Why this ride
A 481 km round trip from Constantí - roughly 7 h 39 in the saddle. The stops in between: Mas d'En Llort, Roques Guàrdies II, Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume and Mallata C. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Aqueduct and Mallata C
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 481 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 7 h 39
- 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. Aqueduct
The Pont del Diable, the Devil's Bridge, is not a bridge for people. It is a Roman aqueduct, a tall, two-tiered stone arcade that carried water to Tarraco, modern Tarragona, from the Francolí river, about fifteen kilometres away. It spans a small valley near the road to Constantí, two hundred metres long and about twenty-seven metres high at its tallest point, built of big dressed stones without mortar, and it has stood for roughly two thousand years. UNESCO included it in the Archaeological Ensemble of Tarraco in 2000.
Read the complete Aqueduct write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Aqueduct is where the day begins. Next is Mas d'En Llort.
2. Mas d'En Llort
Montblanc is one of those small Catalan towns that still has its medieval walls, and the Mas d'en Llort label lies a few kilometres from it in the Conca de Barberà, a basin of vineyards and wheat fields ringed by low, scrubby mountains. A mas is a farmhouse, so the spot is probably a rural building or a field track rather than anything with a name on the map, and what you are really riding into is the countryside around it.
Read the complete Mas d'En Llort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Mas d'En Llort comes up about 42 km into the recorded legs. Next is Roques Guàrdies II.
3. Roques Guàrdies II
Les Garrigues is the dry, stony corner of western Catalonia, south-east of Lleida, a land of low hills, terraced olive groves, almond trees and stone huts, where the light is hard and the summers are hot. Roques Guàrdies II is a rock shelter in these hills near Juneda and Arbeca, with traces of prehistoric paintings in the Levantine style, part of the World Heritage site of rock art in the Mediterranean Basin of the Iberian Peninsula.
Read the complete Roques Guàrdies II write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 91 km into the recorded legs you reach Roques Guàrdies II. Next is Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume.
4. Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume
Mequinenza had to move. In the 1960s and 1970s, two dams built on the Ebro created a huge reservoir known as the Mar de Aragón, and the old town at the meeting of the Ebro and the Segre was abandoned and largely demolished, its people resettled in a new town above. The story is told in the town's museums and in the novels of Jesús Moncada, who grew up in the old Mequinenza. In a ravine nearby, the Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume holds prehistoric paintings, part of the World Heritage Site of Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin.
Read the complete Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume, about halfway. Next is Mallata C.
5. Mallata C
Ontiñena is a small farming village on the Alcanadre river, at the edge of the Monegros, the dry, wind-scoured steppe of central Aragón. Out in the ravines around it, prehistoric people left painted figures in rock shelters, among them the site labelled Mallata C, one of the many small components of the UNESCO listing of Mediterranean rock art. The paintings are small, simple and best seen with a local guide, and the walk there crosses a landscape that seems built for epic films: gypsum hills, eroded gullies and wide skies.
Read the complete Mallata C write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Mallata C sits at 181 km, about halfway. Next is back through Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume.
6. back through Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume comes up about 301 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Roques Guàrdies II.
7. back through Roques Guàrdies II
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Roques Guàrdies II write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 362 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Roques Guàrdies II. Next is back through Mas d'En Llort.
8. back through Mas d'En Llort
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Mas d'En Llort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Mas d'En Llort, late in the day. Next is Aqueduct.
9. Aqueduct
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Aqueduct write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 481 km.
Leg by leg
Aqueduct to Mas d'En Llort
Aqueduct → Mas d'En Llort is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mas d'En Llort to Roques Guàrdies II
Mas d'En Llort → Roques Guàrdies II is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Roques Guàrdies II to Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume
Roques Guàrdies II → Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume is 89 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume to Mallata C
Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume → Mallata C is 56 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mallata C to back through Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume
Mallata C → back through Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume is 65 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume to back through Roques Guàrdies II
back through Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume → back through Roques Guàrdies II is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Roques Guàrdies II to back through Mas d'En Llort
back through Roques Guàrdies II → back through Mas d'En Llort is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Mas d'En Llort to Aqueduct
back through Mas d'En Llort → Aqueduct is 75 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.