Why this ride
A 409 km round trip from Vall de Gallinera - roughly 7 h 25 in the saddle. On the way it passes Pinós, Barranc de les Covatelles, Barranc de les Coves- Abric I and Abric de Gontrán. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Barranc de Beniali- Abric l and Abric de Gontrán
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 409 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 7 h 25
- 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. Barranc de Beniali- Abric l
The Vall de Gallinera is one of those valleys that seems to exist slightly outside time. Running east to west in the mountains of northern Alicante, it holds eight tiny villages strung along a single road, terraced slopes of cherry trees, and above them limestone ridges cut by steep ravines. The Barranc de Beniali is one of those ravines, and in a shelter on its walls prehistoric people painted figures that are now part of the World Heritage site of Levantine rock art. The valley next door, the Vall d'Ebo, is just as wild, and its Cova del Rull is a show cave full of stalactites.
Read the complete Barranc de Beniali- Abric l write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Barranc de Beniali- Abric l is where the day begins. Next is Pinós.
2. Pinós
Inland from the busy coast of the Marina Alta, behind Benissa and Calp, the land folds into a series of steep, terraced valleys where almond and olive trees cling to dry-stone walls and white farmhouses sit among the pines. Pinós is a rural area in the hills near Benissa, Senija and Jalón, and the rides link it to the rock-art shelters of the barrancs, the ravines that cut through the limestone of this region, part of the UNESCO listing of Mediterranean prehistoric art. The exact contents of the nearby shelters are for specialists, but the landscape itself has a quiet, timeless beauty, especially in the soft light of late afternoon.
Read the complete Pinós write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Pinós comes up about 43 km into the recorded legs. Next is Barranc de les Covatelles.
3. Barranc de les Covatelles
Guadalest is a tiny village on a rock, entered through a tunnel cut in the stone, with a castle, a bell tower perched on a pinnacle and a view over a turquoise reservoir below. It is one of the most visited places in the province of Alicante, and it sits at the heart of a valley surrounded by mountains: the Aitana, the highest in the province at over fifteen hundred metres, the Serrella and the Xortà. The Barranc de les Covatelles is one of the ravines in this mountainous country, near Benimantell, Sella and Castell de Castells, with rock shelters that hold prehistoric paintings, one component of the World Heritage inscription for the rock art of the Mediterranean Basin.
Read the complete Barranc de les Covatelles write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 103 km into the recorded legs you reach Barranc de les Covatelles. Next is Barranc de les Coves- Abric I.
4. Barranc de les Coves- Abric I
Ibi is the toy capital of Spain, a fact that surprises everyone who rides through this mountain town in the hills of Alicante. Since the early twentieth century, workshops here have produced dolls, tin toys and plastic figures, and the Valencian Toy Museum tells the story. The rock shelter named Barranc de les Coves Abric I lies in the hills between Ibi and Alcoy, in a ravine whose name simply means the gully of the caves.
Read the complete Barranc de les Coves- Abric I write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Barranc de les Coves- Abric I, about halfway. Next is Abric de Gontrán.
5. Abric de Gontrán
Head south-west from Xàtiva along the old road to Castile and you climb gently into a corridor between two mountain ranges, the Serra Grossa on one side and the Serra de Enguera on the other. The town of Moixent sits where the corridor narrows, with Vallada just downstream and the vineyards of Fontanars dels Alforins on the plateau beyond. The Abric de Gontran lies in the hills just outside Moixent.
Read the complete Abric de Gontrán write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abric de Gontrán sits at 137 km, about halfway. Next is back through Barranc de les Coves- Abric I.
6. back through Barranc de les Coves- Abric I
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Barranc de les Coves- 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 Barranc de les Coves- Abric I comes up about 263 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Barranc de les Covatelles.
7. back through Barranc de les Covatelles
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Barranc de les Covatelles write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 299 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Barranc de les Covatelles. Next is back through Pinós.
8. back through Pinós
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Pinós write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Pinós, late in the day. Next is Barranc de Beniali- Abric l.
9. Barranc de Beniali- Abric l
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Barranc de Beniali- Abric l 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 409 km.
Leg by leg
Barranc de Beniali- Abric l to Pinós
Barranc de Beniali- Abric l → Pinós is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Pinós to Barranc de les Covatelles
Pinós → Barranc de les Covatelles is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Barranc de les Covatelles to Barranc de les Coves- Abric I
Barranc de les Covatelles → Barranc de les Coves- Abric I is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Barranc de les Coves- Abric I to Abric de Gontrán
Barranc de les Coves- Abric I → Abric de Gontrán is 74 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abric de Gontrán to back through Barranc de les Coves- Abric I
Abric de Gontrán → back through Barranc de les Coves- Abric I is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Barranc de les Coves- Abric I to back through Barranc de les Covatelles
back through Barranc de les Coves- Abric I → back through Barranc de les Covatelles is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Barranc de les Covatelles to back through Pinós
back through Barranc de les Covatelles → back through Pinós is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Pinós to Barranc de Beniali- Abric l
back through Pinós → Barranc de Beniali- Abric l is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.