Tuéjar, Chelva and Alpuente are small towns in the Serranía, the rugged highland of inland Valencia, where the rivers cut deep valleys between pine-clad ridges. It is a corner of the province that most visitors to the coast never see. The name on the stop refers to the UNESCO listing of 1998 for the rock art of the Mediterranean basin on the Iberian peninsula, and the paintings of Barranco de las Colochas, the ravine nearby, belong to it. The ravine and the surrounding woods are worth the trip on their own.
Chelva is a handsome town, with a long history of Moorish and Christian settlement, narrow streets and a tradition of fine local fruit. A few kilometres away stands the Roman aqueduct of Peña Cortada, a long run of arches and rock-cut channels that carried water down the valley in Roman times and is still impressive. Alpuente, higher in the hills, was the capital of a small Moorish kingdom in the eleventh century, a taifa, and its old town of stone and steep lanes is a delight.
The riding is delightful and quiet. Roads wind through pine woods, along river valleys and over little passes, with bends that suit a relaxed pace. Surfaces vary, with some rough patches and rock spills after storms. Traffic is almost nonexistent, and you may ride an hour without meeting anyone. The air is scented with pine and rosemary, and in spring the hillsides are full of flowers. Summer is hot but the valleys are cooler, and autumn brings mushroom hunters into the woods.
Fuel is a concern. The villages here have a few thousand people at most, and the nearest sizeable town in the data is Utiel, about twenty-nine kilometres away, in a wine region known for the Bobal grape. Fill up before you commit to the hills, and bring water. For lunch, ask for a plate of local ham, a paella cooked over orange wood in the Valencian way, or a stew of mountain meat. A glass of cold water from a village fountain, which flows even in summer, is a quiet pleasure.