Why this ride
A 456 km round trip from Bicorp - roughly 8 h 58 in the saddle. It goes by way of Barranco del Cabezo del moro, Abric de la Penya, Abric de la Paella and Abric de les Torrudanes. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Abric de Tollos I o de la fuente Seca and Abric de les Torrudanes
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 456 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 8 h 58
- 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 Tollos I o de la fuente Seca
This is the country of the honey-gatherer. Not far from here, in a cave near Bicorp, one of the best-known Levantine paintings shows a tiny figure climbing a rope ladder to a wild bees' nest high in a cliff, with bees swarming around him. It is thousands of years old, and it is a reminder that the artists who painted these shelters were also men and women who took honey from the rock, followed deer through the scrub and watched the weather. The Abric de Tollos belongs to the same family of shelters in the hills of inland Valencia, part of the Levantine rock art listed by UNESCO.
Read the complete Abric de Tollos I o de la fuente Seca write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abric de Tollos I o de la fuente Seca 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 96 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 154 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 144 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 265 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 301 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 Tollos I o de la fuente Seca.
9. Abric de Tollos I o de la fuente Seca
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Abric de Tollos I o de la fuente Seca 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 456 km.
Leg by leg
Abric de Tollos I o de la fuente Seca to Barranco del Cabezo del moro
Abric de Tollos I o de la fuente Seca → Barranco del Cabezo del moro is 96 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 58 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 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Barranco del Cabezo del moro to Abric de Tollos I o de la fuente Seca
back through Barranco del Cabezo del moro → Abric de Tollos I o de la fuente Seca is 102 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.