CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
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.
A 178 km round trip from Ellwangen - roughly 3 h 09 in the saddle. It goes by way of Watchtowers WP 12/40 to 12/59, Fort site and civil settlement of Schirenh, Fort site and civil settlement of Welzheim and Fort site and civil settlement of Murrhard.
In the forests near Ellwangen the Roman frontier changes character. Here the Upper Germanic Limes, with its timber palisade and ditch, meets the Raetian Limes, which the Romans eventually built as a stone wall, and the stretch of watchtowers numbered 12/69 to 12/85 runs through the farmland and woods east of the Jagst. Archaeologists number the towers with slashes and digits, which makes them sound like spare parts, but each one was a small stone or timber post with a few soldiers watching the border, passing signals along the line. Together they form part of the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 12/69 to 12/85 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Watchtowers WP 12/69 to 12/85 is where the day begins. Next is Watchtowers WP 12/40 to 12/59.
The Romans called it the edge of the world they cared about, and in the Rems valley east of Schwäbisch Gmünd you can still trace where they drew the line. A string of watchtower sites, numbered by archaeologists along the stretch between Mögglingen, Heuchlingen and Böbingen, marks the course of the Raetian Limes, the frontier that guarded the province of Raetia in the second and third centuries. Here the frontier was a stone wall, which later locals, puzzled by the long ruined bank, called the Teufelsmauer, the Devil's Wall.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 12/40 to 12/59 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Watchtowers WP 12/40 to 12/59 comes up about 28 km into the recorded legs. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Schirenh.
On the southern edge of Schwäbisch Gmünd, near the Schirenhof farm, the outline of a Roman fort and the foundations of its bath house lie in the grass, with walls and hypocaust heating systems laid out for visitors to see. The fort guarded the point where the Upper Germanic Limes met the Raetian Limes, the two great frontier lines of Roman Germany, and a civilian settlement grew up around it. The site is part of the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire, and it is one of the more rewarding Limes stops in Baden-Württemberg, with visible remains and a lovely setting above the town.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Schirenh write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 50 km into the recorded legs you reach Fort site and civil settlement of Schirenh. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Welzheim.
Welzheim had not one but two Roman forts, and that alone tells you how seriously the frontier was taken in the Swabian Forest. The larger west fort held a cavalry unit, while the smaller east fort, now an archaeological park on the edge of town, housed an auxiliary infantry detachment. At the east fort the west gate has been rebuilt to its full height, and standing in front of it you get a rare sense of scale that low foundations never give. Around both forts lay the civil settlement, the vicus, with workshops, taverns and homes.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Welzheim write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Fort site and civil settlement of Welzheim, about halfway. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Murrhard.
A Roman cohort fort once stood where Murrhardt's streets now run, on the Upper Germanic Limes as it cut south through the forest toward Welzheim, and a civilian settlement of traders, craftsmen and soldiers' families grew up around it. Some remains have been found under the town, and the local museum tells the story. The Romans left, but the site remained attractive, and in the early Middle Ages a monastery was founded here, associated with Saint Walterich, a hermit whose small chapel, the Walterichskapelle, is a jewel of late Romanesque architecture.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Murrhard write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Fort site and civil settlement of Murrhard sits at 79 km, about halfway. Next is back through Fort site and civil settlement of Welzheim.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Welzheim write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Welzheim comes up about 106 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Fort site and civil settlement of Schirenh.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Schirenh write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 127 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Fort site and civil settlement of Schirenh. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 12/40 to 12/59.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 12/40 to 12/59 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Watchtowers WP 12/40 to 12/59, late in the day. Next is Watchtowers WP 12/69 to 12/85.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 12/69 to 12/85 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 178 km.
Watchtowers WP 12/69 to 12/85 → Watchtowers WP 12/40 to 12/59 is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 12/40 to 12/59 → Fort site and civil settlement of Schirenh is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort site and civil settlement of Schirenh → Fort site and civil settlement of Welzheim is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort site and civil settlement of Welzheim → Fort site and civil settlement of Murrhard is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort site and civil settlement of Murrhard → back through Fort site and civil settlement of Welzheim is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Welzheim → back through Fort site and civil settlement of Schirenh is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Schirenh → back through Watchtowers WP 12/40 to 12/59 is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 12/40 to 12/59 → Watchtowers WP 12/69 to 12/85 is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.