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.
308 km from Kaisersbach to Kaisersbach, about 5 h 59 of riding. The stops in between: Fort site and civil settlement of Unterböb, Building remains of south of Pfahlheim, Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo and Watchtower WP 14/28. The line favours views over speed.
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 41 km this is Romantic Road, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
There is a stretch of the Roman frontier in southern Germany that runs almost perfectly straight for about eighty kilometres, from Walldürn in the Odenwald to near Welzheim in the Swabian-Franconian Forest, ignoring hills and valleys alike, as if the surveyors had simply drawn a line on a map. The watchtowers numbered WP 9/101 to 9/131 stand near the southern end of that line, in the forests around Kaisersbach and Welzheim, where the Limes finally turns.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 9/101 to 9/131 including th write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Watchtowers WP 9/101 to 9/131 including th is where the day begins. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Unterböb.
The Rems valley runs east from Stuttgart towards the edge of the Swabian Jura, and Unterböbingen lies just outside the village of Böbingen, with Heubach three kilometres on and the long wooded wall of the Alb rising behind. The ground here is gently rolling farmland, orchards, small fields and the occasional church spire, the kind of country that looks entirely ordinary until you remember who once held it.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Unterböb write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Fort site and civil settlement of Unterböb comes up about 40 km into the recorded legs. Next is Building remains of south of Pfahlheim.
The name of the village gives the game away. Pfahlheim, a part of Ellwangen in the Ostalb, takes its name from the Pfahl, the stake line, which is what generations of farmers called the Roman frontier that ran through their fields. Here, at the edge of what is now Baden-Württemberg, the Upper German Limes and the Raetian Limes met, and the building remains south of the village are one of many small components of the UNESCO-listed Upper German-Raetian Limes. The frontier ran almost dead straight across this country for long distances, ignoring hills and streams in a way that still baffles people. There is very little to see on the ground today, perhaps a low bank or a signboard, but the line can be traced by eye if you know where to look.
Read the complete Building remains of south of Pfahlheim write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 77 km into the recorded legs you reach Building remains of south of Pfahlheim. Next is Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo.
The Raetian Limes ran across southern Franconia as a stone wall, and between Wassertrüdingen and Gunzenhausen it climbed over low hills and crossed the valleys of small rivers, with watchtowers at regular intervals. The group from WP 13/16 to 13/36 includes the sites of several towers and a fortlet, now visible as low mounds and foundations, sometimes with reconstructions, and they are part of the Upper German-Raetian Limes World Heritage listing. In the woods and fields, a line of stones or a slight bank may mark the course of the wall.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo, about halfway. Next is Watchtower WP 14/28.
Near the Franconian town of Pleinfeld, the Raetian Limes, the stone wall that marked the frontier of the province of Raetia, crossed a landscape of woods, fields and small rivers, and a watchtower stood here, one of hundreds along the line. Watchtower WP 14/28 is now a low mound or reconstructed foundation, but it is part of the Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes World Heritage listing. The frontier here was a stone wall, known locally as the Teufelsmauer, the devil's wall, because medieval villagers could not believe that humans had built it.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 14/28 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Watchtower WP 14/28 sits at 150 km, about halfway. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo comes up about 191 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Building remains of south of Pfahlheim.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Building remains of south of Pfahlheim write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 232 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Building remains of south of Pfahlheim. Next is back through Fort site and civil settlement of Unterböb.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Unterböb write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Unterböb, late in the day. Next is Watchtowers WP 9/101 to 9/131 including th.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 9/101 to 9/131 including th write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 308 km.
Watchtowers WP 9/101 to 9/131 including th → Fort site and civil settlement of Unterböb is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort site and civil settlement of Unterböb → Building remains of south of Pfahlheim is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Building remains of south of Pfahlheim → Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo → Watchtower WP 14/28 is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtower WP 14/28 → back through Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 13/16 to 13/36 including fo → back through Building remains of south of Pfahlheim is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Building remains of south of Pfahlheim → back through Fort site and civil settlement of Unterböb is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Unterböb → Watchtowers WP 9/101 to 9/131 including th is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.