Why this ride
A 456 km round trip from Ibi - roughly 6 h 52 in the saddle. It goes by way of Barranc de les Covatelles, Pinós, Abric de Lambert and La Lonja de la Seda de Valencia. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Barranc de les Coves- Abric I and La Lonja de la Seda de Valencia
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 456 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. 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 is where the day begins. Next is Barranc de les Covatelles.
2. 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
Barranc de les Covatelles comes up about 37 km into the recorded legs. Next is Pinós.
3. 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
about 96 km into the recorded legs you reach Pinós. Next is Abric de Lambert.
4. Abric de Lambert
Cullera is not where most people would look for prehistory. It is a busy beach town at the mouth of the Júcar, with high-rise apartments along the sand, a lighthouse on the point and rice fields stretching inland toward the Albufera lagoon. But the town has a mountain at its back, a limestone outcrop crowned by a castle and a sanctuary, and in that rock there are shelters, including the one known as the Abric de Lambert.
Read the complete Abric de Lambert write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abric de Lambert, about halfway. Next is La Lonja de la Seda de Valencia.
5. La Lonja de la Seda de Valencia
In the heart of Valencia's old town, a Gothic building with crenellated walls and gargoyles looks more like a castle than a market, and that was rather the point. The Lonja de la Seda, the silk exchange, was built in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries when Valencia was one of the richest cities in the Mediterranean, and it was meant to show the power of its merchants. Its great hall, the Sala de Contratación, is one of the masterpieces of late Gothic architecture, with slender columns that twist like palm trunks up to a ribbed vault. It was listed by UNESCO in 1996.
Read the complete La Lonja de la Seda de Valencia write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
La Lonja de la Seda de Valencia sits at 194 km, about halfway. Next is back through Abric de Lambert.
6. back through Abric de Lambert
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Abric de Lambert 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 Lambert comes up about 276 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Pinós.
7. 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
about 359 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Pinós. Next is back through Barranc de les Covatelles.
8. 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
back through Barranc de les Covatelles, late in the day. Next is Barranc de les Coves- Abric I.
9. 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
The route ends here after 456 km.
Leg by leg
Barranc de les Coves- Abric I to Barranc de les Covatelles
Barranc de les Coves- Abric I → Barranc de les Covatelles is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Barranc de les Covatelles to Pinós
Barranc de les Covatelles → Pinós is 59 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Pinós to Abric de Lambert
Pinós → Abric de Lambert is 88 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Abric de Lambert to La Lonja de la Seda de Valencia
Abric de Lambert → La Lonja de la Seda de Valencia is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
La Lonja de la Seda de Valencia to back through Abric de Lambert
La Lonja de la Seda de Valencia → back through Abric de Lambert is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abric de Lambert to back through Pinós
back through Abric de Lambert → back through Pinós is 83 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Pinós to back through Barranc de les Covatelles
back through Pinós → back through Barranc de les Covatelles is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Barranc de les Covatelles to Barranc de les Coves- Abric I
back through 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.