Why this ride
A 404 km round trip from Cullera - roughly 7 h 48 in the saddle. On the way it passes Cueva de la Clau, Barranc del Xorquet, Barranc de les Coves- Abrigo l and La Sarga- Abric I. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Abric de Lambert and La Sarga- Abric I
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 404 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 7 h 48
- 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 Lambert
Cullera is not where most people would look for prehistory. It is a busy beach town at the mouth of the Júcar, with high-rise apartments along the sand, a lighthouse on the point and rice fields stretching inland toward the Albufera lagoon. But the town has a mountain at its back, a limestone outcrop crowned by a castle and a sanctuary, and in that rock there are shelters, including the one known as the Abric de Lambert.
Read the complete Abric de Lambert write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abric de Lambert is where the day begins. Next is Cueva de la Clau.
2. Cueva de la Clau
Behind Gandia, the orange groves climb into the folded limestone hills of La Safor, and among the tiny villages there, Palma de Gandía and Ador sit almost touching each other at the foot of the slopes. Cueva de la Clau is one of the many rock shelters in the Valencian hills that form part of the UNESCO-listed Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula, a scattered collection of hundreds of sites where prehistoric people painted hunters, animals, dancers and abstract signs on limestone overhangs.
Read the complete Cueva de la Clau write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cueva de la Clau comes up about 37 km into the recorded legs. Next is Barranc del Xorquet.
3. Barranc del Xorquet
Ask a cyclist on the Costa Blanca about Coll de Rates and watch their face change. The pass road climbing from Parcent toward Tàrbena is a pilgrimage for professional teams in winter training, and it lies only a few kilometres from the Barranc del Xorquet, one of the ravines in the tangled limestone hills behind the coast. This is an area rich in prehistoric rock art: the shelters at Pla de Petracos near Castell de Castells hold some of the best examples of the so-called macro-schematic style, big abstract human figures painted in red thousands of years ago, and the ravines around here hide further sites.
Read the complete Barranc del Xorquet write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 104 km into the recorded legs you reach Barranc del Xorquet. Next is Barranc de les Coves- Abrigo l.
4. Barranc de les Coves- Abrigo l
Castelló de Rugat sits on the southern rim of the Vall d'Albaida, a broad valley in the south of Valencia province hemmed in by mountain ridges. On one side rises the long saw-toothed crest of the Benicadell, on the other the Serra de la Solana, and between them lies a patchwork of vineyards, olive groves and small towns with church towers. The Barranc de les Coves, the ravine of the caves, cuts into the slopes near Castelló de Rugat, Ràfol de Salem and Beniarrés, and its first shelter holds painted figures.
Read the complete Barranc de les Coves- Abrigo l write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Barranc de les Coves- Abrigo l, about halfway. Next is La Sarga- Abric I.
5. La Sarga- Abric I
Alcoy, or Alcoi in Valencian, is a city of bridges, built where three rivers meet in deep ravines, in the mountains of northern Alicante. It was one of the cradles of Spain's industrial revolution, with textile and paper mills powered by its rivers, and its streets have fine modernist buildings from that era. It is also famous for its Moors and Christians festival in April, one of the most spectacular in Spain, with parades, music and mock battles in honour of Saint George. The rock shelters of La Sarga lie in the hills about eight kilometres from the city, toward Ibi.
Read the complete La Sarga- Abric I write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
La Sarga- Abric I sits at 143 km, about halfway. Next is back through Barranc de les Coves- Abrigo l.
6. back through Barranc de les Coves- Abrigo l
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Barranc de les Coves- Abrigo l write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Barranc de les Coves- Abrigo l comes up about 247 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Barranc del Xorquet.
7. back through Barranc del Xorquet
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Barranc del Xorquet write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 300 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Barranc del Xorquet. Next is back through Cueva de la Clau.
8. back through Cueva de la Clau
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cueva de la Clau 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 la Clau, late in the day. Next is Abric de Lambert.
9. Abric de Lambert
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Abric de Lambert 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 404 km.
Leg by leg
Abric de Lambert to Cueva de la Clau
Abric de Lambert → Cueva de la Clau is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cueva de la Clau to Barranc del Xorquet
Cueva de la Clau → Barranc del Xorquet is 67 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Barranc del Xorquet to Barranc de les Coves- Abrigo l
Barranc del Xorquet → Barranc de les Coves- Abrigo l is 53 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Barranc de les Coves- Abrigo l to La Sarga- Abric I
Barranc de les Coves- Abrigo l → La Sarga- Abric I is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
La Sarga- Abric I to back through Barranc de les Coves- Abrigo l
La Sarga- Abric I → back through Barranc de les Coves- Abrigo l is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Barranc de les Coves- Abrigo l to back through Barranc del Xorquet
back through Barranc de les Coves- Abrigo l → back through Barranc del Xorquet is 53 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Barranc del Xorquet to back through Cueva de la Clau
back through Barranc del Xorquet → back through Cueva de la Clau is 65 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cueva de la Clau to Abric de Lambert
back through Cueva de la Clau → Abric de Lambert is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.