Alginet, a town of about 13,000 people, and its neighbours Benifaió and Alfarp are part of a landscape of citrus groves, irrigation ditches and tiled farmhouses, where the Júcar river has laid down rich soil over thousands of years. In spring, when the orange blossom is out, the scent of azahar fills the air and can be smelled from the road with the visor up.
The shelter named for the Falaguera ravine belongs to the world of Levantine rock art, which UNESCO listed in 1998, and its ravine lies in the hills rather than the plain, so the day's ride takes you from the groves into the folds of the interior. The paintings in these shelters, red figures of hunters, animals and scenes of daily life, are fragile, and the shelters are not signed, so enquire locally and do not expect to find them without a guide.
The ride across this part of Valencia is mostly easy. Flat roads cross the plain between orchards, with the odd crossing of the Júcar, and traffic is heavy near Valencia and on the motorways. The turn inland, towards Alfarp and the hills, brings gentle curves and views over the groves. The surface is generally good. In late summer the heat is intense and the humidity is high, so early starts are best, and autumn storms can bring heavy rain, with flooded roads in the lowest places.
Alginet has fuel stations, supermarkets and cafés, and the neighbouring towns have more. Valencia is only about 25 km north, with the huge Albufera lagoon, rice fields and the home of paella to the east. The authentic recipe uses chicken, rabbit and flat green beans, cooked over an open fire of orange wood, and arguments about the right way to cook it are a local sport. Horchata, a sweet drink made from tiger nuts, grown in the nearby huerta of Alboraya, is the proper cooler on a hot afternoon, served with fartons, a long sugar-glazed pastry.