Why this ride
A 287 km round trip from Holzhausen an der Haide - roughly 4 h 20 in the saddle. The stops in between: Watchtowers WP 1/27 to 1/29, Iversheim and back through Watchtowers WP 1/27 to 1/29.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Watchtowers WP 2/35 to 2/48 including the and Iversheim
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 287 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 20
- 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 62 km this is Moselle Wine Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 62 km
- Named road
- Moselle Wine Route
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Watchtowers WP 2/35 to 2/48 including the
West of the Taunus ridge, where the high country rolls down toward the Rhine gorge and the Lahn, the line of the Upper German Limes runs through farmland and forest near the villages of Holzhausen an der Haide, Katzenelnbogen and Nastätten. Archaeologists have catalogued the sites of the watchtowers along this stretch, numbered WP 2/35 to 2/48, and near Holzhausen are the remains of a stone fort, well preserved and easily visited, with its walls and gate outlines clear in the grass. The Limes here consisted of a palisade of wooden stakes, later backed by a ditch and bank, with watchtowers at regular intervals and forts a few kilometres behind. It formed the frontier of the Roman Empire for more than a century and a half.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 2/35 to 2/48 including the write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 2/35 to 2/48 including the is where the day begins. Next is Watchtowers WP 1/27 to 1/29.
2. Watchtowers WP 1/27 to 1/29
The Rhine at Neuwied is wide and brown and always busy with barges, and the flat basin around it was shaped by a catastrophe. About thirteen thousand years ago the Laacher See volcano, a little to the west, erupted with tremendous force and blanketed the area in pumice and ash, and the same tephra layer can still be found in sediments across much of Europe. Today the basin is orchards, vegetable fields and quarries for pumice and tuff, a quiet and fertile ground that gives no hint of its violent origin.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 1/27 to 1/29 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 1/27 to 1/29 comes up about 62 km into the recorded legs. Next is Iversheim.
3. Iversheim
Iversheim is a village in the valley of the Erft, at the northern edge of the Eifel, just downstream from the old spa town of Bad Münstereifel. It is known for one thing: a Roman lime-burning works, one of the best preserved in Europe. The Romans built a series of kilns here to burn limestone from the surrounding hills into quicklime, which was used to make mortar for the forts, towns and roads of the province of Lower Germany. The kilns were worked by detachments of soldiers from the Rhine legions, as inscriptions found on the site show.
Read the complete Iversheim write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 144 km into the recorded legs you reach Iversheim. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 1/27 to 1/29.
4. back through Watchtowers WP 1/27 to 1/29
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 1/27 to 1/29 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 1/27 to 1/29, late in the day. Next is Watchtowers WP 2/35 to 2/48 including the.
5. Watchtowers WP 2/35 to 2/48 including the
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 2/35 to 2/48 including the 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 2/35 to 2/48 including the. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Watchtowers WP 2/35 to 2/48 including the to Watchtowers WP 1/27 to 1/29
Watchtowers WP 2/35 to 2/48 including the → Watchtowers WP 1/27 to 1/29 is 62 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 1/27 to 1/29 to Iversheim
Watchtowers WP 1/27 to 1/29 → Iversheim is 82 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Iversheim to back through Watchtowers WP 1/27 to 1/29
Iversheim → back through Watchtowers WP 1/27 to 1/29 is 82 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Watchtowers WP 1/27 to 1/29 to Watchtowers WP 2/35 to 2/48 including the
back through Watchtowers WP 1/27 to 1/29 → Watchtowers WP 2/35 to 2/48 including the is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.