Barranc d'Alpadull- Abric I and Coves Roges- Abric I

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Barranc d'Alpadull- Abric I

   The painted shelter of Barranc d'Alpadull sits in the folds of the Serra de Mariola, the limestone massif that rises between Bocairent, Alfafara and Agres in the inland corner where Valencia, Alicante and the old kingdom's hill country all meet. It is one of the many small overhangs in eastern Spain that carry Levantine rock art, the group of sites inscribed together by UNESCO as the Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin. Do not expect a museum. These are faint, reddish figures under a lip of stone, usually fenced, often hard to read unless the light is low and raking, and part of the pleasure is simply knowing that hunters drew here thousands of years before anyone thought of building a road up this valley.

   Read the complete Barranc d'Alpadull- Abric I write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Barranc d'Alpadull- Abric I is where the day begins. Next is Coveta del mig- Abric I.

2. 2. Coveta del mig- Abric I

   Otos is a tiny village in the Vall d'Albaida, in the south of Valencia province, and it has an unusual claim to fame: its walls are decorated with dozens of sundials, designed by artists and scattered through the streets, making the village a kind of open-air museum of time. Nearby, in the hills around Otos, Bèlgida and Ráfol de Salem, prehistoric people left paintings in rock shelters, and the Coveta del Mig is one of the sites included in the World Heritage site of the rock art of the Mediterranean Basin. The art here includes schematic figures, simplified human and animal forms, and the area is part of a rich zone of rock art that extends into the mountains of the Alicante province to the south.

   Read the complete Coveta del mig- Abric I write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Coveta del mig- Abric I comes up about 32 km into the recorded legs. Next is Coves Roges- Abric I.

3. 3. Coves Roges- Abric I

   Planes looks like a village that has been arguing with gravity for a thousand years and winning. Its houses climb a hill crowned by the remains of a Moorish castle, and the whole place overlooks a valley of olive and almond terraces that falls toward the Beniarrés reservoir. The Coves Roges, the red caves, lie in the broken limestone country around here, and the first of their shelters carries prehistoric paintings, part of the scattered rock art of the Valencian mountains. The colour in the name is not poetry: the rock itself is stained a warm iron red.

   Read the complete Coves Roges- Abric I write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 73 km into the recorded legs you reach Coves Roges- Abric I. Next is back through Coveta del mig- Abric I.

4. 4. back through Coveta del mig- Abric I

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Coveta del mig- Abric I write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Coveta del mig- Abric I, late in the day. Next is Barranc d'Alpadull- Abric I.

5. 5. Barranc d'Alpadull- Abric I

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Barranc d'Alpadull- Abric I write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Barranc d'Alpadull- Abric I. That is the ride.