Why this ride
From Eixample it runs 219 km to Eixample; allow about 3 h 40 of riding. It goes by way of La Pedra de les Orenetes, Cova dels Segarulls, Abric de Can Ximet and Abric de Can Castellvi.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Barcelona afternoon · Abric de Can Castellvi
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 219 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 40
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. 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 about 34 km this is Monserrat Mountain Road, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 34 km
- Named road
- Monserrat Mountain Road
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Barcelona
Start with the grid. Barcelona's Eixample, the nineteenth-century extension designed by Ildefons Cerdà, is a field of identical square blocks with the corners cut off, so that every junction becomes a small octagonal plaza. It was meant to be egalitarian and airy, and for a rider it is wonderfully legible: you can always work out where you are, and the wide avenues let a motorcycle breathe. The city also has more motorbikes and scooters than almost any other in Europe, so drivers are used to them and parking for two wheels is routine rather than a fight.
Read the complete Barcelona write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Barcelona is where the day begins. Next is La Pedra de les Orenetes.
2. La Pedra de les Orenetes
La Pedra de les Orenetes, the Swallows' Stone, is a granite boulder in the hills above La Roca del Vallès, and its surface is covered with small carved hollows and other marks left by people in prehistory. Nobody knows exactly what they meant; such engraved rocks are found across Catalonia, and theories range from ritual offerings to maps of the stars. The rock sits among cork oaks and pines in the Serralada Litoral, the coastal range that separates the Vallès plain from the sea, and the walk to reach it is short and pleasant, through scented forest with views over the plain.
Read the complete La Pedra de les Orenetes write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
La Pedra de les Orenetes comes up about 34 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cova dels Segarulls.
3. Cova dels Segarulls
The vineyards of the Penedès roll out in every direction from Vilafranca, and the Cova dels Segarulls lies among them, a few kilometres outside the town in the low hills toward the coastal range.
Read the complete Cova dels Segarulls write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
At least about 106 km into the recorded legs you reach Cova dels Segarulls. Next is Abric de Can Ximet.
4. Abric de Can Ximet
The Penedès is a broad, gently rolling basin between the coastal ranges and the Montserrat massif, and it is one of the great wine regions of Catalonia. Vilafranca del Penedès, its capital, is a lively town with a Gothic church, a wine museum and a passion for castells, the human towers that teams of men, women and children build in the main square on feast days. UNESCO added the castells to its list of intangible heritage in 2010. Can Ximet is a farm name on the fringe of this landscape, and the shelter nearby is a modest rock overhang associated with prehistoric art.
Read the complete Abric de Can Ximet write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abric de Can Ximet, about halfway. Next is Abric de Can Castellvi.
5. Abric de Can Castellví
The Penedès is wine country, and the landscape around Vilafranca del Penedès is a patchwork of vineyards rolling away toward the Montserrat massif in the north and the limestone hills of the Garraf in the south. Abric de Can Castellví is a small rock shelter in this landscape, one of the many sites of Levantine and schematic rock art scattered across Catalonia and included in the UNESCO serial site of the rock art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula. Like many such sites, it is modest in appearance, a hollow in the rock where faint painted figures have survived thousands of years, and access is often limited to protect the art.
Read the complete Abric de Can Castellvi write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abric de Can Castellví sits at 113 km, about halfway. Next is back through Abric de Can Ximet.
6. back through Abric de Can Ximet
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Abric de Can Ximet write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Abric de Can Ximet comes up about 111 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Cova dels Segarulls.
7. back through Cova dels Segarulls
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cova dels Segarulls write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 114 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Cova dels Segarulls. Next is back through La Pedra de les Orenetes.
8. back through La Pedra de les Orenetes
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete La Pedra de les Orenetes write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through La Pedra de les Orenetes, late in the day. Next is Barcelona.
9. Barcelona
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Barcelona 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 219 km.
Leg by leg
Barcelona to La Pedra de les Orenetes
Barcelona → La Pedra de les Orenetes is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
La Pedra de les Orenetes to Cova dels Segarulls
La Pedra de les Orenetes → Cova dels Segarulls is 72 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Cova dels Segarulls to back through La Pedra de les Orenetes
back through Cova dels Segarulls → back through La Pedra de les Orenetes is 73 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through La Pedra de les Orenetes to Barcelona
back through La Pedra de les Orenetes → Barcelona is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.