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.
479 km from Alpera to Alpera, about 10 h 56 of riding. The stops in between: Peñon de los machos, Abrigo de Rosser, Cova de la Petxina and Barranc de la Penya Blanca. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 850 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Abric del Sordo
Ayora sits in a broad valley between two mountain ranges, in the interior of Valencia province, and the land around it has a high, golden look in summer, with fields of cereal, vines and almond trees under big skies. The town, with about 5,500 people, has a castle and a handsome palace of the Counts of Cervellón, and it feels like a gateway to a quieter Spain. To the south, the Cabriel river has cut a long canyon through the limestone, the Hoces del Cabriel, a protected area with clear water, poplars and cliffs, listed as a UNESCO biosphere reserve.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abric del Sordo is where the day begins. Next is Peñon de los machos.
2. Peñon de los machos
Cofrentes is a village at the confluence of two rivers, the Júcar and the Cabriel, in the interior of Valencia province, and it has a curious mix of attractions. Above it stands a castle on a crag. Nearby rises the Cerro de Agrás, the only recently active volcano in the Valencian Community, a dark cone of basalt in a landscape of limestone. And just outside the village, the cooling towers of the Cofrentes nuclear power station send plumes of steam into the sky. The Peñón de los Machos, a rocky outcrop with painted shelters, lies in the hills between Cofrentes, Jalance and Jarafuel.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Peñon de los machos comes up about 47 km into the recorded legs. Next is Abrigo de Rosser.
3. Abrigo de Rosser
Near Bicorp, in the dry, folded hills of inland Valencia, one of the most famous images in prehistoric art was found in 1920: a figure clinging to ropes on a cliff, reaching into a hole surrounded by bees, a honey gatherer painted thousands of years ago in the Cuevas de la Araña. The Abrigo de Rosser lies in the same rugged area of the Canal de Navarrés and the Júcar gorges, one of many shelters with Levantine paintings in this region, and together they form part of the UNESCO-listed Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin. Bicorp has a small interpretation centre, and guided visits to some shelters can be arranged.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 121 km into the recorded legs you reach Abrigo de Rosser. Next is Cova de la Petxina.
4. Cova de la Petxina
Bellús is a small village in the valley of the Albaida river in southern Valencia, just upstream from where the river flows into a reservoir and then joins the Júcar. The old village was partly flooded by the reservoir, and the new one stands on higher ground. The Cova de la Petxina, the cave of the shell, is in the hills near the village, close to Guadasequies and Genovés.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cova de la Petxina, about halfway. Next is Barranc de la Penya Blanca.
5. Barranc de la Penya Blanca
Planes is a small village in the hills of the Comtat in northern Alicante province, crowned by a castle and looking out over a valley of olive and cherry orchards. The Barranc de la Penya Blanca, the ravine of the white rock, lies close by, among the folded limestone ridges between Planes, Benimarfull and the reservoir at Beniarrés.