Why this ride
A 98 km round trip from Pego - roughly 2 h 09 in the saddle. The stops in between: Sierra de Alfaro, Barranc del Xorquet and back through Sierra de Alfaro. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Barran de Parets and Barranc del Xorquet
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 98 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 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. Barran de Parets
The Vall d'Ebo is a pocket of mountains behind the Costa Blanca where the sea is only half an hour away, yet the villages look as if they belong to another century. Adsubia and Vall d'Ebo are tiny settlements of a few hundred people, in a landscape of steep ravines, terraces and bare limestone walls. The Valencian word barranc, a ravine, is on the map everywhere, and each one has its own name. The Barranc de l'Infern, the Hell Ravine, nearby, is a famed walk on a path of thousands of stone steps that the Moriscos, Muslim farmers, built to link villages. They were expelled in 1609, and the terraces and steps are a legacy of their work.
Read the complete Barran de Parets write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Barran de Parets is where the day begins. Next is Sierra de Alfaro.
2. Sierra de Alfaro
The Sierra de Alfaro is a long limestone ridge in the mountains of northern Alicante, between Castell de Castells, Benimantell and Planes, a rugged, empty landscape of rock, scrub and pine, with terraced valleys and small villages tucked into its folds. Its slopes hold several shelters with prehistoric paintings, and the area is part of one of the richest regions for rock art in Spain, with Levantine, schematic and the unique macroschematic styles found nowhere else. The ridge is also crossed by walking trails, and the views from the top over the mountains and the sea are wide.
Read the complete Sierra de Alfaro write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Sierra de Alfaro comes up about 29 km into the recorded legs. Next is Barranc del Xorquet.
3. Barranc del Xorquet
Ask a cyclist on the Costa Blanca about Coll de Rates and watch their face change. The pass road climbing from Parcent toward Tàrbena is a pilgrimage for professional teams in winter training, and it lies only a few kilometres from the Barranc del Xorquet, one of the ravines in the tangled limestone hills behind the coast. This is an area rich in prehistoric rock art: the shelters at Pla de Petracos near Castell de Castells hold some of the best examples of the so-called macro-schematic style, big abstract human figures painted in red thousands of years ago, and the ravines around here hide further sites.
Read the complete Barranc del Xorquet write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 50 km into the recorded legs you reach Barranc del Xorquet. Next is back through Sierra de Alfaro.
4. back through Sierra de Alfaro
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Sierra de Alfaro write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Sierra de Alfaro, late in the day. Next is Barran de Parets.
5. Barran de Parets
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Barran de Parets write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Barran de Parets. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Barran de Parets to Sierra de Alfaro
Barran de Parets → Sierra de Alfaro is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Sierra de Alfaro to Barranc del Xorquet
Sierra de Alfaro → Barranc del Xorquet is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Barranc del Xorquet to back through Sierra de Alfaro
Barranc del Xorquet → back through Sierra de Alfaro is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Sierra de Alfaro to Barran de Parets
back through Sierra de Alfaro → Barran de Parets is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.