Why this ride
From Ulldecona it runs 322 km to Ulldecona; allow about 6 h 03 of riding. It goes by way of Cueva de mas del Abogat, Camino de la Cova Plana l and back through Cueva de mas del Abogat. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Abric d'Ermites IX and Camino de la Cova Plana l
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 322 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 h 03
- 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. Abric d'Ermites IX
At the southern edge of Catalonia, the mountains known as the Ports de Tortosa-Beseit rise from the plain like a wall, and they are among the wildest in the region. Rocky ridges, deep gorges and thick pine forest cover them, and they are the home of the Spanish ibex, a wild goat with long curved horns, which was nearly wiped out in the twentieth century and has made a comeback here. A lucky rider may see one on a crag. The shelter at Abric d'Ermites IX is on the lower slopes of the nearby Serra de Godall, about four and a half kilometres from Ulldecona, and carries painting in the Levantine tradition, protected by UNESCO as part of the rock art of the Mediterranean basin in Spain. The ride links it with Valmayor V.
Read the complete Abric d'Ermites IX write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abric d'Ermites IX is where the day begins. Next is Cueva de mas del Abogat.
2. Cueva de mas del Abogat
Calaceite is the kind of village that makes you slow down without being asked: honey-coloured stone, arcaded squares, a big baroque church and grand old houses with carved doorways, all perched on a ridge in the Matarraña, the corner of Teruel where Aragón meets Catalonia and Valencia. A few kilometres from it lies the Cueva de Mas del Abogat, one of the painted rock shelters that belong to the UNESCO listing of prehistoric art in the Mediterranean Basin of the Iberian Peninsula. As with its sisters across eastern Spain, the paintings are small and often hard to read; the setting is what you take away.
Read the complete Cueva de mas del Abogat write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cueva de mas del Abogat comes up 61 km in. Next is Camino de la Cova Plana l.
3. Camino de la Cova Plana l
Where the Segre and the Cinca rivers meet the Ebro, the land opens out into a dry, tawny basin that feels far from the sea. Mequinenza sits at the heart of it, a small town of about 2,500 people that has a story unlike any other on the Ebro. The old town was flooded in the 1960s when the Ribarroja dam created the Mar de Aragón, a huge reservoir, and the inhabitants were moved to a new town built higher up. The writer Jesús Moncada, born here, wrote about the vanished town in his novel Camino de sirga, and the loss still colours the way people talk about the place.
Read the complete Camino de la Cova Plana l write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
123 km in you reach Camino de la Cova Plana l. Next is back through Cueva de mas del Abogat.
4. back through Cueva de mas del Abogat
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cueva de mas del Abogat 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 mas del Abogat, late in the day. Next is Abric d'Ermites IX.
5. Abric d'Ermites IX
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Abric d'Ermites IX write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Abric d'Ermites IX. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Abric d'Ermites IX to Cueva de mas del Abogat
Abric d'Ermites IX → Cueva de mas del Abogat is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cueva de mas del Abogat to Camino de la Cova Plana l
Cueva de mas del Abogat → Camino de la Cova Plana l is 62 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Camino de la Cova Plana l to back through Cueva de mas del Abogat
Camino de la Cova Plana l → back through Cueva de mas del Abogat is 62 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cueva de mas del Abogat to Abric d'Ermites IX
back through Cueva de mas del Abogat → Abric d'Ermites IX is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.