Why this ride
A 309 km round trip from Amposta - roughly 7 h 14 in the saddle. The stops in between: Prop de la Cova Pintada, Roca dels moros, La fenellosa and back through Roca dels moros.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Abric de masets and La fenellosa
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 309 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 7 h 14
- 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 masets
The Montsià range rises like a wall behind the Ebro delta in southern Catalonia, a ridge of grey limestone with steep slopes and rocky crags, and in a shelter on its flanks, near Santa Bàrbara and Masdenverge, the Abric de Masets holds traces of prehistoric paintings. It is part of the World Heritage Site of Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin. The paintings here are faded and fragmentary, but the site is a reminder that people have lived and hunted in this landscape for thousands of years.
Read the complete Abric de masets write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abric de masets is where the day begins. Next is Prop de la Cova Pintada.
2. Prop de la Cova Pintada
The Ports massif rises abruptly at the meeting point of Catalonia, Aragón and Valencia, a tangle of limestone peaks, deep gorges and pine forest that feels surprisingly wild given how close it is to the Ebro delta and the coast. Prop de la Cova Pintada, meaning near the painted cave, sits on its southern side, between Mas de Barberans, Valderrobres and the old city of Tortosa.
Read the complete Prop de la Cova Pintada write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Prop de la Cova Pintada comes up about 35 km into the recorded legs. Next is Roca dels moros.
3. Roca dels moros
In 1903, a young man from Calaceite named Juan Cabré, who would go on to become one of Spain's pioneering archaeologists, found painted figures of deer and other animals in a rock shelter in the Calapatá ravine, between Calaceite and Cretas. The Roca dels Moros became one of the first sites of Levantine rock art identified in Spain, and it helped open up a whole new field of study. Today it is part of the UNESCO listing of rock art of the Mediterranean Basin, and a visit here is a small pilgrimage to the beginnings of that story.
Read the complete Roca dels moros write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 128 km into the recorded legs you reach Roca dels moros. Next is La fenellosa.
4. La fenellosa
People in Aragón like to call the Matarraña their Tuscany, and for once the comparison is not entirely marketing. It is a comarca of honey-coloured stone villages on hilltops, olive groves on terraces, almond trees and vineyards, with the limestone wall of the Ports de Beseit rising behind. La Fenellosa lies in this country, between Valderrobres, Fuentespalda and Mas de Barberans across the Catalan line, in the rough hills where the farmland gives way to the mountains.
Read the complete La fenellosa write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
La fenellosa, about halfway. Next is back through Roca dels moros.
5. back through Roca dels moros
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Roca dels moros write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Roca dels moros sits at 107 km, about halfway. Next is back through Prop de la Cova Pintada.
6. back through Prop de la Cova Pintada
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Prop de la Cova Pintada write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Prop de la Cova Pintada comes up about 265 km into the recorded legs. Next is Abric de masets.
7. Abric de masets
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Abric de masets write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abric de masets closes the day.
Leg by leg
Abric de masets to Prop de la Cova Pintada
Abric de masets → Prop de la Cova Pintada is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Prop de la Cova Pintada to Roca dels moros
Prop de la Cova Pintada → Roca dels moros is 93 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Roca dels moros to La fenellosa
Roca dels moros → La fenellosa is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
La fenellosa to back through Roca dels moros
La fenellosa → back through Roca dels moros is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Roca dels moros to back through Prop de la Cova Pintada
back through Roca dels moros → back through Prop de la Cova Pintada is 83 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Prop de la Cova Pintada to Abric de masets
back through Prop de la Cova Pintada → Abric de masets is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
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