A tenada is a farm shed for livestock, the kind of low stone building that marks old transhumance routes, and the cave that goes with it is a local hollow in the limestone near Letur and Socovos in the south of Albacete province. This is the dry, hilly outer edge of the Sierra del Segura, where the pine woods give way to open scrub and cereal fields, and the horizon is a series of pale ridges. The label also links to the Letreros de los Mártires, a set of painted marks in a nearby shelter, which hints at the density of prehistoric art in this district.
Riding here is gentle and undemanding. The roads between Letur, Socovos and the surrounding hamlets run through olive and almond groves and over modest passes, with long, open bends and little traffic. The surface is mostly sound, though some farm tracks that look inviting on a map are rough. Socovos stands on a hill topped by a castle of Muslim origin, with a small village clustered below, and the road up to it gives a fine view across the valley. Summers are very hot and dry, and the best months are April, May, September and October.
Letur has about twelve hundred inhabitants and Socovos nearly two thousand, enough for a shop, a bar and perhaps a petrol pump, but not enough to rely on. Moratalla, twenty-one kilometres away, is the larger place, with eight and a half thousand people, a hillside castle and the full range of services, so fill up there or in Hellín. The Mundo and Tus rivers carve small gorges through this country, and a stop beside running water is a welcome change from the dry hills.
You may see griffon vultures wheeling overhead, and in the evening the hills turn gold and then violet. If you stop at a shelter, keep your voice low and your hands in your pockets, as the paint is very old and very thin. Bring plenty of water, a hat and patience, because this is a country that rewards slow travel.