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.
142 km from Gunzenhausen to Gunzenhausen, about 3 h 03 of riding. On the way it passes Fort site and civil settlement of Ruffenho, Building remains of south of Pfahlheim, Fort site and civil settlement of Aalen and back through Building remains of south of Pfahlheim.
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 25 km this is Romantic Road, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
The numbers here, 13/46 to 13/49, belong to a surveyor's grid, but the line they follow is the old Raetian frontier, which the Romans built across Bavaria in the second century. East of the town of Gunzenhausen it was turned from a simple timber palisade into a proper stone wall, a rarity in the Roman north. The locals later called this wall the Teufelsmauer, the Devil's Wall, because they could not imagine human hands had built something so straight and so long. Folk stories said that the devil had built it overnight, and that he had run out of time just before dawn.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 13/46 to 13/49 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Watchtowers WP 13/46 to 13/49 is where the day begins. Next is 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.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Ruffenho write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Fort site and civil settlement of Ruffenho comes up about 24 km into the recorded legs. Next is Building remains of south of Pfahlheim.
The name of the village gives the game away. Pfahlheim, a part of Ellwangen in the Ostalb, takes its name from the Pfahl, the stake line, which is what generations of farmers called the Roman frontier that ran through their fields. Here, at the edge of what is now Baden-Württemberg, the Upper German Limes and the Raetian Limes met, and the building remains south of the village are one of many small components of the UNESCO-listed Upper German-Raetian Limes. The frontier ran almost dead straight across this country for long distances, ignoring hills and streams in a way that still baffles people. There is very little to see on the ground today, perhaps a low bank or a signboard, but the line can be traced by eye if you know where to look.
Read the complete Building remains of south of Pfahlheim write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 49 km into the recorded legs you reach Building remains of south of Pfahlheim. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Aalen.
The largest Roman cavalry fort north of the Alps stood on the site of today's Aalen, in the eastern Swabian Jura. It was home to a regiment of a thousand horsemen, the ala II Flavia, the most prestigious cavalry unit on the Raetian frontier, and its walls enclosed a huge area, with barracks, stables, granaries and a headquarters building. Beside it grew a civilian settlement, with traders, craftsmen and families. Today the site is home to the Limesmuseum Aalen, one of the most important museums of the Roman frontier in Germany, with excavated foundations, reconstructions and a rich collection of finds. It is part of the Upper German-Raetian Limes World Heritage site.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Aalen write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Fort site and civil settlement of Aalen, about halfway. Next is back through Building remains of south of Pfahlheim.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Building remains of south of Pfahlheim write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Building remains of south of Pfahlheim sits at 101 km, about halfway. Next is back through Fort site and civil settlement of Ruffenho.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Ruffenho write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Ruffenho comes up about 116 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtowers WP 13/46 to 13/49.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 13/46 to 13/49 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Watchtowers WP 13/46 to 13/49 closes the day.
Watchtowers WP 13/46 to 13/49 → Fort site and civil settlement of Ruffenho is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort site and civil settlement of Ruffenho → Building remains of south of Pfahlheim is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Building remains of south of Pfahlheim → Fort site and civil settlement of Aalen is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort site and civil settlement of Aalen → back through Building remains of south of Pfahlheim is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Building remains of south of Pfahlheim → back through Fort site and civil settlement of Ruffenho is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Ruffenho → Watchtowers WP 13/46 to 13/49 is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.