Weather behaves differently on the Maestrat plateau. At a thousand metres and more, only thirty or forty kilometres from the Mediterranean, the climate has a double character: a sea breeze that brings moisture and cloud, and a continental winter that brings frost and sometimes snow. On a spring morning you may ride up through sunshine and find yourself in a drifting bank of cloud, with the cliffs of the Cingle de la Mola Remigia appearing and disappearing like a stage set.
The road conditions follow the weather. On the plateau they are mostly good, with long, flowing bends, but in damp weather the limestone surface can be slick, and after heavy rain the barrancos shed gravel onto the asphalt. Come prepared with layers, as a clear day on the coast can be cold and windy at Benassal. The best seasons are late spring and early autumn, when the air is calm and clear and the light is sharp, and the stone of the cliffs shifts from grey to honey in the course of a morning.
Morella, an hour or so to the north, is the great medieval town of the region, with walls, a castle on a rock and a main street of arcades, and its pastries called flaons are the thing to try. The N-232 that runs there has long been a favourite of riders, and a day that links the Gasulla with Morella and back through the high villages is among the finest rides in the province. Distances are modest, but the corners eat time, so allow longer than the map suggests.
Benassal, five kilometres away, is the nearest village, with a few bars and a bakery, and Alcalà de Xivert, thirty-three kilometres off, is the reliable place for fuel. The paintings here are part of the Gasulla group, and the shelter walls hold small red figures of the Levantine tradition. Respect the fences, bring water and never touch the rock. If you want to understand what you are seeing, spend an hour in the museum at Tírig before you ride out, and you will walk up to the cliff with a far better eye.