Aldeaquemada means burnt village, which tells you something about the history of this lonely corner of Jaén, and the shelter named Morciguilla de la Cepera sits in the hills about ten kilometres away, in the Sierra Morena. That range forms the long dark edge between the high plateau of La Mancha and the Andalusian lowlands, and its slopes are some of the richest places in Spain for rock painting. Shelters here include both Levantine figures and the simpler schematic ones, and a number are protected as part of the UNESCO-listed rock art of the Iberian Mediterranean basin.
This is not the Andalusia of white villages and orange trees. It is dehesa country, an open woodland of holm and cork oak grazed by cattle, sheep and black Iberian pigs, with granite outcrops, scrub of rockrose and broom, and in spring a fierce yellow bloom. Red deer and wild boar live here, and in parts of the Sierra Morena the Iberian lynx has been reintroduced, though your chance of seeing one from a bike is vanishingly small. Birds of prey are another matter, and you will probably see a few kites or a vulture overhead.
For riders, it is lovely, quiet country. The roads wind gently through the oak woods, with long gradual bends and not many hard corners, and sometimes a few kilometres of rough or patched tarmac. Traffic is very light, with the occasional lorry carrying cork or livestock. A short way north lies the Despeñaperros pass, the historic gateway between Castile and Andalusia, a dramatic gorge where the road threads between towers of rock, and which makes an excellent detour.
Aldeaquemada has about five hundred people, and Montizón, a little larger, has around two thousand. Santisteban del Puerto, about twelve kilometres away, is the better bet, a town of nearly five thousand with a castle and fuel. Plan your tank carefully, as distances between services are long. In summer, temperatures soar and shade is scarce, so go in spring or autumn, when the countryside is green and the air is cool.