Why this ride
A 93 km round trip from Nassau - roughly 1 h 57 in the saddle. On the way it passes Watchtower WP 1/84, Watchtowers WP 1/53 to 1/57 and back through Watchtower WP 1/84.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Watchtowers WP 2/14 to 2/16 and Watchtowers WP 1/53 to 1/57
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 93 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 57
- 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.
Scenic road chapters
Moselle Wine Route
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 24 km this is Moselle Wine Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 24 km
- Named road
- Moselle Wine Route
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Watchtowers WP 2/14 to 2/16
Imagine standing in a small timber or stone tower on a cold winter night, looking out over the dark forest for signs of movement, with a fire ready to signal to the next tower along the line. That was the life of the soldiers who manned the watchtowers of the Roman frontier, and the remains of three of them, numbered 2/14 to 2/16 by archaeologists, lie in the woods between Singhofen and Miehlen, on the plateau above the Rhine and the Lahn. Their foundations survive as low mounds and traces in the ground, and the line of the frontier, the ditch and bank, can be followed between them. They are part of the Upper German-Raetian Limes, one of the components of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 2/14 to 2/16 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 2/14 to 2/16 is where the day begins. Next is Watchtower WP 1/84.
2. Watchtower WP 1/84
Bad Ems is a small spa town in the winding valley of the Lahn, where the river cuts a deep trench through the hills of the Taunus and Westerwald. Its warm springs were known to the Romans, and it gained fame in the nineteenth century, when the Russian tsar, the Prussian king and the whole of European society came to take the cure. In July 1870 King Wilhelm of Prussia was walking on the promenade when the French ambassador approached him, and the telegram that described the encounter, edited by Bismarck for the press, helped push France into the war that led to German unification. The Ems Dispatch, as it is called, is one of the famous editorial acts in diplomatic history.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/84 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtower WP 1/84 comes up about 24 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtowers WP 1/53 to 1/57.
3. Watchtowers WP 1/53 to 1/57
This stretch of the Limes sits close to Bendorf and Stromberg, on the plateau above the Rhine near Koblenz, and the watchtowers numbered here, five in all, follow the line as it climbs from the river. The frontier was a controlled boundary: a palisade or bank, a ditch, and a series of towers within sight of each other, with a patrol path behind. Traces survive as low banks in forest and field, and some positions have been marked or partly reconstructed, which makes this a good place to understand how the system worked.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 1/53 to 1/57 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 48 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtowers WP 1/53 to 1/57. Next is back through Watchtower WP 1/84.
4. back through Watchtower WP 1/84
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/84 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 1/84, late in the day. Next is Watchtowers WP 2/14 to 2/16.
5. Watchtowers WP 2/14 to 2/16
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 2/14 to 2/16 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Watchtowers WP 2/14 to 2/16. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Watchtowers WP 2/14 to 2/16 to Watchtower WP 1/84
Watchtowers WP 2/14 to 2/16 → Watchtower WP 1/84 is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 1/84 to Watchtowers WP 1/53 to 1/57
Watchtower WP 1/84 → Watchtowers WP 1/53 to 1/57 is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 1/53 to 1/57 to back through Watchtower WP 1/84
Watchtowers WP 1/53 to 1/57 → back through Watchtower WP 1/84 is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtower WP 1/84 to Watchtowers WP 2/14 to 2/16
back through Watchtower WP 1/84 → Watchtowers WP 2/14 to 2/16 is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.