Why this ride
A 483 km round trip from Beniatjar - roughly 11 h 39 in the saddle. The stops in between: Abric de la Penya, Abric del Voro, Barranco del Cabezo del moro and Peñon de los machos. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Barranc de Carbonera- Abric I and Peñon de los machos
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 483 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 11 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. Barranc de Carbonera- Abric I
The Vall d'Albaida is the quiet valley south of Xàtiva where the Valencian hinterland starts to climb towards the mountains of Alicante, and Otos, Ráfol de Salem and Bèlgida are tiny villages scattered among its folds. The Barranc de Carbonera is one of the ravines that cut into the limestone slopes, and the shelter in it is part of the Mediterranean Basin rock art group that UNESCO inscribed in 1998. The Peñón de los Machos, another painted rock nearby, is on the same ride. The paintings belong to the Levantine tradition, red figures of people and animals painted on the walls of small overhangs in the cliffs.
Read the complete Barranc de Carbonera- 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 Carbonera- Abric I is where the day begins. Next is Abric de la Penya.
2. Abric de la Penya
Moixent, or Mogente in Castilian, stands at the head of a corridor that has carried traffic between the Valencian coast and the interior of Castile for as long as anyone has been moving goods. The old road, the railway and now the motorway all funnel through here, between low limestone ridges with vineyards and olive groves in the valley floor. The rock shelter known as the Abric de la Penya sits in this landscape a few kilometres from the town, close also to Vallada.
Read the complete Abric de la Penya write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abric de la Penya comes up about 38 km into the recorded legs. Next is Abric del Voro.
3. Abric del Voro
The Canal de Navarrés is a wide valley in the interior of Valencia province, surrounded by limestone mountains and deep gorges, and the Abric del Voro lies in the hills between Quesa and Bicorp, two small villages in the heart of some of the wildest country in the region. It is one of the many rock shelters with prehistoric paintings in the area, part of the UNESCO listing of Mediterranean rock art. The valley's most famous site is close by: the Cuevas de la Araña near Bicorp, where a painting of a figure climbing ropes to collect honey from a wild bees' nest, surrounded by bees, is one of the best-known images of prehistoric art in Spain, often cited as one of the earliest depictions of honey gathering.
Read the complete Abric del Voro write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 87 km into the recorded legs you reach Abric del Voro. Next is Barranco del Cabezo del moro.
4. Barranco del Cabezo del moro
Almansa is one of those towns you see from the motorway and do not stop at, and that is a mistake. Its castle is spectacular, a Gothic fortress built on a sharp limestone outcrop right in the middle of town, looking exactly like a child's drawing of a castle. Around it spreads a wide plain at about seven hundred metres, the meeting point of the Valencian, Murcian and Castilian lands, and a few kilometres out in the surrounding hills lies the ravine known as the Barranco del Cabezo del Moro.
Read the complete Barranco del Cabezo del moro write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Barranco del Cabezo del moro, about halfway. Next is Peñon de los machos.
5. Peñon de los machos
Cofrentes is a village at the confluence of two rivers, the Júcar and the Cabriel, in the interior of Valencia province, and it has a curious mix of attractions. Above it stands a castle on a crag. Nearby rises the Cerro de Agrás, the only recently active volcano in the Valencian Community, a dark cone of basalt in a landscape of limestone. And just outside the village, the cooling towers of the Cofrentes nuclear power station send plumes of steam into the sky. The Peñón de los Machos, a rocky outcrop with painted shelters, lies in the hills between Cofrentes, Jalance and Jarafuel.
Read the complete Peñon de los machos write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Peñon de los machos sits at 149 km, about halfway. Next is back through Barranco del Cabezo del moro.
6. back through Barranco del Cabezo del moro
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Barranco del Cabezo del moro write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Barranco del Cabezo del moro comes up about 302 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Abric del Voro.
7. back through Abric del Voro
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Abric del Voro write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 397 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Abric del Voro. Next is back through Abric de la Penya.
8. back through Abric de la Penya
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Abric de la Penya write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Abric de la Penya, late in the day. Next is Barranc de Carbonera- Abric I.
9. Barranc de Carbonera- Abric I
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Barranc de Carbonera- Abric I 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 483 km.
Leg by leg
Barranc de Carbonera- Abric I to Abric de la Penya
Barranc de Carbonera- Abric I → Abric de la Penya is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abric de la Penya to Abric del Voro
Abric de la Penya → Abric del Voro is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abric del Voro to Barranco del Cabezo del moro
Abric del Voro → Barranco del Cabezo del moro is 90 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Barranco del Cabezo del moro to Peñon de los machos
Barranco del Cabezo del moro → Peñon de los machos is 65 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Peñon de los machos to back through Barranco del Cabezo del moro
Peñon de los machos → back through Barranco del Cabezo del moro is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Barranco del Cabezo del moro to back through Abric del Voro
back through Barranco del Cabezo del moro → back through Abric del Voro is 95 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abric del Voro to back through Abric de la Penya
back through Abric del Voro → back through Abric de la Penya is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abric de la Penya to Barranc de Carbonera- Abric I
back through Abric de la Penya → Barranc de Carbonera- Abric I is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.