Why this ride
A 243 km round trip from Uedem - roughly 3 h 04 in the saddle. It goes by way of Krefeld-Gellep, Cologne Cathedral and back through Krefeld-Gellep. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Uedem-Hochwald | Hochwald 8.2 and Cologne Cathedral
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 243 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 04
- 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
Krefeld-Gellep → Cologne Cathedral
Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through. 64 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 61 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Uedem-Hochwald | Hochwald 8.2
The Hochwald is a long wooded ridge on the left bank of the Lower Rhine, between Uedem and Xanten, and it stands out because everything around it is flat. It is a terminal moraine, a pile of rubble pushed up by an ice sheet in the last ice age, and its slopes carry beech and oak and pine, a cool green island in a plain of fields and pastures. Near Uedem, the Hochwald runs for some kilometres in a line, and walkers use the forest paths.
Read the complete Uedem-Hochwald | Hochwald 8.2 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Uedem-Hochwald | Hochwald 8.2 is where the day begins. Next is Krefeld-Gellep.
2. Krefeld-Gellep
Most people pass Krefeld-Gellep without a second thought, because the view is dominated by the harbour of Uerdingen, chemical works and Rhine barges. Yet this is one of the most important Roman and early medieval sites on the Lower Rhine. The Roman fort here was called Gelduba, and it belongs to the Lower German Limes, the frontier along the river that UNESCO recognised in 2021. Tacitus mentions Gelduba in his account of the Batavian revolt of 69 and 70 AD, when legions and rebels fought around the camp, and archaeologists have found traces of that violence in the ground.
Read the complete Krefeld-Gellep write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Krefeld-Gellep comes up about 61 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cologne Cathedral.
3. Cologne Cathedral
Six hundred and thirty-two years. That is how long it took to finish Cologne Cathedral, from the laying of the foundation stone in 1248 to the completion of the spires in 1880, and when you stand at its foot by the main station it feels as though the building is still growing. The twin towers climb to around 157 metres, black with soot and weather, and for a few years after completion they made it the tallest building in the world.
Read the complete Cologne Cathedral write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 122 km into the recorded legs you reach Cologne Cathedral. Next is back through Krefeld-Gellep.
4. back through Krefeld-Gellep
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Krefeld-Gellep write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Krefeld-Gellep, late in the day. Next is Uedem-Hochwald | Hochwald 8.2, 63 km on.
5. Uedem-Hochwald | Hochwald 8.2
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Uedem-Hochwald | Hochwald 8.2 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Uedem-Hochwald | Hochwald 8.2. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Uedem-Hochwald | Hochwald 8.2 to Krefeld-Gellep
Uedem-Hochwald | Hochwald 8.2 → Krefeld-Gellep is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Krefeld-Gellep to Cologne Cathedral
Krefeld-Gellep → Cologne Cathedral is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cologne Cathedral to back through Krefeld-Gellep
Cologne Cathedral → back through Krefeld-Gellep is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Krefeld-Gellep to Uedem-Hochwald | Hochwald 8.2
back through Krefeld-Gellep → Uedem-Hochwald | Hochwald 8.2 is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.