CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
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 264 km round trip from Montblanc - roughly 5 h 05 in the saddle. On the way it passes Albi II / Balma dels Punts, Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés, Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume and back through Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés. The line favours views over speed.
Montblanc is the kind of small walled town that Catalonia does so well, and the story it tells about itself is the legend of Saint George, Sant Jordi, who is said to have killed the dragon here before rescuing the princess. Every Catalan knows the tale, and on 23 April, when people exchange roses and books, Montblanc is the place where the legend is celebrated with most conviction. Its medieval walls, with thirty-odd towers, still circle the old centre, and the town sits in the Conca de Barberà, a basin of vineyards between the coast and the hills of Prades. The Abric de la Baridana II lies eight kilometres away in the broken country of the Serra de Prades.
Read the complete Abric de la Baridana II write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Abric de la Baridana II is where the day begins. Next is Albi II / Balma dels Punts.
L'Albi is a small village on a hill in Les Garrigues, the dry, olive-covered district southeast of Lleida, and its name appears in the archaeological record thanks to rock shelters in the area, including the Balma dels Punts, the shelter of the dots. The name suggests schematic paintings in the form of dots and lines, typical of the later phase of prehistoric art in the region, and the site is part of the UNESCO listing of Mediterranean rock art. The shelters are small and fragile, and some can only be visited with a guide, so check with the town hall or a local interpretation centre before heading out.
Read the complete Albi II / Balma dels Punts write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Albi II / Balma dels Punts comes up about 39 km into the recorded legs. Next is Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés.
South of Lleida the irrigated orchards give way abruptly to dry, open steppe, and the little village of Alfés sits on the edge of that change. The Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés are rock paintings in a small sandstone shelter near the village, schematic designs in red pigment, mostly abstract lines, dots and simplified figures, that belong to the later, more symbolic phase of prehistoric art in eastern Spain, and they are included in the UNESCO listing of Mediterranean Basin rock art. They are modest to look at, but there is something powerful about seeing marks left by people thousands of years ago in such an open, wind-swept place.
Read the complete Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 67 km into the recorded legs you reach Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés. Next is Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume.
Mequinenza had to move. In the 1960s and 1970s, two dams built on the Ebro created a huge reservoir known as the Mar de Aragón, and the old town at the meeting of the Ebro and the Segre was abandoned and largely demolished, its people resettled in a new town above. The story is told in the town's museums and in the novels of Jesús Moncada, who grew up in the old Mequinenza. In a ravine nearby, the Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume holds prehistoric paintings, part of the World Heritage Site of Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin.
Read the complete Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume, about halfway. Next is back through Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés sits at 127 km, about halfway. Next is back through Albi II / Balma dels Punts.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Albi II / Balma dels Punts write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Albi II / Balma dels Punts comes up about 206 km into the recorded legs. Next is Abric de la Baridana II.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Abric de la Baridana II write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Abric de la Baridana II closes the day.
Abric de la Baridana II → Albi II / Balma dels Punts is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Albi II / Balma dels Punts → Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés → Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume → back through Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés → back through Albi II / Balma dels Punts is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Albi II / Balma dels Punts → Abric de la Baridana II is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.