Why this ride
A 191 km round trip from Vall de Gallinera - roughly 4 h 09 in the saddle. The stops in between: Abric de Seguili, Coves Roges Abric II-III, Penya Escrita and back through Coves Roges Abric II-III.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Al Patró and Penya Escrita
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 191 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 09
- 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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Al Patró
The Vall d'Ebo is one of those valleys that history has emptied. In 1609 the Spanish crown ordered the expulsion of the Moriscos, the descendants of the region's Muslim population, and in the mountains of the Marina Alta, many villages lost almost everyone overnight. Some Moriscos resisted in the high cliffs of the Muela de Cortes before the end came. Vall d'Ebo today has barely three hundred inhabitants, and its terraced fields, built by Morisco farmers for irrigation, are still visible as stone steps climbing the hillsides.
Read the complete Al Patró write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Al Patró is where the day begins. Next is Abric de Seguili.
2. Abric de Seguilí
The Vall de Pop, or Jalón valley as many foreign residents call it, is a sheltered valley in the north of Alicante province, a few kilometres inland from the coast at Dénia and Xàbia. It is a landscape of vineyards, almond and olive groves and orange trees, with white villages and the mountains rising on all sides. Alcalalí is one of these villages, with a medieval tower in its centre, and Parcent and Orba are nearby. The Abric de Seguilí lies in the hills just outside Alcalalí.
Read the complete Abric de Seguili write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abric de Seguilí comes up about 31 km into the recorded legs. Next is Coves Roges Abric II-III.
3. Coves Roges Abric II-III
Behind the Costa Blanca, between the beaches and the hills, lies a country of steep limestone valleys, almond terraces and tiny villages that few tourists reach. Coves Roges, the Red Caves, are shelters in the rock near Castell de Castells and Tàrbena, in the Marina Alta, where the Serra d'Aitana rises to over fifteen hundred metres and the Guadalest valley cuts deep into the mountains. Rock shelters here were painted and used in prehistory, and this part of Alicante has some of the best-known Levantine art, such as the shelters at Pla de Petracos not far away.
Read the complete Coves Roges Abric II-III write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 65 km into the recorded legs you reach Coves Roges Abric II-III. Next is Penya Escrita.
4. Penya Escrita
In the folded limestone hills behind the Costa Blanca, far enough inland that the resorts feel like another country, a rock shelter called Penya Escrita holds prehistoric paintings. The name means something like the written rock, which is what the people of Tàrbena and Bolulla called it long before archaeologists arrived. The figures belong to the rock art of the Mediterranean Basin of the Iberian Peninsula, a UNESCO site made up of hundreds of shelters scattered from Catalonia down to Andalusia, painted by hunter-gatherers and early farmers thousands of years ago. They are small, faded and easy to miss, and they are best appreciated with patience rather than expectation.
Read the complete Penya Escrita write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Penya Escrita, about halfway. Next is back through Coves Roges Abric II-III.
5. back through Coves Roges Abric II-III
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Coves Roges Abric II-III write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Coves Roges Abric II-III sits at 98 km, about halfway. Next is back through Abric de Seguili.
6. back through Abric de Seguili
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Abric de Seguili write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Abric de Seguili comes up about 159 km into the recorded legs. Next is Al Patró.
7. Al Patró
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Al Patró write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Al Patró closes the day.
Leg by leg
Al Patró to Abric de Seguili
Al Patró → Abric de Seguili is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abric de Seguilí to Coves Roges Abric II-III
Abric de Seguilí → Coves Roges Abric II-III is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Coves Roges Abric II-III to Penya Escrita
Coves Roges Abric II-III → Penya Escrita is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Penya Escrita to back through Coves Roges Abric II-III
Penya Escrita → back through Coves Roges Abric II-III is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Coves Roges Abric II-III to back through Abric de Seguili
back through Coves Roges Abric II-III → back through Abric de Seguili is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abric de Seguili to Al Patró
back through Abric de Seguili → Al Patró is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.