CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
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.
A 356 km round trip from Nerpio - roughly 7 h 00 in the saddle. The stops in between: Las Covachicas, Cueva de las Palamas, Cueva de los Pucheros and Abrigo del Canto Blanco. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,400 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
High in the south-east of Albacete province, where the Sierra de Segura meets the Granada highlands, the land turns to pine, juniper and bare limestone ridges, and the village of Nerpio sits in a basin about six kilometres from this stop. The name means the rock shelter of Taibona Castle, and it is one of a cluster of painted overhangs around Nerpio, among the densest groups of rock art in Spain. Hunters, deer and goats were drawn in red on the shelter walls long before anyone built a castle on the crag above, and the whole group counts among the Mediterranean Basin rock art that UNESCO protects. Because the paint is delicate, access is controlled and the shelters are best visited through the local interpretation arrangements rather than by wandering up a slope, so ask in Nerpio before you set out.
Read the complete Abrigo del Castillo de Taibona write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Abrigo del Castillo de Taibona is where the day begins. Next is Las Covachicas.
The Sierra del Segura, in the far south of Albacete province, is a world of its own: deep valleys, rivers lined with poplars, terraces of olive and almond trees, and white villages that look more Andalusian than Castilian. Letur is one of the most beautiful, a village of Moorish origin built on a rock above a stream, with narrow alleys, arches and gardens watered by old irrigation channels. Las Covachicas, a group of shelters, lies in the hills nearby, between Letur, Socovos and Férez.
Read the complete Las Covachicas write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Las Covachicas comes up about 38 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cueva de las Palamas.
Cehegín, in the north-west of the Murcia region, is a town of two faces: a modern lower town, and an old town on a hill, with steep streets, noble houses and churches, declared a historic site. The Cueva de las Palomas, the cave of the doves, lies on the edge of the town, less than a kilometre from the centre, with the larger town of Caravaca de la Cruz about five kilometres away.
Read the complete Cueva de las Palamas write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 94 km into the recorded legs you reach Cueva de las Palamas. Next is Cueva de los Pucheros.
North-west of Cieza, the Segura river cuts through a dry landscape of limestone ridges, almond and fruit orchards, and rice fields that look out of place in arid Murcia. The Cueva de los Pucheros, a rock shelter in these hills between Cieza and Calasparra, is one of the many sites in the region holding prehistoric paintings, part of the UNESCO-listed Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula. Like most of these shelters, it is fragile and often protected by a fence, and access may require a guided visit arranged through the local authorities.
Read the complete Cueva de los Pucheros write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Cueva de los Pucheros, about halfway. Next is 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.
Read the complete Abrigo del Canto Blanco write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Abrigo del Canto Blanco sits at 153 km, about halfway. Next is back through Cueva de los Pucheros.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cueva de los Pucheros write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Cueva de los Pucheros comes up about 225 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Cueva de las Palamas.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cueva de las Palamas write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 263 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Cueva de las Palamas. Next is back through Las Covachicas.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Las Covachicas write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Las Covachicas, late in the day. Next is Abrigo del Castillo de Taibona.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Abrigo del Castillo de Taibona write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 356 km.
Abrigo del Castillo de Taibona → Las Covachicas is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Las Covachicas → Cueva de las Palamas is 56 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cueva de las Palamas → Cueva de los Pucheros is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cueva de los Pucheros → Abrigo del Canto Blanco is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abrigo del Canto Blanco → back through Cueva de los Pucheros is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cueva de los Pucheros → back through Cueva de las Palamas is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cueva de las Palamas → back through Las Covachicas is 54 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Las Covachicas → Abrigo del Castillo de Taibona is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.