Why this ride
A 122 km round trip from Gunzenhausen - roughly 2 h 06 in the saddle. It goes by way of Watchtower WP 14/28, Watchtowers WP 14/63 to 14/78 including fo and back through Watchtower WP 14/28. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Watchtower WP 13/50 and Watchtowers WP 14/63 to 14/78 including fo
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 122 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 06
- 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. Watchtower WP 13/50
In the middle of Franconia lies a string of lakes that did not exist fifty years ago. The Franconian Lake District was created by dams on the Altmuhl and other rivers, to hold floodwater and feed the Main-Danube canal, and the biggest of these lakes, the Altmuhlsee, lies right beside Gunzenhausen. Birds love it. The lake is a protected area for waders and ducks, and storks nest on the rooftops in the nearby villages.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 13/50 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtower WP 13/50 is where the day begins. Next is Watchtower WP 14/28.
2. Watchtower WP 14/28
Near the Franconian town of Pleinfeld, the Raetian Limes, the stone wall that marked the frontier of the province of Raetia, crossed a landscape of woods, fields and small rivers, and a watchtower stood here, one of hundreds along the line. Watchtower WP 14/28 is now a low mound or reconstructed foundation, but it is part of the Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes World Heritage listing. The frontier here was a stone wall, known locally as the Teufelsmauer, the devil's wall, because medieval villagers could not believe that humans had built it.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 14/28 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtower WP 14/28 comes up about 25 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtowers WP 14/63 to 14/78 including fo.
3. Watchtowers WP 14/63 to 14/78 including fo
Between Greding and Eichstätt, the Raetian Limes runs across the high Franconian Jura plateau, and the names on the map, WP 14/63 to 14/78, are archaeologists' shorthand for a sequence of Roman watchtower sites along this section of the frontier. The Raetian Limes was the wall part of the Upper German-Raetian Limes, inscribed by UNESCO as part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire. Here, the Romans built a stone wall rather than the timber palisade used further west. Locals later called the remains the Teufelsmauer, the Devil's Wall, believing nothing human could have built it.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 14/63 to 14/78 including fo write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 61 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtowers WP 14/63 to 14/78 including fo. Next is back through Watchtower WP 14/28.
4. back through Watchtower WP 14/28
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 14/28 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 14/28, late in the day. Next is Watchtower WP 13/50.
5. Watchtower WP 13/50
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 13/50 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 13/50. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Watchtower WP 13/50 to Watchtower WP 14/28
Watchtower WP 13/50 → Watchtower WP 14/28 is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 14/28 to Watchtowers WP 14/63 to 14/78 including fo
Watchtower WP 14/28 → Watchtowers WP 14/63 to 14/78 including fo is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 14/63 to 14/78 including fo to back through Watchtower WP 14/28
Watchtowers WP 14/63 to 14/78 including fo → back through Watchtower WP 14/28 is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtower WP 14/28 to Watchtower WP 13/50
back through Watchtower WP 14/28 → Watchtower WP 13/50 is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.