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 560 km round trip from Moratalla - roughly 10 h 57 in the saddle. On the way it passes Abrigo de la fuente, Río frío, Abrigo del.melgar and Úbeda. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,450 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
In the far north-west corner of the Region of Murcia, where the land climbs towards the mountains of Albacete and Jaén, lies Moratalla, a town of whitewashed houses piled up a hillside beneath a castle tower. Its countryside is surprisingly wild for Murcia: pine forests, rivers, gorges and limestone ridges, some of the greenest land in a famously dry region. The rock shelter of Andragulla is one of many painted overhangs scattered through these hills, part of the Levantine rock art sites inscribed together by UNESCO. Many are protected behind fences and need a guide; the tourist office in Moratalla can advise.
Read the complete Andragulla I write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Andragulla I is where the day begins. Next is Abrigo de la fuente.
Nerpio is about as remote as it gets in southern Spain: a village in the far south-west corner of Albacete province, deep in the Sierra del Segura, close to the borders of Andalucía and Murcia. It sits in the valley of the Taibilla river, surrounded by mountains, with terraced fields, walnut trees and pine forests on the slopes. The Abrigo de la Fuente, the shelter of the spring, lies in the hills about eleven kilometres from the village.
Read the complete Abrigo de la fuente write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Abrigo de la fuente comes up about 61 km into the recorded legs. Next is Río frío.
Cold water is a rare luxury in southern Spain, and a stream called Río Frío promises exactly that. It is a land of pine forests, limestone crags, deep river gorges and tiny villages, and the painted rock shelters scattered through these hills are part of the UNESCO listing of rock art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula.
Read the complete Río frío write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 114 km into the recorded legs you reach Río frío. Next is Abrigo del.melgar, 46 km on.
Quesada is a white town at the foot of the Sierra de Cazorla, in the province of Jaén, surrounded by an ocean of olive trees. The groves stretch to the horizon in every direction, a landscape that makes Jaén the world's largest producer of olive oil. Behind the town, the mountains rise steeply, with pine forest and limestone cliffs, and the Guadalquivir river has its source not far away. The Abrigo del Melgar lies in the hills just outside the town.
Read the complete Abrigo del.melgar write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Abrigo del.melgar, about halfway. Next is Úbeda.
In the middle of an ocean of olive trees, Úbeda rises on a ridge like a Renaissance city that took a wrong turn on its way to Florence. This town in the province of Jaén, along with its neighbour Baeza, was listed by UNESCO in 2003 for its sixteenth-century architecture, much of it the work of Andrés de Vandelvira, who built palaces, churches and chapels for wealthy noble families and royal officials. The Plaza Vázquez de Molina is the showpiece, a harmonious square lined with palaces and the extraordinary Sacra Capilla del Salvador, a funerary chapel built for Francisco de los Cobos, secretary to Emperor Charles V.
Read the complete Úbeda write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Úbeda sits at 186 km, about halfway. Next is back through Abrigo del.melgar, 46 km on.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Abrigo del.melgar write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Abrigo del.melgar comes up about 328 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Río frío.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Río frío write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 440 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Río frío. Next is back through Abrigo de la fuente.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Abrigo de la fuente write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Abrigo de la fuente, late in the day. Next is Andragulla I.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Andragulla I write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 560 km.
Andragulla I → Abrigo de la fuente is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abrigo de la fuente → Río frío is 53 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Río frío → Abrigo del.melgar is 119 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Abrigo del.melgar → Úbeda is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Úbeda → back through Abrigo del.melgar is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abrigo del.melgar → back through Río frío is 112 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Río frío → back through Abrigo de la fuente is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abrigo de la fuente → Andragulla I is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.