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CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

Abrigo de la Esperilla and Izquierda E. de Santonje

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
103 km
Riding-time estimate
3 h 34
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.

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Why this ride

103 km from Velez Rubio to Velez Rubio, about 3 h 34 of riding. On the way it passes Yedra, Izquierda E. de Santonje and back through Yedra. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,250 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available.

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

  1. 1. Abrigo de la Esperilla

    Almería is known for its beaches and desert, but the north of the province holds a different landscape: high, dry limestone mountains with pine forests, almond groves and a series of rock shelters where prehistoric people painted. The Sierra de María-Los Vélez rises above two thousand metres, and around the town of Vélez-Blanco several shelters preserve paintings of the Levantine style, with small, lively red figures of hunters, animals and humans. UNESCO lists Spain's Levantine rock art as a World Heritage Site, and the Abrigo de la Esperilla is one of those painted places.

    Read the complete Abrigo de la Esperilla write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Abrigo de la Esperilla is where the day begins. Next is Yedra.

  2. 2. Yedra

    In the souvenir shops of Almería there is a little stick figure with outstretched arms and a rainbow arching over his head, and it comes from here. This is the Indalo, a prehistoric painting found in the Cueva de los Letreros near Vélez-Blanco, and it has become the emblem of the whole province, painted on houses and doors and carved on bracelets. Nobody knows quite what it meant, though some say it was a charm against storms. Yedra is a nearby shelter, a short drive from the village, and belongs to the same group of rock art sites that UNESCO lists as part of the Mediterranean Basin tradition.

    Read the complete Yedra write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Yedra comes up about 31 km into the recorded legs. Next is Izquierda E. de Santonje, 18 km on.

  3. 3. Izquierda E. de Santonje

    The Indalo is everywhere in Almería: a little stick figure holding an arc over its head, painted on houses, sold as a souvenir and used as the symbol of the province. It comes from a rock shelter near Vélez-Blanco, the Cueva de los Letreros, where it was painted in prehistoric times, and the area around the village is rich in rock art, part of the World Heritage rock art of the Mediterranean. The shelters around Santonje, near the villages of María and Vélez-Blanco, are among them.

    Read the complete Izquierda E. de Santonje write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    about 51 km into the recorded legs you reach Izquierda E. de Santonje. Next is back through Yedra.

  4. 4. back through Yedra

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Yedra write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    back through Yedra, late in the day. Next is Abrigo de la Esperilla.

  5. 5. Abrigo de la Esperilla

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Abrigo de la Esperilla write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Back at Abrigo de la Esperilla. That is the ride.

Leg by leg

Abrigo de la Esperilla to Yedra

Abrigo de la Esperilla → Yedra is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Yedra to Izquierda E. de Santonje

Yedra → Izquierda E. de Santonje is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Izquierda E. de Santonje to back through Yedra

Izquierda E. de Santonje → back through Yedra is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Yedra to Abrigo de la Esperilla

back through Yedra → Abrigo de la Esperilla is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

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