Barranc de la Cova Negra and Barranc de les Coves- Abric I
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
251 km
Riding-time estimate
4 h 52
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.
From Vall de Gallinera it runs 251 km to Vall de Gallinera; allow about 4 h 52 of riding. The stops in between: Barranc de Bolulla, Barranc del Salt- Abric l, Barranc de les Coves- Abric I and back through Barranc del Salt- Abric l. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Barranc de la Cova Negra
Cherry trees are the secret of this valley, and for a few days in late winter and spring they turn the slopes white. The Vall de Gallinera, which lies just north of the Vall d'Ebo, is a long, narrow valley of small villages, with Adsubia among them, filled with terraced fields that the Moors once irrigated with great skill. Its cherries are among the best in the region, and the blossom draws visitors who come to walk the terraces and take photographs.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Barranc de la Cova Negra is where the day begins. Next is Barranc de Bolulla.
2. Barranc de Bolulla
Bolulla is barely a village, a few hundred people tucked into a valley of the Marina Baixa behind Benidorm, and the ravine that carries its name cuts into the limestone hills just outside it. The mountains here are steep and close together, terraced for centuries with olives, almonds and loquats, and their caves and shelters hold traces of prehistoric painting that place this corner of Alicante within the wider family of Mediterranean rock art. What you see on the ground is a dry, rocky gully scented with pine and wild herbs, with the ruined castle of Bolulla perched on a ridge above, a reminder of the Moorish centuries when these valleys were densely settled.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Barranc de Bolulla comes up about 50 km into the recorded legs. Next is Barranc del Salt- Abric l.
3. Barranc del Salt- Abric l
Benilloba is a tiny village in the Comtat, the mountainous district north of Alcoy in the province of Alicante, with fewer than a thousand people, a church and a cluster of stone houses among olive and almond groves. The Barranc del Salt, the waterfall ravine, cuts through the hills nearby, and its first shelter is one of the many painted sites in the region that are part of the UNESCO listing of Mediterranean rock art. The Comtat and the neighbouring Alcoià are particularly rich in this heritage, with all three main styles of prehistoric painting represented: Levantine, schematic and the older Macro-schematic, unique to this small area, with large, enigmatic figures.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 96 km into the recorded legs you reach Barranc del Salt- Abric l. 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.