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.
342 km from Montealegre del Castillo to Montealegre del Castillo, about 5 h 24 of riding. On the way it passes Los Grajos I, Cueva de la Plata and back through Los Grajos I. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 800 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
North of Yecla, where the Murcia region meets Albacete, the land rises into a series of isolated limestone hills above a wide, dry plain of vineyards and almond groves. The rock shelters scattered through this country, including the Abrigo del Mediodía, are part of the UNESCO listing of Mediterranean Iberian rock art. The best known cluster is on Monte Arabí, a striking, isolated rock mountain north of the town, whose Cantos de la Visera shelters hold both Levantine and schematic paintings.
Read the complete Abrigo del mediodía I write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Abrigo del mediodía I is where the day begins. Next is Los Grajos I.
The painted women of Los Grajos are among the most famous figures in Spanish rock art. In a shelter in the limestone hills just outside Cieza, prehistoric painters depicted a group of human figures, several of them women with wide skirts and raised arms, often interpreted as dancers, alongside animals and other motifs. The Los Grajos shelters are part of the UNESCO-listed Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula, and they are protected, so visits need to be arranged with the local tourist office in Cieza.
Read the complete Los Grajos I write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Los Grajos I comes up about 80 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cueva de la Plata.
Aledo is a tiny village on a rocky spur in the hills of Murcia, a place that punches well above its weight in history. In the eleventh century, it was a fortress on the frontier between Christian Castile and the Muslim taifa kingdoms, and the siege of Aledo in 1088 was a major episode in the struggle for the peninsula. A tower still stands above the village. The Cueva de la Plata, the silver cave, lies in the hills nearby, between Aledo, Totana and Alhama de Murcia.
Read the complete Cueva de la Plata write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 174 km into the recorded legs you reach Cueva de la Plata. Next is back through Los Grajos I.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Los Grajos I write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Los Grajos I, late in the day. Next is Abrigo del mediodía I.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Abrigo del mediodía I write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Abrigo del mediodía I. That is the ride.
Abrigo del mediodía I → Los Grajos I is 80 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Los Grajos I → Cueva de la Plata is 94 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Cueva de la Plata → back through Los Grajos I is 95 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Los Grajos I → Abrigo del mediodía I is 72 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.