 56 km into the recorded legs. Next is The Road of Life.
3. The Road of Life
On the south-eastern shore of Lake Ladoga, east of Saint Petersburg, a road ends at the water. This is the start of the Road of Life, the supply route across the ice that kept Leningrad alive during the siege of 1941 to 1944. The siege lasted 872 days, from September 1941 to January 1944, and it cut the city off from nearly everything except the lake. In the first winter, when Ladoga froze, trucks and horse-drawn sledges began to cross the ice with food and fuel, and on the return journey they carried out women, children and the sick. Lorries broke through the ice, and bombing and artillery attacked the route, but it kept going.
Read the complete The Road of Life write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 169 km into the recorded legs you reach The Road of Life. Next is back through The Maximov's Datcha.
4. back through The Maximov's Datcha
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Maximov's Datcha write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through The Maximov's Datcha, late in the day. Next is The Otdelny Park.
5. The Otdelny Park
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Otdelny Park write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at The Otdelny Park. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
The Otdelny Park to The Maximov's Datcha
The Otdelny Park → The Maximov's Datcha is 56 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Maximov's Datcha to The Road of Life
The Maximov's Datcha → The Road of Life is 113 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
The Road of Life to back through The Maximov's Datcha
The Road of Life → back through The Maximov's Datcha is 123 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through The Maximov's Datcha to The Otdelny Park
back through The Maximov's Datcha → The Otdelny Park is 55 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.