Why this ride
A 120 km round trip from Pavlovsk - roughly 2 h 29 in the saddle. The stops in between: Dudergofskaya Elevation, Pulkovskaya Observatory and back through Dudergofskaya Elevation.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The Park «Alexandrova Datchs» and Pulkovskaya Observatory
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 120 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 29
- 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 Park «Alexandrova Datchs»
Pavlovsk is among the largest landscape parks in Europe, and it began as a gift. In 1777 Catherine the Great gave the land to her son Paul, and he and his wife built a palace and a park here, which was designed by the Scottish architect Charles Cameron and then expanded over decades. The park covers more than five hundred hectares, and its mix of woods, meadows, rivers and pavilions is a model of the English landscape style adapted to the Russian plain.
Read the complete The Park «Alexandrova Datchs» write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The Park «Alexandrova Datchs» is where the day begins. Next is Dudergofskaya Elevation.
2. 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
Dudergofskaya Elevation comes up about 32 km into the recorded legs. Next is Pulkovskaya Observatory.
3. 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
about 63 km into the recorded legs you reach Pulkovskaya Observatory. Next is back through Dudergofskaya Elevation.
4. back through Dudergofskaya Elevation
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
back through Dudergofskaya Elevation, late in the day. Next is The Park «Alexandrova Datchs».
5. The Park «Alexandrova Datchs»
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Park «Alexandrova Datchs» write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at The Park «Alexandrova Datchs». That is the ride.
Leg by leg
The Park «Alexandrova Datchs» to Dudergofskaya Elevation
The Park «Alexandrova Datchs» → Dudergofskaya Elevation is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Dudergofskaya Elevation to Pulkovskaya Observatory
Dudergofskaya Elevation → Pulkovskaya Observatory is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Pulkovskaya Observatory to back through Dudergofskaya Elevation
Pulkovskaya Observatory → back through Dudergofskaya Elevation is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Dudergofskaya Elevation to The Park «Alexandrova Datchs»
back through Dudergofskaya Elevation → The Park «Alexandrova Datchs» is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.