Abric de la Balsa Calicanto and Abrigo de las Enredaderas
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
483 km
Riding-time estimate
10 h 33
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.
A 483 km round trip from Bicorp - roughly 10 h 33 in the saddle. On the way it passes Barranco del Cabezo del moro, Cantos de la Visera I, Abrigo del Canto Blanco and Abrigo de las Enredaderas. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 800 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.
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.
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.
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 Cantos de la Visera I.
3. Cantos de la Visera I
Monte Arabí rises from the high plain north of Yecla like a ship run aground, a lonely mass of sandstone with flat top and fluted sides, and locals have told stories about it for centuries: Moorish treasure, enchanted caves, a hidden city. The real treasure is painted. The Cantos de la Visera shelters on its slopes hold prehistoric rock art, including Levantine figures of animals and schematic signs, and they belong to the great series of Mediterranean rock art sites listed by UNESCO. There are also strange carved holes and basins in the rock, whose purpose is still debated.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 159 km into the recorded legs you reach Cantos de la Visera I. Next is Abrigo del Canto Blanco.
4. Abrigo del Canto Blanco
Jumilla is wine country, and you know it as soon as you arrive. The town sits in the north of the Murcia region, surrounded by a high, dry plateau of vineyards growing the Monastrell grape, which produces powerful, dark red wines. A castle tops the hill above the old town, and the bodegas on its outskirts welcome visitors. The Abrigo del Canto Blanco, the shelter of the white stone, lies in the hills about five kilometres away.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abrigo del Canto Blanco, about halfway. Next is Abrigo de las Enredaderas.
5. Abrigo de las Enredaderas
Where the Río Segura squeezes through the sandstone and limestone ridges of northern Murcia, between Calasparra and Cieza, the valley turns into a canyon of orange and grey rock with narrow green strips of reeds and orchard along the water. The Abrigo de las Enredaderas, a rock shelter, lies twelve kilometres or so from both towns, in dry hills of pine, rosemary and esparto grass that smell sharply of resin on a hot day.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 483 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 Cantos de la Visera I
Barranco del Cabezo del moro → Cantos de la Visera I is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cantos de la Visera I to Abrigo del Canto Blanco
Cantos de la Visera I → Abrigo del Canto Blanco is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abrigo del Canto Blanco to Abrigo de las Enredaderas
Abrigo del Canto Blanco → Abrigo de las Enredaderas is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abrigo de las Enredaderas to back through Abrigo del Canto Blanco
Abrigo de las Enredaderas → back through Abrigo del Canto Blanco is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abrigo del Canto Blanco to back through Cantos de la Visera I
back through Abrigo del Canto Blanco → back through Cantos de la Visera I is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cantos de la Visera I to back through Barranco del Cabezo del moro
back through Cantos de la Visera I → back through Barranco del Cabezo del moro is 51 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.