Jumilla country is dry, wide and honest. The town sits in the far north of Murcia where it bulges up towards Albacete, surrounded by limestone sierras, almond groves and vineyards of Monastrell grapes that make some of the most powerful red wine in Spain. A few kilometres outside town, in the folds of these hills, lie a group of small rock shelters known as the Abrigos del Buen Aire. They belong to the long chain of prehistoric painted sites strung along the eastern side of the peninsula that UNESCO lists together as the rock art of the Mediterranean Basin.
Do not expect a museum. These are shallow overhangs in the rock where people painted small figures, often schematic signs or stylised humans and animals, in red ochre. Many shelters are fenced to protect them, and some can only be visited with a guide arranged through the town, so treat the stop as a chance to stand in the landscape the painters knew rather than a guaranteed viewing. The setting does a lot of the work anyway: pale stone, esparto grass, the smell of rosemary and pine when the sun warms it, and a silence broken only by wind.
The riding around Jumilla is straightforward and pleasurable. The main roads to Yecla, Hellín and Cieza are broad and quick, with long sightlines across the plain, while the minor roads that climb into the sierras, towards Ontur or around the Sierra del Carche to the south, bring tighter bends and rougher surfaces. Dust and loose grit collect on the shoulders, and agricultural traffic is common at harvest time in September and October. Summer here is brutal; midday temperatures can be dangerous on a bike, so ride at dawn and hide in the afternoon like the locals do.
Jumilla itself, about seven kilometres away, has everything you need: several petrol stations, bars serving tapas and cold beer, and a castle on the hill above the old town with wide views over the vineyards. Many bodegas offer tastings, though that is a pleasure for the evening when the bike is parked. If you need a reason to linger, the monastery of Santa Ana del Monte on the hillside south of town is a quiet, shaded spot for a break. Carry more water than you think out here, and do not count on finding anything open between the villages after two o'clock.