Why this ride
From Vilafranca del Penedès it runs 340 km to Vilafranca del Penedès; allow about 5 h 55 of riding. On the way it passes Mas d'En Llort, Balma d'En Roc and back through Mas d'En Llort. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Abric de Can Castellví and Balma d'En Roc
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 340 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 55
- 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. 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 is where the day begins. Next is Mas d'En Llort.
2. Mas d'En Llort
Montblanc is one of those small Catalan towns that still has its medieval walls, and the Mas d'en Llort label lies a few kilometres from it in the Conca de Barberà, a basin of vineyards and wheat fields ringed by low, scrubby mountains. A mas is a farmhouse, so the spot is probably a rural building or a field track rather than anything with a name on the map, and what you are really riding into is the countryside around it.
Read the complete Mas d'En Llort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Mas d'En Llort comes up about 73 km into the recorded legs. Next is Balma d'En Roc.
3. Balma d'En Roc
Inland from the Costa Daurada, the Serra de Llaberia rises abruptly above the coastal plain, a jagged wall of limestone separating the sea from the valley of the Ebro. The rock shelter of Balma d'En Roc lies in this rough country, part of the Levantine rock art inscribed by UNESCO, and like most of its kind it is small, fragile and best visited with local guidance. The nearest villages are scattered: Ginestar on the Ebro, El Perelló on the coastal side, and Mont-roig del Camp to the north-east.
Read the complete Balma d'En Roc write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 163 km into the recorded legs you reach Balma d'En Roc. Next is back through Mas d'En Llort.
4. back through Mas d'En Llort
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Mas d'En Llort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Mas d'En Llort, late in the day. Next is Abric de Can Castellvi.
5. Abric de Can Castellví
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
Back at Abric de Can Castellvi. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Abric de Can Castellví to Mas d'En Llort
Abric de Can Castellví → Mas d'En Llort is 73 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Mas d'En Llort to Balma d'En Roc
Mas d'En Llort → Balma d'En Roc is 90 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Balma d'En Roc to back through Mas d'En Llort
Balma d'En Roc → back through Mas d'En Llort is 100 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Mas d'En Llort to Abric de Can Castellvi
back through Mas d'En Llort → Abric de Can Castellvi is 78 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.