Why this ride
612 km from Mataró to Montmeló, about 9 h 45 of riding. On the way it passes Olost, near Aguilar de Segarra, Cunit and El Prat de Llobregat. The climbs: la Marina del Prat Vermell and Premià de Mar.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Pyrenees N-260 Weekend + Montserrat Mountain Roads
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 612 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 9 h 45
- Journey
- One way; return travel is separate
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Monserrat Mountain Road
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For 49 km this is Monserrat Mountain Road, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 49 km
- Named road
- Monserrat Mountain Road
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Mataró
The first railway on the Iberian Peninsula ran from Barcelona to Mataró, opening in 1848, and the line still runs along the shore, now crowded with commuters rather than curious passengers. Mataró is the capital of the Maresme, a working city of over a hundred thousand people with an old town of narrow streets, a busy port and a long seafront. It is not a resort, and it does not pretend to be, which is part of its appeal.
Read the complete Mataró write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Pyrenees N-260 Weekend is where the day begins. Next is Barcelona / Catalonia return.
2. Near Olost, on the way back
The Lluçanès is a high, rolling plateau north of Barcelona, between the plain of Vic and the valleys of the Ter and Llobregat rivers, and this point lies near the village of Olost, in the heart of it. It is a quiet, rural part of Catalonia, a mosaic of wheat fields, pastures and oak and pine woods, with scattered stone farmhouses, called masies, sitting on the hills. Villages such as Olost, Prats de Lluçanès and Sant Boi de Lluçanès are small and unhurried.
Read the complete Near Olost, on the way back write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Barcelona / Catalonia return comes up 49 km in. Next is Food stop near Aguilar de Segarra.
3. Food stop near Aguilar de Segarra
On a clear morning, the serrated outline of Montserrat stands out to the south of Aguilar de Segarra, the holy mountain of Catalonia with its monastery and Black Madonna, hovering over the plain like a stage set. Aguilar itself is a small village in the Bages district, west of Manresa, set in a rolling landscape of cereal fields, pine woods and scattered farmhouses, on the edge of the drier, higher plateau of the Segarra.
Read the complete Food stop near Aguilar de Segarra write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
A break here. Next is Pyrenees N-260 Weekend photo pull-off.
4. Cunit
Cunit is where the Garraf coast stops climbing and settles into long, flat sand. It is the first town of Tarragona province as you come down from Barcelona, sitting just past Cubelles and the mouth of the Foix, with Calafell running on to the south-west. The town is mostly holiday apartments and family streets, quiet in winter and crowded in August, and its great virtue at the end of a ride is a broad beach with a promenade where you can park, peel off the jacket and watch the sea go pewter in the evening.
Read the complete Cunit write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Pyrenees N-260 Weekend photo pull-off, early in the day. Next is Pyrenees N-260 Weekend checkpoint 8.
5. Near El Prat de Llobregat
The Llobregat delta is flat, green and noisy in equal measure. Jets climb out of Barcelona's airport over the sea, the city's port stretches along the coast to the north, and between them lie fields of artichokes, orchards, marshes and pine-backed beaches.
Read the complete Near El Prat de Llobregat write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Finish at Pyrenees N-260 Weekend checkpoint 8. That is the ride. Next is Pyrenees N-260 Weekend high point.
6. la Marina del Prat Vermell
This is not the Barcelona of postcards, and that is half its charm for a rider. La Marina del Prat Vermell sits on the flat ground between the southern slope of Montjuïc and the Zona Franca, the city's great industrial and logistics zone, with the port cranes on one side, warehouses and new apartment blocks on the other, and the motorway ring roads that make escape from the city fast. It is a neighbourhood in transition, long a pocket of workers' housing among factories, now slowly being rebuilt.
Read the complete la Marina del Prat Vermell write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Pyrenees N-260 Weekend high point is the summit of this stretch. Next is Pyrenees N-260 Weekend scenic road.
7. la Marina del Prat Vermell
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete la Marina del Prat Vermell write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
292 km in you reach Pyrenees N-260 Weekend scenic road. Next is Back to Pyrenees N-260.
8. Back to Mataró
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Mataró write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Finish at Back to Pyrenees N-260. That is the ride. Next is Montserrat Mountain Roads.
9. Fuel stop in Montmeló
Planning note
Next is Scenic stretch in Vilassar de Mar.
10. Scenic stretch in Vilassar de Mar
Vilassar de Mar is a Maresme town with salt in its blood. It stretches along the coast northeast of Barcelona, between the railway, the main road and a broad sandy beach, with fishing boats pulled up on the sand and an old centre of narrow streets and low whitewashed houses. Behind the town, fields and greenhouses climb toward the wooded hills of the coastal range, and on a clear day you can see along the shore toward Mataró and back to Barcelona.
Read the complete Vilassar de Mar write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Scenic stretch in Vilassar de Mar comes up 438 km in. Next is Montserrat Mountain Roads high point.
11. Premià de Mar
Planning note
Montserrat Mountain Roads high point is the summit of this stretch. Next is Montserrat Mountain Roads photo pull-off.
12. la Marina del Prat Vermell
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete la Marina del Prat Vermell write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Montserrat Mountain Roads photo pull-off, late in the day. Next is Montserrat Mountain Roads checkpoint 8.
13. Near El Prat de Llobregat
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Near El Prat de Llobregat write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Montserrat Mountain Roads checkpoint 8 closes the day. Next is Food stop near Sitges.
14. Food stop near Sitges
Planning note
Food stop near Sitges is where this day stops to eat. Next is Barcelona / Catalonia return.
15. Near Sant Vicenç de Castellet, on the way back
Planning note
681 km in you reach Barcelona / Catalonia return. Next is Back to Montserrat.
16. Back to Montserrat
Montmeló is a small town of about nine thousand north of Barcelona, and for anyone who loves motorcycles it has a particular fame. The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya lies right beside it, a purpose-built track that opened in 1991 and has hosted both the Formula One Spanish Grand Prix and the MotoGP Catalan round, and a lot of testing. On a race weekend the whole town fills with fans, flags and the whine of engines, and on quiet days you can sometimes hear a test bike through the trees. It is an unlikely place for an agricultural village to end up.
Read the complete Montserrat write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back to Montserrat closes the day.
Leg by leg
Food stop near Aguilar de Segarra to Cunit
Food stop near Aguilar de Segarra → Cunit is 82 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Fuel stop in Montmeló to Scenic stretch in Vilassar de Mar
Fuel stop in Montmeló → Scenic stretch in Vilassar de Mar is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Scenic stretch in Vilassar de Mar to Premià de Mar
Scenic stretch in Vilassar de Mar → Premià de Mar is 5 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Food stop near Sitges to Near Sant Vicenç de Castellet, on the way back
Food stop near Sitges → Near Sant Vicenç de Castellet, on the way back is 59 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
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