Why this ride
158 km from Weiltingen to Weiltingen, about 2 h 50 of riding. On the way it passes Watchtowers WP 13/41 to 13/45, Watchtower WP 14/28, Watchtower WP 13/50 and back through Watchtower WP 14/28.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Watchtowers WP 13/6 to 13/12 and Watchtower WP 13/50
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 158 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 50
- 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 13/6 to 13/12
Along the Wörnitz valley in western Middle Franconia, near the village of Weiltingen, the line of the Raetian Limes cuts across the countryside, and the places where Roman watchtowers once stood are numbered by archaeologists in a dry sequence: WP 13/6, 13/7, and so on. In Raetia, the frontier was not a palisade, as in Upper Germany, but a stone wall about three metres high, and local people called its remains the Teufelsmauer, the Devil's Wall, believing that only the devil could have built something so long and straight. Today, you may see a low bank in a field or a line of trees following the old route, and in some places the foundations of towers have been marked or reconstructed.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 13/6 to 13/12 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 13/6 to 13/12 is where the day begins. Next is Watchtowers WP 13/41 to 13/45.
2. Watchtowers WP 13/41 to 13/45
South of Gunzenhausen the old frontier of the Roman Empire ran across the countryside in a ruler-straight line, and the numbered watchtowers are the markers for that line. This is the Raetian Limes, the stretch that, from the second century onward, was built from timber and then stone to protect the province of Raetia from the Germanic tribes to the north. The numbers 13/41 to 13/45 simply describe a cluster of tower sites on the surveyor's map. Most of them have been reduced by farming and time to low mounds and gentle banks in the fields, so what you actually find is landscape rather than masonry.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 13/41 to 13/45 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 13/41 to 13/45 comes up about 26 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtower WP 14/28.
3. 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
about 55 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtower WP 14/28. Next is Watchtower WP 13/50.
4. 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, about halfway. Next is back through Watchtower WP 14/28.
5. 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 sits at 107 km, about halfway. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 13/41 to 13/45.
6. back through Watchtowers WP 13/41 to 13/45
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 13/41 to 13/45 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Watchtowers WP 13/41 to 13/45 comes up about 134 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtowers WP 13/6 to 13/12.
7. Watchtowers WP 13/6 to 13/12
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 13/6 to 13/12 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 13/6 to 13/12 closes the day.
Leg by leg
Watchtowers WP 13/6 to 13/12 to Watchtowers WP 13/41 to 13/45
Watchtowers WP 13/6 to 13/12 → Watchtowers WP 13/41 to 13/45 is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 13/41 to 13/45 to Watchtower WP 14/28
Watchtowers WP 13/41 to 13/45 → Watchtower WP 14/28 is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 14/28 to Watchtower WP 13/50
Watchtower WP 14/28 → Watchtower WP 13/50 is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 13/50 to back through Watchtower WP 14/28
Watchtower WP 13/50 → back through Watchtower WP 14/28 is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtower WP 14/28 to back through Watchtowers WP 13/41 to 13/45
back through Watchtower WP 14/28 → back through Watchtowers WP 13/41 to 13/45 is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 13/41 to 13/45 to Watchtowers WP 13/6 to 13/12
back through Watchtowers WP 13/41 to 13/45 → Watchtowers WP 13/6 to 13/12 is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.