Artesa de Segre lies in the broad valley where the Noguera Pallaresa comes out of the Pre-Pyrenees, a market town of about three and a half thousand people with the long wall of the Montsec range blocking the northern horizon. The country is the Catalan interior in its most characteristic form, with wheat and barley on the flats, almond and olive on the lower slopes, and pine and oak where the hills become steep. Les Aparets, about five kilometres out, is one of the rock shelters of the region, and the rides tie it with the Cova dels Vilars, sometimes spelled Vilasos, and the Cova del Cogulló. These belong to the cluster of Levantine painted sites that reach into Catalonia, protected by UNESCO as part of the rock art of the Mediterranean basin in Spain. Further west in the same province lies the famous Roca dels Moros at El Cogul, with its scene of dancing women, which gives you a sense of how widespread the tradition once was.
It is a country of dramatic water engineering. A little way downstream, at Camarasa, a dam across the Noguera Pallaresa, built early in the twentieth century, holds back a long reservoir of deep green water in a narrow gorge, and the road beside it is one of the prettiest short rides in Lleida province. The old villages of the district, with names like Cubells, cling to hilltops, their church towers visible for miles.
The riding is relaxed. Quiet roads cross the valley in long, easy bends and climb the lower slopes with views over fields and the grey wall of the Montsec. Surfaces are generally good, with some rough patches on the minor lanes. In summer, the heat is intense and the afternoons are very still, so early morning is best. Winter brings thick fog to the valley, and ice on the higher roads.
Artesa de Segre has fuel and food, and Agramunt, about sixteen kilometres away, is bigger, with over five thousand people, and famous across Catalonia for torró, the nougat of almonds and honey that is made and sold in its shops. It is a fine place to buy something to take home. Cubells and Camarasa are small, so do not rely on them for a pump.