Watchtowers WP 13/40 and Watchtowers WP 12/86 to 13/5 including for
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
87 km
Riding-time estimate
1 h 56
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.
From Wassertrüdingen it runs 87 km to Wassertrüdingen; allow about 1 h 56 of riding. On the way it passes Fort site and civil settlement of Ruffenho, Watchtowers WP 12/86 to 13/5 including for and back through Fort site and civil settlement of Ruffenho. The line favours views over speed.
Scenic road chapters
Romantic Road
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 24 km this is Romantic Road, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
Length
24 km
Named road
Romantic Road
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Watchtowers WP 13/40
Arberg lies in the rolling country of Middle Franconia, where the Altmühl and Wörnitz rivers wander through meadows and the hills are crowned with small woods. The Roman Limes crossed this ground in the second century, and the towers numbered 13/40 belong to the Raetian section, close to the point where the frontier was a stone wall. Today the line is mostly hidden. Farmers have ploughed over it, and trees have grown on the old bank, and in a few places a wooden marker or a stone footing shows where a tower stood. The nearest big fort was at Unterschwaningen, a few kilometres away, and the garrison there sent patrols to the towers.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 13/40 is where the day begins. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Ruffenho.
2. Fort site and civil settlement of Ruffenho
There is nothing to climb at Ruffenhofen, and that is the clever part. The Roman fort here, on gently rising ground above the Wörnitz near Weiltingen and Wittelshofen, has never been rebuilt in stone. Instead, the outline of the walls, gates and the buildings of the settlement around it has been traced across the fields with hedges, trees and mown strips, so the whole place reads like a plan drawn in plants. From the little viewing hill you can see the shape of a garrison that has been underground for seventeen centuries.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Fort site and civil settlement of Ruffenho comes up about 19 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtowers WP 12/86 to 13/5 including for.
3. Watchtowers WP 12/86 to 13/5 including for
Near Rainau, not far from here, the Romans built a monumental gate in the Raetian Limes, a showpiece entrance probably connected with a visit by the emperor Caracalla in the early third century. Today the Limestor Dalkingen is protected under a glass and steel shelter, an impressive sight. The watchtowers numbered in this section, around Stödtlen, Wört and Tannhausen, were part of the same frontier, which ran here as a stone wall across the hilly country between the Ries crater and the Swabian Forest, toward the Danube.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 43 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtowers WP 12/86 to 13/5 including for. Next is back through Fort site and civil settlement of Ruffenho.
4. back through Fort site and civil settlement of Ruffenho
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Watchtowers WP 13/40. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Watchtowers WP 13/40 to Fort site and civil settlement of Ruffenho
Watchtowers WP 13/40 → Fort site and civil settlement of Ruffenho is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort site and civil settlement of Ruffenho to Watchtowers WP 12/86 to 13/5 including for
Fort site and civil settlement of Ruffenho → Watchtowers WP 12/86 to 13/5 including for is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 12/86 to 13/5 including for to back through Fort site and civil settlement of Ruffenho
Watchtowers WP 12/86 to 13/5 including for → back through Fort site and civil settlement of Ruffenho is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Ruffenho to Watchtowers WP 13/40
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Ruffenho → Watchtowers WP 13/40 is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.