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.
From Almansa it runs 362 km to Almansa; allow about 7 h 37 of riding. It goes by way of Cantos de la Visera I, Abrigo del Canto Blanco, Abrigo de las Enredaderas and Abrigo de los Cortijos. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 850 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Abric Pedro más
Almansa announces itself from far away: a castle perched on a limestone crag right in the middle of the town, its walls and towers silhouetted against the sky. The town sits at the eastern edge of La Mancha, where the high plateau meets the mountains of Valencia, and it was here, in April 1707, that one of the decisive battles of the War of the Spanish Succession was fought, when the Bourbon army defeated an allied force and secured the throne of Spain for Philip V. A monument on the battlefield and a museum in town tell the story. In the hills to the north, near Alpera, the Abric Pedro Mas holds prehistoric paintings, part of the UNESCO listing of Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula. Nearby, the Cueva de la Vieja is one of the best-known Levantine sites, with archers, deer and goats.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abric Pedro más is where the day begins. Next is Cantos de la Visera I.
2. Cantos de la Visera I
Monte Arabí rises from the high plain north of Yecla like a ship run aground, a lonely mass of sandstone with flat top and fluted sides, and locals have told stories about it for centuries: Moorish treasure, enchanted caves, a hidden city. The real treasure is painted. The Cantos de la Visera shelters on its slopes hold prehistoric rock art, including Levantine figures of animals and schematic signs, and they belong to the great series of Mediterranean rock art sites listed by UNESCO. There are also strange carved holes and basins in the rock, whose purpose is still debated.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cantos de la Visera I comes up about 49 km into the recorded legs. Next is Abrigo del Canto Blanco.
3. Abrigo del Canto Blanco
Jumilla is wine country, and you know it as soon as you arrive. The town sits in the north of the Murcia region, surrounded by a high, dry plateau of vineyards growing the Monastrell grape, which produces powerful, dark red wines. A castle tops the hill above the old town, and the bodegas on its outskirts welcome visitors. The Abrigo del Canto Blanco, the shelter of the white stone, lies in the hills about five kilometres away.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 87 km into the recorded legs you reach Abrigo del Canto Blanco. Next is Abrigo de las Enredaderas.
4. Abrigo de las Enredaderas
Where the Río Segura squeezes through the sandstone and limestone ridges of northern Murcia, between Calasparra and Cieza, the valley turns into a canyon of orange and grey rock with narrow green strips of reeds and orchard along the water. The Abrigo de las Enredaderas, a rock shelter, lies twelve kilometres or so from both towns, in dry hills of pine, rosemary and esparto grass that smell sharply of resin on a hot day.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abrigo de las Enredaderas, about halfway. Next is Abrigo de los Cortijos.
5. Abrigo de los Cortijos
Hellín is a town in the south-east of Albacete province, on the edge of the dry plains of La Mancha, where the landscape breaks into hills and ravines on its way down to the Segura river. Its old town climbs a hill crowned by a castle, and its streets are lined with houses from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The Abrigo de los Cortijos lies in the hills about nine kilometres from the town, toward Albatana and Tobarra.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 362 km.
Leg by leg
Abric Pedro más to Cantos de la Visera I
Abric Pedro más → Cantos de la Visera I is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cantos de la Visera I to Abrigo del Canto Blanco
Cantos de la Visera I → Abrigo del Canto Blanco is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abrigo del Canto Blanco to Abrigo de las Enredaderas
Abrigo del Canto Blanco → Abrigo de las Enredaderas is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abrigo de las Enredaderas to Abrigo de los Cortijos
Abrigo de las Enredaderas → Abrigo de los Cortijos is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abrigo de los Cortijos to back through Abrigo de las Enredaderas
Abrigo de los Cortijos → back through Abrigo de las Enredaderas is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abrigo de las Enredaderas to back through Abrigo del Canto Blanco
back through Abrigo de las Enredaderas → back through Abrigo del Canto Blanco is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abrigo del Canto Blanco to back through Cantos de la Visera I
back through Abrigo del Canto Blanco → back through Cantos de la Visera I is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cantos de la Visera I to Abric Pedro más
back through Cantos de la Visera I → Abric Pedro más is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.