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.
164 km from Greding to Greding, about 2 h 47 of riding. On the way it passes Fort site and civil settlement of Ellingen, Watchtower WP 13/54, Fort site and civil settlement of Ruffenho and back through Watchtower WP 13/54. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Between Greding and Eichstätt, the Raetian Limes runs across the high Franconian Jura plateau, and the names on the map, WP 14/63 to 14/78, are archaeologists' shorthand for a sequence of Roman watchtower sites along this section of the frontier. The Raetian Limes was the wall part of the Upper German-Raetian Limes, inscribed by UNESCO as part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire. Here, the Romans built a stone wall rather than the timber palisade used further west. Locals later called the remains the Teufelsmauer, the Devil's Wall, believing nothing human could have built it.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 14/63 to 14/78 including fo write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Watchtowers WP 14/63 to 14/78 including fo is where the day begins. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Ellingen.
Ellingen is a small town that punches well above its weight. Its centre is dominated by a vast baroque palace built by the Teutonic Order, the German crusading knights who later became a religious and administrative order, and who ran a commandery here for centuries. The palace, with its church, courtyards and gardens, is far grander than you would expect in such a small place. Just outside the town, the Romans had an earlier presence: a fort called Sablonetum stood here on the Raetian Limes, with a civil settlement beside it, guarding the frontier as it crossed the countryside north of Weißenburg. Its outline has been marked in the fields, and it is part of the World Heritage site of the Upper German-Raetian Limes.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Ellingen write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Fort site and civil settlement of Ellingen comes up about 34 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtower WP 13/54.
Gunzenhausen is a small town in Middle Franconia, on the Altmühl river, and the Roman frontier ran right through it. Watchtower WP 13/54 stood within what is now the town, and the course of the frontier is traced through the streets. It is unusual to find the Roman frontier in an urban setting, and it is a nice surprise as you wander the streets.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 13/54 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 55 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtower WP 13/54. 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, about halfway. Next is back through Watchtower WP 13/54.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 13/54 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Watchtower WP 13/54 sits at 111 km, about halfway. Next is back through Fort site and civil settlement of Ellingen.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Ellingen write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Ellingen comes up about 130 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtowers WP 14/63 to 14/78 including fo.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 14/63 to 14/78 including fo write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Watchtowers WP 14/63 to 14/78 including fo closes the day.
Watchtowers WP 14/63 to 14/78 including fo → Fort site and civil settlement of Ellingen is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort site and civil settlement of Ellingen → Watchtower WP 13/54 is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 13/54 → Fort site and civil settlement of Ruffenho is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort site and civil settlement of Ruffenho → back through Watchtower WP 13/54 is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtower WP 13/54 → back through Fort site and civil settlement of Ellingen is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Ellingen → Watchtowers WP 14/63 to 14/78 including fo is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.