Why this ride
361 km from Valencia to Valencia, about 5 h 31 of riding. It goes by way of Balma de la fabriqueta, Abric de Lambert, Abric de la Pareja and Abric del Ciervo. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Valencia day out · Abric del Ciervo
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 361 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 31
- 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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Valencia
Valencia has a river that is no longer a river. After a catastrophic flood in 1957, the Turia was diverted around the south of the city, and the old riverbed, which runs through the centre in a long curve, was turned into a park, a green ribbon of nearly nine kilometres filled with gardens, sports fields, bridges and playgrounds. It is one of the best urban parks in Europe, and it ends at the City of Arts and Sciences, the fantastic white complex of buildings and pools designed by the local architect Santiago Calatrava, which looks like a fleet of spaceships moored in a lake.
Read the complete Valencia write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Valencia is where the day begins. Next is Balma de la fabriqueta.
2. Balma de la fabriqueta
The Serra Calderona is the green ridge that rises north-west of Valencia, separating the city's plain from the valleys of the interior. It is a natural park of pine forest, cork oak and rocky hills, close enough to the city for weekend walkers and riders, yet surprisingly wild once you get into it. The rock shelter of Balma de la Fabriqueta lies near the village of Olocau on its southern side, one of the painted shelters that make up the Levantine rock art inscribed by UNESCO. Access to many of these sites is restricted or guided, so check with the local tourist office before trying to visit.
Read the complete Balma de la fabriqueta write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Balma de la fabriqueta comes up about 36 km into the recorded legs. Next is Abric de Lambert.
3. Abric de Lambert
Cullera is not where most people would look for prehistory. It is a busy beach town at the mouth of the Júcar, with high-rise apartments along the sand, a lighthouse on the point and rice fields stretching inland toward the Albufera lagoon. But the town has a mountain at its back, a limestone outcrop crowned by a castle and a sanctuary, and in that rock there are shelters, including the one known as the Abric de Lambert.
Read the complete Abric de Lambert write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 120 km into the recorded legs you reach Abric de Lambert. Next is Abric de la Pareja.
4. Abric de la Pareja
The Júcar gorge below Dos Aguas is the sort of scenery that makes Spanish interior roads famous among riders. A deep valley of red and grey rock, pine and oak, it carries the river towards the sea, and the villages along it, Millares and Dos Aguas among them, are old and small. The Abric de la Pareja is a rock shelter in the cliffs nearby, and its name, the Couple, refers to a pair of painted figures. It is part of the Levantine rock art that UNESCO lists among the Mediterranean Basin sites, and its paintings are among the best examples of how prehistoric hunters pictured themselves.
Read the complete Abric de la Pareja write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abric de la Pareja, about halfway. Next is Abric del Ciervo.
5. Abric del Ciervo
Not every deer on a cave wall is the same animal. The Abric del Ciervo, the Shelter of the Stag, is another of the small rock overhangs in the cliffs above the Júcar country west of Valencia, named for a painted deer that the first people to describe it picked out among the fainter marks. It belongs to the red Levantine art that UNESCO recognised in 1998 as part of the Mediterranean Basin group, and it sits a few kilometres from Millares and Dos Aguas, in a terrain of broken limestone and pine that rewards anyone who enjoys finding things the hard way.
Read the complete Abric del Ciervo write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abric del Ciervo sits at 186 km, about halfway. Next is back through Abric de la Pareja.
6. back through Abric de la Pareja
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Abric de la Pareja 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 la Pareja comes up about 181 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Abric de Lambert.
7. back through Abric de Lambert
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Abric de Lambert write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 242 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Abric de Lambert. Next is back through Balma de la fabriqueta.
8. back through Balma de la fabriqueta
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Balma de la fabriqueta write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Balma de la fabriqueta, late in the day. Next is Valencia.
9. Valencia
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Valencia 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 361 km.
Leg by leg
Valencia to Balma de la fabriqueta
Valencia → Balma de la fabriqueta is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Balma de la fabriqueta to Abric de Lambert
Balma de la fabriqueta → Abric de Lambert is 84 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Abric de Lambert to Abric de la Pareja
Abric de Lambert → Abric de la Pareja is 59 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abric de la Pareja to back through Abric de Lambert
back through Abric de la Pareja → back through Abric de Lambert is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abric de Lambert to back through Balma de la fabriqueta
back through Abric de Lambert → back through Balma de la fabriqueta is 84 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Balma de la fabriqueta to Valencia
back through Balma de la fabriqueta → Valencia is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.