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 189 km round trip from Altenstadt - roughly 2 h 47 in the saddle. On the way it passes Watchtowers WP 5/15 to 5/16, Civil settlement of Niedernberg northern p, Fort site and civil settlement of Grosskro and back through Civil settlement of Niedernberg northern p.
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 29 km this is German Fairy Tale Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Out here on the eastern rim of the Wetterau, between Altenstadt, Hammersbach and the Büdingen forest, the Roman frontier did something unusual. Having come over the Taunus and swung north around the fertile plain, the Limes turned and ran almost due south towards the Main, enclosing the Wetterau like a hand cupped around something precious. The towers numbered WP 4/82 to 5/8, along with small fortlets, guarded this eastern flank, and their remains lie in fields and woodland edges where only a shallow bank or a marker stone gives them away.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl is where the day begins. Next is Watchtowers WP 5/15 to 5/16.
Great forts are rare on the Limes; most of the frontier was watchtowers, small timber and later stone posts within sight of each other, each with a handful of men and a fire for signalling. The towers numbered 5/15 and 5/16 stood near Großkrotzenburg, at the point where the land frontier coming down from the Wetterau met the Main, and from here southward the river itself became the border as far as Miltenberg. Little of them remains to see, but the location tells the story: the Romans used water where they could and built palisades only where they had to.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 5/15 to 5/16 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Watchtowers WP 5/15 to 5/16 comes up about 29 km into the recorded legs. Next is Civil settlement of Niedernberg northern p.
Niedernberg is a quiet village on the left bank of the Main, a few kilometres downstream from Aschaffenburg, where the river was the Roman frontier. The Upper German-Raetian Limes, after running across the Odenwald, used the Main as its boundary between Großkrotzenburg and Miltenberg, and a fort with a civil settlement stood at Niedernberg, guarding the river line. The northern part of the civil settlement is listed separately as part of the UNESCO site. There is little to see above ground, as the remains lie under fields and houses, but the location by the river makes the Roman logic clear.
Read the complete Civil settlement of Niedernberg northern p write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 62 km into the recorded legs you reach Civil settlement of Niedernberg northern p. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Grosskro.
Großkrotzenburg sits at a turning point of the Roman frontier. Here, on the Main east of Frankfurt, the river border that ran north from Miltenberg came to an end, and the Limes turned away from the water to head north across the Wetterau toward the Taunus. A fort guarded the spot, with a civilian settlement, and parts of its walls and gate can still be traced in the old town, where the fort's outline is marked in the streets. The site belongs to the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire, and the local museum displays finds from the fort and the vicus.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Grosskro write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Fort site and civil settlement of Grosskro, about halfway. Next is back through Civil settlement of Niedernberg northern p.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Civil settlement of Niedernberg northern p write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Civil settlement of Niedernberg northern p sits at 112 km, about halfway. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 5/15 to 5/16.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 5/15 to 5/16 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Watchtowers WP 5/15 to 5/16 comes up about 160 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl closes the day.
Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl → Watchtowers WP 5/15 to 5/16 is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 5/15 to 5/16 → Civil settlement of Niedernberg northern p is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Civil settlement of Niedernberg northern p → Fort site and civil settlement of Grosskro is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort site and civil settlement of Grosskro → back through Civil settlement of Niedernberg northern p is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Civil settlement of Niedernberg northern p → back through Watchtowers WP 5/15 to 5/16 is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 5/15 to 5/16 → Watchtowers WP 4/82 to 5/8 including fortl is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.