Why this ride
From Olocau it runs 241 km to Olocau; allow about 5 h 05 of riding. It goes by way of Peñón de Santo Espíritu, La Lonja de la Seda de Valencia, Covacha del Barranc del Diable and back through La Lonja de la Seda de Valencia.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Balma de la fabriqueta and Covacha del Barranc del Diable
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 241 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 05
- 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. Balma de la fabriqueta
The Serra Calderona is the green ridge that rises north-west of Valencia, separating the city's plain from the valleys of the interior. It is a natural park of pine forest, cork oak and rocky hills, close enough to the city for weekend walkers and riders, yet surprisingly wild once you get into it. The rock shelter of Balma de la Fabriqueta lies near the village of Olocau on its southern side, one of the painted shelters that make up the Levantine rock art inscribed by UNESCO. Access to many of these sites is restricted or guided, so check with the local tourist office before trying to visit.
Read the complete Balma de la fabriqueta write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Balma de la fabriqueta is where the day begins. Next is Peñón de Santo Espíritu.
2. Peñón de Santo Espíritu
Behind the orange groves of the Camp de Morvedre, a few kilometres inland from Sagunto, the land rises into the Sierra Calderona, a low range of pine woods, scrub and red sandstone that separates the coastal plain from the dry interior. The Peñón de Santo Espíritu is a rocky outcrop in these hills above the village of Gilet, and it carries prehistoric rock art in the Levantine tradition, the style of painted hunters, animals and human figures found in shelters along the Mediterranean side of Spain and listed by UNESCO as the Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula. The paintings are fragile and often protected, so do not expect to wander up and touch anything.
Read the complete Peñón de Santo Espíritu write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Peñón de Santo Espíritu comes up about 55 km into the recorded legs. Next is La Lonja de la Seda de Valencia.
3. La Lonja de la Seda de Valencia
In the heart of Valencia's old town, a Gothic building with crenellated walls and gargoyles looks more like a castle than a market, and that was rather the point. The Lonja de la Seda, the silk exchange, was built in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries when Valencia was one of the richest cities in the Mediterranean, and it was meant to show the power of its merchants. Its great hall, the Sala de Contratación, is one of the masterpieces of late Gothic architecture, with slender columns that twist like palm trunks up to a ribbed vault. It was listed by UNESCO in 1996.
Read the complete La Lonja de la Seda de Valencia write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 94 km into the recorded legs you reach La Lonja de la Seda de Valencia. Next is Covacha del Barranc del Diable.
4. Covacha del Barranc del Diable
Puçol is a modest, busy town on the coast north of Valencia, famous locally for its orange groves, its beach and its long sandy shore. Inland from it the land rises quickly into the Sierra Calderona, a low range of pine, rosemary and dry gullies. The Barranc del Diable, the Devil's Ravine, is one of many small ravines cut into the foothills, and the covacha, a shallow cave, holds a few rock paintings from the Levantine tradition. These belong to the Mediterranean-arc rock art UNESCO listed in 1998, and they are typically small, red and easy to miss unless a guide shows you where to look.
Read the complete Covacha del Barranc del Diable write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Covacha del Barranc del Diable, about halfway. Next is back through La Lonja de la Seda de Valencia.
5. back through La Lonja de la Seda de Valencia
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete La Lonja de la Seda de Valencia write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through La Lonja de la Seda de Valencia sits at 110 km, about halfway. Next is back through Peñón de Santo Espíritu.
6. back through Peñón de Santo Espíritu
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Peñón de Santo Espíritu write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Peñón de Santo Espíritu comes up about 182 km into the recorded legs. Next is Balma de la fabriqueta.
7. Balma de la fabriqueta
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Balma de la fabriqueta write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Balma de la fabriqueta closes the day.
Leg by leg
Balma de la fabriqueta to Peñón de Santo Espíritu
Balma de la fabriqueta → Peñón de Santo Espíritu is 55 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Peñón de Santo Espíritu to La Lonja de la Seda de Valencia
Peñón de Santo Espíritu → La Lonja de la Seda de Valencia is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
La Lonja de la Seda de Valencia to Covacha del Barranc del Diable
La Lonja de la Seda de Valencia → Covacha del Barranc del Diable is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Covacha del Barranc del Diable to back through La Lonja de la Seda de Valencia
Covacha del Barranc del Diable → back through La Lonja de la Seda de Valencia is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through La Lonja de la Seda de Valencia to back through Peñón de Santo Espíritu
back through La Lonja de la Seda de Valencia → back through Peñón de Santo Espíritu is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Peñón de Santo Espíritu to Balma de la fabriqueta
back through Peñón de Santo Espíritu → Balma de la fabriqueta is 59 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.