Why this ride
A 467 km round trip from Bicorp - roughly 9 h 08 in the saddle. The stops in between: Barranco del Cabezo del moro, Abric de la Penya, Abric de la Paella and Abric de les Torrudanes. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Abric de la Balsa Calicanto and Abric de les Torrudanes
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 467 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 9 h 08
- 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 la Balsa Calicanto
Bicorp is a village of just over six hundred people in the dry, broken country where the Valencian interior folds into the gorges of the Júcar and the Cabriel, and the Balsa Calicanto shelter lies about four kilometres from it. Rock art is at home here. In the same municipality, the Cueva de la Araña, the Spider Cave, holds one of the best-known scenes in Spanish prehistoric painting: a small figure climbing what look like ropes or vines to raid a wild bees' nest, honey bag in hand. It was painted by hunter-gatherers thousands of years ago, and it is part of the UNESCO-listed Levantine rock art. Many of the other shelters nearby are more modest, and Calicanto is one of those.
Read the complete Abric de la Balsa Calicanto write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abric de la Balsa Calicanto is where the day begins. Next is Barranco del Cabezo del moro.
2. Barranco del Cabezo del moro
Almansa is one of those towns you see from the motorway and do not stop at, and that is a mistake. Its castle is spectacular, a Gothic fortress built on a sharp limestone outcrop right in the middle of town, looking exactly like a child's drawing of a castle. Around it spreads a wide plain at about seven hundred metres, the meeting point of the Valencian, Murcian and Castilian lands, and a few kilometres out in the surrounding hills lies the ravine known as the Barranco del Cabezo del Moro.
Read the complete Barranco del Cabezo del moro write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Barranco del Cabezo del moro comes up about 101 km into the recorded legs. Next is Abric de la Penya.
3. Abric de la Penya
Moixent, or Mogente in Castilian, stands at the head of a corridor that has carried traffic between the Valencian coast and the interior of Castile for as long as anyone has been moving goods. The old road, the railway and now the motorway all funnel through here, between low limestone ridges with vineyards and olive groves in the valley floor. The rock shelter known as the Abric de la Penya sits in this landscape a few kilometres from the town, close also to Vallada.
Read the complete Abric de la Penya write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 160 km into the recorded legs you reach Abric de la Penya. Next is Abric de la Paella.
4. Abric de la Paella
Muro de Alcoy and Cocentaina sit side by side in the valley of the Serpis river, in the Comtat, a district of northern Alicante surrounded by mountains. Cocentaina is crowned by a castle with a tall tower, and below it lies an old town with a palace of the Counts of Cocentaina and a Franciscan convent. The Abric de la Paella, named after the paella pan perhaps because of its shape, lies in the hills between the two towns.
Read the complete Abric de la Paella write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abric de la Paella, about halfway. Next is Abric de les Torrudanes.
5. Abric de les Torrudanes
In the Vall d'Ebo, a small valley in the mountains of northern Alicante, the Abric de les Torrudanes is a rock shelter with prehistoric paintings, one of many in the area that form part of the Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin World Heritage listing. The paintings include human figures and animals in the Levantine style, and the shelter's location, on a cliff above the valley, offers views over the mountains. Nearby, the Cova del Rull is a show cave with stalactites and stalagmites.
Read the complete Abric de les Torrudanes write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abric de les Torrudanes sits at 143 km, about halfway. Next is back through Abric de la Paella.
6. back through Abric de la Paella
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Abric de la Paella 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 Paella comes up about 271 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Abric de la Penya.
7. back through Abric de la Penya
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Abric de la Penya write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 307 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Abric de la Penya. Next is back through Barranco del Cabezo del moro.
8. back through Barranco del Cabezo del moro
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Barranco del Cabezo del moro write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Barranco del Cabezo del moro, late in the day. Next is Abric de la Balsa Calicanto.
9. Abric de la Balsa Calicanto
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Abric de la Balsa Calicanto 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 467 km.
Leg by leg
Abric de la Balsa Calicanto to Barranco del Cabezo del moro
Abric de la Balsa Calicanto → Barranco del Cabezo del moro is 101 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Barranco del Cabezo del moro to Abric de la Penya
Barranco del Cabezo del moro → Abric de la Penya is 59 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abric de la Penya to Abric de la Paella
Abric de la Penya → Abric de la Paella is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abric de la Paella to Abric de les Torrudanes
Abric de la Paella → Abric de les Torrudanes is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abric de les Torrudanes to back through Abric de la Paella
Abric de les Torrudanes → back through Abric de la Paella is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abric de la Paella to back through Abric de la Penya
back through Abric de la Paella → back through Abric de la Penya is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abric de la Penya to back through Barranco del Cabezo del moro
back through Abric de la Penya → back through Barranco del Cabezo del moro is 53 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Barranco del Cabezo del moro to Abric de la Balsa Calicanto
back through Barranco del Cabezo del moro → Abric de la Balsa Calicanto is 107 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.