Abric d'Ermites V and Camino de la Cova Plana l

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Abric d'Ermites V

   The Hospitallers once held Ulldecona, the knightly order that grew out of a hospital for pilgrims in Jerusalem and ended up with castles all over southern Catalonia. The town still has the look of a fortified place, with a tall church, narrow lanes and the remains of a castle on the hill, and the shelter at Abric d'Ermites V lies about four and a half kilometres from it, on the slopes of the Serra de Godall, where a hermitage stands among the pines. The paintings in the Abrics de l'Ermita belong to the Levantine tradition, protected by UNESCO as part of the rock art of the Mediterranean basin in Spain. Neighbouring sites are known as Valmayor and La Fenellosa, and they appear on the same rides.

   Read the complete Abric d'Ermites V write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Abric d'Ermites V is where the day begins. Next is Cueva de mas del Abogat.

2. 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. 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. 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 V.

5. 5. Abric d'Ermites V

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Abric d'Ermites V 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 V. That is the ride.