Look at a map of the Bajo Aragón and you will find a great deal of white space, a country of low ridges, ravines and little villages that have lost most of their inhabitants in a century. Alacón has four hundred people and Oliete not many more, and the Frontón de las Cápridos, a painted rock shelter named for the wild goats, or caprids, that appear among its figures, lies about three and a half kilometres from the former. The paintings are in the Levantine tradition, protected by UNESCO together with the rest of the Mediterranean rock art of the Iberian Peninsula, and they sit within a cultural park that strings several sites together along the Río Martín.
It is easy to see why hunters would have liked this country. Goats and deer need cover and water, and the river gorge offers both. Even now, the scrubby slopes have wild boar and the occasional bird of prey circling. The rock is red and yellow sandstone and pale limestone, cut into pillars and walls by the weather, and the contrast with the green of the river bank and the grey of the olive trees is lovely in low light.
Riding here is different from the usual northern Spain scenery. The roads are quiet and long, with sweeping views over open land, and most corners are gentle, easing through small valleys. Surfaces vary, with smooth tarmac on the main links and rougher lanes between the villages. After rain, mud may wash on to the road near ravines. A tailwind or headwind often decides the speed of the day, since this is open country, and the Cierzo, the cold north-west wind of the Ebro basin, can be fierce.
Alacón and Oliete are too small to bank on for fuel, so fill up before you leave Andorra, the nearest sizeable town, with nearly eight thousand people, or at Albalate. Both have petrol, bakeries and bars. Carry water and a snack, as there is not much between the villages, and enjoy a ride that feels remote, even in the heart of Spain.