Why this ride
A 93 km round trip from Bendorf - roughly 1 h 36 in the saddle. The stops in between: Watchtower WP 1/77, Watchtowers WP 2/7 and 2/13 including fort and back through Watchtower WP 1/77.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Watchtower WP 1/51 and Watchtowers WP 2/7 and 2/13 including fort
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 93 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 36
- 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
Moselle Wine Route
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 23 km this is Moselle Wine Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 23 km
- Named road
- Moselle Wine Route
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Watchtower WP 1/51
The Upper Germanic Limes does not start with a bang. Near Bendorf, on the slopes where the Westerwald drops toward the Rhine at the Neuwied basin, it is a matter of reading the woods: a low bank here, a shallow ditch there, and the spot where a Roman watchtower once stood, numbered by archaeologists as WP 1/51. The towers were placed within sight of each other, timber at first and later stone, so that a signal could pass along the frontier faster than any rider. Standing here among the beech trees you are close to the northern end of a border that ran more than five hundred kilometres to the Danube.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/51 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtower WP 1/51 is where the day begins. Next is Watchtower WP 1/77.
2. Watchtower WP 1/77
In the hills of the Westerwald, east of Koblenz, the Roman frontier ran from the Rhine up across the high ground towards the Taunus, and archaeologists have numbered every tower site along it. Watchtower WP 1/77, near the villages of Kadenbach and Arzbach, is one of them, now marked by a low mound or reconstructed foundations in the woods. The frontier here was a palisade of timber and later an earth bank and ditch, with towers every few hundred metres, and the whole system is part of the Upper German-Raetian Limes World Heritage listing.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/77 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtower WP 1/77 comes up about 23 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtowers WP 2/7 and 2/13 including fort.
3. Watchtowers WP 2/7 and 2/13 including fort
Between the Lahn and the Rhine, the Roman frontier crossed a high, wooded plateau known locally as the Einrich, and the watchtowers from 2/7 to 2/13 stood on this stretch, near the village of Dachsenhausen. In the forest, the earth bank and ditch can still be followed, and small forts, built to house the soldiers who manned the towers, have left their outlines in the ground. Here, as elsewhere in Germany, the Limes belongs to the frontiers of the Roman Empire on the World Heritage list, but the forest is quiet, and you may walk the line for an hour without meeting anyone.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 2/7 and 2/13 including fort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 48 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtowers WP 2/7 and 2/13 including fort. Next is back through Watchtower WP 1/77.
4. back through Watchtower WP 1/77
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/77 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Watchtower WP 1/77, late in the day. Next is Watchtower WP 1/51.
5. Watchtower WP 1/51
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/51 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Watchtower WP 1/51. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Watchtower WP 1/51 to Watchtower WP 1/77
Watchtower WP 1/51 → Watchtower WP 1/77 is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 1/77 to Watchtowers WP 2/7 and 2/13 including fort
Watchtower WP 1/77 → Watchtowers WP 2/7 and 2/13 including fort is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 2/7 and 2/13 including fort to back through Watchtower WP 1/77
Watchtowers WP 2/7 and 2/13 including fort → back through Watchtower WP 1/77 is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtower WP 1/77 to Watchtower WP 1/51
back through Watchtower WP 1/77 → Watchtower WP 1/51 is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.