In Valencian, a port is a mountain pass, and the Port de Penàguila is one of the best known in this part of Alicante province. It crosses the Serra de Mariola's neighbouring ridges, linking the high valleys of the interior with the coastal side, and it has been a route for people, flocks and goods for centuries. The shelter at Port de Penàguila, Abric I, lies about four kilometres from Benilloba, and carries painting in the Levantine tradition, protected by UNESCO as part of the rock art of the Mediterranean basin in Spain. The ride ties it to Olula, another site in the district.
A pass is a good place for a painted shelter, because it is where animals and people move through the land. Whoever painted here may have watched the herds cross, or lain in wait for them. Passes are also viewpoints, and from the heights you can look over long folds of hills, terraced slopes and small white villages.
For a rider, a Valencian port promises curves. The road climbs in a series of bends, some wide, some tight, through pine and scrub, with views opening at every corner, and drops down the other side in the same fashion. The surface is generally good, but narrow, and cyclists are numerous at weekends. Rock and gravel can fall on to the road after rain, and ice can form in winter.
Benilloba has fewer than nine hundred people and may not have fuel to hand. Cocentaina, about ten kilometres away, has over eleven thousand and plenty of stations. Relleu and Sella are small villages, with a bar or two, and are pleasant for a coffee. Bring water, and a layer for the wind at the top. Mid-morning is a good moment to arrive, when the sun has cleared the ridge but the heat has not yet settled, and the valleys below are still hazy and soft. In autumn, when the first rains have passed, the air is washed clean and the view can run for fifty kilometres, with the sea a pale line on the horizon. Stop at a wide verge rather than on a bend, and give the cyclists room.