What matters is the country around it, which is some of the finest in inland Catalonia. You are in the Conca de Barberà, the basin of the Francolí river, a few kilometres from the walled town of Montblanc and the village of Alcover, with the wooded wall of the Serra de Prades rising to the west. The area is dotted with prehistoric rock shelters, part of the great arc of Mediterranean rock art that runs down eastern Spain, and many of the site names along these rides are exactly that: a ledge of sandstone or limestone where hunters painted deer and archers thousands of years ago.
Montblanc deserves an hour. Its medieval walls survive for much of their circuit, the gates still funnel traffic, and local legend puts Saint George's fight with the dragon right outside them, which the town celebrates every April with gusto. A little further west, near Vimbodí, the Cistercian monastery of Poblet holds the tombs of the kings of Aragon and is still home to monks. Wine is everywhere here; the Conca de Barberà grows Trepat and the base wines for cava, and old stone cooperative wineries in the villages, some built in a modernista style that people call wine cathedrals, are worth a look even from the saddle.
The roads are the reason to come. The C-14 climbs from Valls over the Coll de Lilla in a run of smooth, well-cambered bends before dropping into the basin, and the minor roads into the Prades mountains, towards Prades village and the red sandstone at Siurana, are narrow, twisting and wonderfully empty midweek. Watch for gravel on the inside of hairpins after rain and for cyclists, who love these climbs as much as we do. Summer afternoons get very hot down in the basin, so ride the high ground at midday and the valleys in the morning.
Montblanc has fuel, cafés and bakeries; Alcover is smaller but has the basics. Grab water before heading into the hills, because villages up there are tiny and often shut in the afternoon. If you have time, a short walk among the pines near any of the painted shelters, with the smell of resin and thyme in the air, is a fine way to break the ride.