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.
A 270 km round trip from Greding - roughly 4 h 46 in the saddle. It goes by way of Fort site of Burgsalach, Watchtower WP 13/54, Watchtowers WP 14/29 to 14/62 including fo and Watchtowers WP 13/51 to 13/53. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
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 Watchtowers WP 14/29 to 14/62 including fo.
Burgsalach is a quiet village of about twelve hundred people on the high limestone plateau of the Franconian Jura, and the old frontier of the Roman Empire ran right across it. This was the Raetian Limes, a different beast from the timber palisade further north. Here the Romans built in stone, and the remains of the wall, which locals long ascribed to the devil and called the Teufelsmauer, still show up as a low line in the fields and woods. The towers along it were numbered by archaeologists, which is why the label is a string of figures rather than a name.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 14/29 to 14/62 including fo write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Watchtowers WP 14/29 to 14/62 including fo, about halfway. Next is Watchtowers WP 13/51 to 13/53.
In the Altmühl country around Gunzenhausen the Roman frontier is a wall rather than a fence. Far to the west it was a timber palisade, earth bank and ditch, but from the edge of the Swabian Alb eastward the Romans replaced it with something sturdier, a stone wall that runs for many kilometres across Bavaria, which locals later nicknamed the Devil's Wall, the Teufelsmauer, because it seemed too big to have been made by men. The watchtowers numbered 13/51 to 13/53 belong to that stone-wall stretch, and they were small square towers of stone or timber that stood just behind the line, with a view over the valley and the next tower in the chain.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 13/51 to 13/53 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Watchtowers WP 13/51 to 13/53 sits at 142 km, about halfway. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 14/29 to 14/62 including fo.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 14/29 to 14/62 including fo write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Watchtowers WP 14/29 to 14/62 including fo comes up about 172 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 204 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 270 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 → Watchtowers WP 14/29 to 14/62 including fo is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 14/29 to 14/62 including fo → Watchtowers WP 13/51 to 13/53 is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 13/51 to 13/53 → back through Watchtowers WP 14/29 to 14/62 including fo is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 14/29 to 14/62 including fo → back through Watchtower WP 13/54 is 32 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.