CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
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Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
A 389 km round trip from Zhengzhou - roughly 5 h 27 in the saddle. It goes by way of Historic Monuments of Dengfeng in “The Cen, Architectural Complex of Shaolin Temple, Taishi Que Gates and Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
Zhengzhou is a modern city of over four million people built on top of a very old one. Under the streets lie the walls of a Shang dynasty city some three and a half thousand years old, parts of which are still visible as long banks of rammed earth, and the Yellow River runs just north of town. The city is the capital of Henan, the province that some Chinese call the cradle of civilisation, and for much of history the plains around here were the political centre of the country.
Read the complete Zhengzhou Section of Tongji Canal write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Zhengzhou Section of Tongji Canal is where the day begins. Next is Historic Monuments of Dengfeng in “The Cen.
The Dengfeng monuments are scattered along the southern foot of Mount Song, one of China's five sacred mountains, in the middle of Henan province. UNESCO grouped them together because they trace three thousand years of people treating one mountain as the centre of the world.
Read the complete Historic Monuments of Dengfeng in “The Cen write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Historic Monuments of Dengfeng in “The Cen comes up 50 km in. Next is Architectural Complex of Shaolin Temple.
Ask most people where kung fu comes from and they will name this temple, even if they have no idea where it is. The Shaolin Temple stands at the foot of Mount Song in Henan province, central China, near the city of Dengfeng. It was founded at the end of the fifth century for an Indian monk, and tradition says that Bodhidharma, the legendary founder of Chan, or Zen, Buddhism, meditated in a cave on the mountain above for nine years. The monks' martial arts became famous over the centuries, and today Shaolin is as much a brand as a monastery.
Read the complete Architectural Complex of Shaolin Temple write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
100 km in you reach Architectural Complex of Shaolin Temple. Next is Taishi Que Gates.
At the foot of Mount Song, one of the five sacred mountains of China, stand three pairs of free-standing stone gateways that have been waiting for the better part of two thousand years. They are que, tall, pillar-like towers that marked the approach to a temple or tomb in Han dynasty China, and the ones at Dengfeng belong to the temples of Mount Song, as ceremonial entrance markers. The Taishi Que, the western gate of the Zhongyue Temple, dates from the second century, and is covered with carved scenes of hunting, chariots, dancers and animals, in a lively, rough, vigorous style. They are among the oldest such structures in China and they are part of the UNESCO listing of the Historic Monuments of Dengfeng.
Read the complete Taishi Que Gates write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Taishi Que Gates, about halfway. Next is Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han.
Luoyang, in Henan province, is one of the four great ancient capitals of China, a city that served as the seat of more than a dozen dynasties over a thousand years. East of the modern city, in the fields along the Luo river, lie the remains of the capital of the Eastern Han dynasty, which ruled from Luoyang from the first to the early third century AD, and of the later Wei, Jin and Northern Wei capitals built on the same site. The site is part of the UNESCO-listed Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor, inscribed in 2014.
Read the complete Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han sits at 201 km, about halfway. Next is back through Taishi Que Gates.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Taishi Que Gates write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Taishi Que Gates comes up 251 km in. Next is back through Architectural Complex of Shaolin Temple.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Architectural Complex of Shaolin Temple write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
301 km in you reach back through Architectural Complex of Shaolin Temple. Next is back through Historic Monuments of Dengfeng in “The Cen.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Historic Monuments of Dengfeng in “The Cen write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Historic Monuments of Dengfeng in “The Cen, late in the day. Next is Zhengzhou Section of Tongji Canal.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Zhengzhou Section of Tongji Canal write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 389 km.
Zhengzhou Section of Tongji Canal → Historic Monuments of Dengfeng in “The Cen is 96 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Historic Monuments of Dengfeng in “The Cen → Architectural Complex of Shaolin Temple is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Architectural Complex of Shaolin Temple → Taishi Que Gates is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Taishi Que Gates → Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han is 69 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Site of Luoyang City from the Eastern Han → back through Taishi Que Gates is 69 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Taishi Que Gates → back through Architectural Complex of Shaolin Temple is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Architectural Complex of Shaolin Temple → back through Historic Monuments of Dengfeng in “The Cen is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Historic Monuments of Dengfeng in “The Cen → Zhengzhou Section of Tongji Canal is 96 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.