Why this ride
375 km from Bendorf to Bendorf, about 5 h 34 of riding. It goes by way of Remagen, Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1, Dormagen and Krefeld-Gellep. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Watchtowers WP 1/41 to 1/50 including the and Krefeld-Gellep
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 375 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 34
- 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. Watchtowers WP 1/41 to 1/50 including the
The Upper Germanic Limes begins a few kilometres from here, at Rheinbrohl on the Rhine, and in its first miles it climbs straight up into the Westerwald. Watchtowers numbered WP 1/41 to 1/50 mark a short run of that frontier in the wooded hills behind Neuwied and Bendorf, near the villages of Stromberg, Anhausen and Heimbach-Weis. Do not expect towers. What remains is a low bank, a ditch you can trace through the beech trunks, and here and there the outline of a tower base marked by archaeologists.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 1/41 to 1/50 including the write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 1/41 to 1/50 including the is where the day begins. Next is Remagen.
2. Remagen
On 7 March 1945, soldiers of the US 9th Armored Division reached Remagen and found the Ludendorff railway bridge across the Rhine still standing, despite German attempts to blow it. They rushed across, and for the first time the Allies had a foothold on the far bank of the great river. Ten days later the damaged bridge collapsed, but by then pontoons had been built and the war in the west had entered its last chapter. What remains today are the black stone towers on both banks, and those on the Remagen side house a small peace museum telling the story with honesty and without glorification.
Read the complete Remagen write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Remagen comes up about 39 km into the recorded legs. Next is Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1.
3. Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1
The Kottenforst looks like an ordinary Rhineland woodland of oak, beech and hornbeam, with walkers, joggers and the odd horse rider, but in the second half of the first century and beyond it was a training ground for the Roman army. In clearings of the forest, the legion stationed at Bonna, today's Bonn, built a series of temporary camps as exercises, digging ditches and raising ramparts to practise the rapid construction they would need in the field. The remains of these camps, faint earthworks under the trees, are included in the Lower Germanic Limes, which UNESCO listed in 2021. Am Weissen Stein is one of the northern groups.
Read the complete Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 85 km into the recorded legs you reach Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1. Next is Dormagen.
4. Dormagen
Dormagen is not the sort of place that ends up on postcards, and it does not try to be. It is a working town of some sixty thousand on the left bank of the Rhine between Cologne and Düsseldorf, dominated on its northern side by a huge chemical park whose pipes and stacks glow at night. Yet the name itself comes from Roman times: Durnomagus was a fort on the Lower German Limes, the Rhine frontier that UNESCO listed in 2021, and a cavalry unit was stationed here to patrol the river and the road along it.
Read the complete Dormagen write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Dormagen, about halfway. Next is Krefeld-Gellep.
5. 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 sits at 164 km, about halfway. Next is back through Dormagen.
6. back through Dormagen
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Dormagen write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Dormagen comes up about 228 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1.
7. back through Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 287 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1. Next is back through Remagen.
8. back through Remagen
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Remagen write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Remagen, late in the day. Next is Watchtowers WP 1/41 to 1/50 including the.
9. Watchtowers WP 1/41 to 1/50 including the
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 1/41 to 1/50 including the write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 375 km.
Leg by leg
Watchtowers WP 1/41 to 1/50 including the to Remagen
Watchtowers WP 1/41 to 1/50 including the → Remagen is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Remagen to Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1
Remagen → Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1 is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1 to Dormagen
Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1 → Dormagen is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Dormagen to Krefeld-Gellep
Dormagen → Krefeld-Gellep is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Krefeld-Gellep to back through Dormagen
Krefeld-Gellep → back through Dormagen is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Dormagen to back through Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1
back through Dormagen → back through Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1 is 59 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1 to back through Remagen
back through Kottenforst Nord | Am Weißen Stein 1 → back through Remagen is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Remagen to Watchtowers WP 1/41 to 1/50 including the
back through Remagen → Watchtowers WP 1/41 to 1/50 including the is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.