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 182 km round trip from Jagsthausen - roughly 2 h 47 in the saddle. The stops in between: Building remains north of Götzingen, Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl, Fort site and civil settlement of Niedernb and back through Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
The Jagst is a small, winding river in northern Württemberg, and between Jagsthausen and Möckmühl it runs through a valley of orchards, wooded slopes and half-timbered villages. The Roman frontier ran along this side of the river, and watchtowers 8/44 to 9/2 sit on the high ground above. They belong to the Upper German-Raetian Limes, inscribed by UNESCO in 2005, which here ran in a remarkably straight line for many kilometres, a feat of surveying that still impresses. The Romans needed to hold a rim of high ground and chose a line that ignored the little hills, which is why the old frontier looks like a ruler line across the map.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 8/44 to 9/2 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Watchtowers WP 8/44 to 9/2 is where the day begins. Next is Building remains north of Götzingen.
The Odenwald is old, rounded country, a forested upland between the Rhine and the Main, and the Limes crosses its eastern edge in a line so straight that it looks drawn with a ruler. Near Gotzingen, a village in the Buchen district of Baden-Wurttemberg, the frontier ran past a small Roman building that archaeologists found in the fields. The remains are the foundations of a small military station or a farm building, in a place where the soldiers lived close to the line. It is a modest site, but it shows that the frontier was more than a wall.
Read the complete Building remains north of Götzingen write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Building remains north of Götzingen comes up about 26 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl.
At Miltenberg, the Roman frontier did something unusual: it stopped being a wall and became a river. North of the town, the Main served as the frontier for some fifty kilometres, guarded by forts and watchtowers along its western bank, and here, where the river bends, the land frontier began again, heading south through the Odenwald. The watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 belong to this stretch, and while most are only traces in fields and forests, they are part of the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire. The Romans built forts at Miltenberg, too, and some of their finds are displayed in the town museum.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 59 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Niedernb.
For one stretch of the Roman frontier in Germany, the soldiers did not need to build a wall at all. Between Großkrotzenburg and Miltenberg, the Main river itself served as the border, the so-called wet Limes, guarded by a chain of forts along its western bank. Niedernberg, a village on the river just below Aschaffenburg, was one of them, with a fort and a civilian settlement beside it. Little survives above ground today; the remains lie beneath fields and houses. But the Main still flows past, broad and slow, and it is easy to picture patrol boats and soldiers watching the far bank. The site is part of the Upper German-Raetian Limes World Heritage listing.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Niedernb write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Fort site and civil settlement of Niedernb, about halfway. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl sits at 122 km, about halfway. Next is back through Building remains north of Götzingen.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Building remains north of Götzingen write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Building remains north of Götzingen comes up about 157 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtowers WP 8/44 to 9/2.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 8/44 to 9/2 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Watchtowers WP 8/44 to 9/2 closes the day.
Watchtowers WP 8/44 to 9/2 → Building remains north of Götzingen is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Building remains north of Götzingen → Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl → Fort site and civil settlement of Niedernb is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort site and civil settlement of Niedernb → back through Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl → back through Building remains north of Götzingen is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Building remains north of Götzingen → Watchtowers WP 8/44 to 9/2 is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.