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.
276 km from Greding to Greding, about 4 h 59 of riding. The stops in between: Fort site of Burgsalach, Watchtower WP 13/54, Limessection between Watchtowers WP 13/5 a and Watchtowers WP 12/60 to 12/68. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
The ride follows Watchtowers WP 15/1 to 15/7 → Fort site of Burgsalach for 34 km.
In Bavaria, the Roman frontier changed character. Instead of the wooden palisade used in the Upper German section, the Raetian Limes was eventually built as a stone wall, known locally as the Devil's Wall, because medieval people could not imagine anyone but the devil building something so long. The stretch between Watchtowers 15/1 and 15/7 crosses the hills around the Altmühl valley, near Kipfenberg and Kinding, and the line of the wall can still be traced in places as a low ridge in the forest. It is part of the Upper German-Raetian Limes World Heritage site.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 15/1 to 15/7 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Watchtowers WP 15/1 to 15/7 is where the day begins. Next is Fort site of Burgsalach.
The small fortlet at Burgsalach stood on the Raetian Limes, the eastern section of Rome's frontier in Germany. Dating from a late phase of the frontier, it had walls of stone and was compact and well defended, more like a small castle than the usual timber watchtower, and its name lives on in the village of Burgsalach nearby. The outline of the walls can still be traced on the ground, and like the rest of the frontier it is part of the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire. Here, in the hills of Middle Franconia, the Raetian Limes was not a palisade but a stone wall, which local legend later attributed to the Devil himself, calling it the Teufelsmauer.
Read the complete Fort site of Burgsalach write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Fort site of Burgsalach 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 67 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtower WP 13/54. Next is Limessection between Watchtowers WP 13/5 a.
In the fields near Wilburgstetten, in the west of Franconia, a low ridge runs across the landscape, overgrown with grass and bushes. It looks like nothing much, but it is the remains of the Raetian Limes, the stone wall that marked the frontier of the Roman province of Raetia in the second and third centuries. Unlike the Upper German Limes to the north west, which was mostly a palisade and ditch, the Raetian section was eventually built as a continuous stone wall, more than a hundred and sixty kilometres long. Local people later called it the Teufelsmauer, the Devil's Wall, believing it could only have been built by supernatural forces. The section between watchtowers here is part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site.
Read the complete Limessection between Watchtowers WP 13/5 a write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Limessection between Watchtowers WP 13/5 a, about halfway. Next is Watchtowers WP 12/60 to 12/68.
The Roman frontier wall known as the Limes ran for more than five hundred kilometres across what is now southern Germany, from the Rhine to the Danube, and near Aalen it passed through the Kocher valley and over the hills of the Ostalb. Along its length, watchtowers were built at regular intervals, numbered by archaeologists in sequence: WP 12/60 to 12/68 are a group of tower sites near Hüttlingen, mostly now visible as low mounds or reconstructed foundations. The Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes was inscribed by UNESCO in 2005 as part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 12/60 to 12/68 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Watchtowers WP 12/60 to 12/68 sits at 148 km, about halfway. Next is back through Limessection between Watchtowers WP 13/5 a.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Limessection between Watchtowers WP 13/5 a write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Limessection between Watchtowers WP 13/5 a comes up about 177 km into the recorded legs. 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.
about 211 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Watchtower WP 13/54. Next is back through Fort site of Burgsalach.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fort site of Burgsalach write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Fort site of Burgsalach, late in the day. Next is Watchtowers WP 15/1 to 15/7.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 15/1 to 15/7 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 276 km.
Watchtowers WP 15/1 to 15/7 → Fort site of Burgsalach is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort site of Burgsalach → Watchtower WP 13/54 is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 13/54 → Limessection between Watchtowers WP 13/5 a is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Limessection between Watchtowers WP 13/5 a → Watchtowers WP 12/60 to 12/68 is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 12/60 to 12/68 → back through Limessection between Watchtowers WP 13/5 a is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Limessection between Watchtowers WP 13/5 a → back through Watchtower WP 13/54 is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtower WP 13/54 → back through Fort site of Burgsalach is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fort site of Burgsalach → Watchtowers WP 15/1 to 15/7 is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.