Why this ride
42 km from Alicante to Alicante, about 58 min of riding. It goes by way of Cueva de los mosquitos, Cimbarrillo Prado Reches, Cueva de la mina and Cimbarrillo ma Antonia I.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Alicante afternoon · Cimbarrillo ma Antonia I
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 42 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 58 min
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Alicante
Alicante is a bright, easy city built on a rock. The Castillo de Santa Bárbara sits on top of Mount Benacantil and watches the harbour from about 170 metres up, and on a clear day the view runs all the way along the coast. The promenade below, the Explanada de España, is paved with a wave pattern in red, cream and black marble, with palms on both sides, and it is the natural place to start an evening: the whole town seems to be on that walk.
Read the complete Alicante write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Alicante is where the day begins. Next is Cueva de los mosquitos.
2. Cueva de los mosquitos
Alicante is the city that everybody knows, but the hills behind it are the part you can have to yourself. This shelter lies in the dry interior north of the city, between El Campello on the coast and the towns of Mutxamel and San Juan, in a landscape of marl, pine and abandoned almond terraces. It is a long way from the seafront.
Read the complete Cueva de los mosquitos write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cueva de los mosquitos comes up 6 km in. Next is Cimbarrillo Prado Reches.
3. Cimbarrillo Prado Reches
The hills behind Alicante rise quickly. A few kilometres inland from the Costa Blanca, the flat coastal strip gives way to dry limestone ridges covered in scrub, pine, carob and almond, with deep ravines cut by streams that run only after heavy rain. These are the foothills of the Betic ranges, and in this part of the province the land climbs towards the sierras of Aitana and Mariola. El Campello, a former fishing town of about 26,000 people on the coast, is the closest sizeable place, and the nearby resort towns fill with visitors every summer, but the hinterland stays quieter and more rural.
Read the complete Cimbarrillo Prado Reches write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
At least 16 km in you reach Cimbarrillo Prado Reches. Next is Cueva de la mina.
4. Cueva de la mina
The Cueva de la Mina lies in the hills behind Alicante's northern suburbs, close enough to the coast that you can leave a beach town after lunch and be among rock and scrub within the hour. That gives it a particular pleasure: the contrast. One moment you are among apartment blocks and palm trees at El Campello, a former fishing village that has become a seaside town of twenty-six thousand people, and the next, you are on a narrow lane with the sea shrinking behind you and the sun pressing on the stones.
Read the complete Cueva de la mina write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cueva de la mina, about halfway. Next is Cimbarrillo ma Antonia I.
5. Cimbarrillo ma Antonia I
Cimbarrillo is a name that does not appear on tourist maps, and Ma Antonia, the woman or the farm it recalls, has been lost to anyone but the locals. The shelter, listed as number I, lies in the dry hills of the Alicante coast, between El Campello and Villajoyosa, in the same band of broken limestone as the Garganta de la Hoz shelters. Its red paintings are in the Levantine style and belong to the UNESCO listing for the rock art of the Mediterranean basin.
Read the complete Cimbarrillo ma Antonia I write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cimbarrillo ma Antonia I sits at 26 km, about halfway. Next is back through Cueva de la mina.
6. Back to Alicante
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Alicante write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Cueva de la mina comes up 32 km in. Next is back through Cimbarrillo Prado Reches.
7. Back to Alicante
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Alicante write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
38 km in you reach back through Cimbarrillo Prado Reches. Next is back through Cueva de los mosquitos.
8. Back to Alicante
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Alicante write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Cueva de los mosquitos, late in the day. Next is Alicante.
9. Alicante
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Alicante write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 51 km.
Leg by leg
Alicante to Cueva de los mosquitos
Alicante → Cueva de los mosquitos is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.