Why this ride
401 km from Bolulla to Bolulla, about 8 h 12 of riding. It goes by way of Cueva de la Clau, Abric de la Paella, Abric de la Penya and Abric del Voro. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Barranc del Xorquet and Abric del Voro
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 401 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 8 h 12
- 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 del Xorquet
Ask a cyclist on the Costa Blanca about Coll de Rates and watch their face change. The pass road climbing from Parcent toward Tàrbena is a pilgrimage for professional teams in winter training, and it lies only a few kilometres from the Barranc del Xorquet, one of the ravines in the tangled limestone hills behind the coast. This is an area rich in prehistoric rock art: the shelters at Pla de Petracos near Castell de Castells hold some of the best examples of the so-called macro-schematic style, big abstract human figures painted in red thousands of years ago, and the ravines around here hide further sites.
Read the complete Barranc del Xorquet write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Barranc del Xorquet is where the day begins. Next is Cueva de la Clau.
2. Cueva de la Clau
Behind Gandia, the orange groves climb into the folded limestone hills of La Safor, and among the tiny villages there, Palma de Gandía and Ador sit almost touching each other at the foot of the slopes. Cueva de la Clau is one of the many rock shelters in the Valencian hills that form part of the UNESCO-listed Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula, a scattered collection of hundreds of sites where prehistoric people painted hunters, animals, dancers and abstract signs on limestone overhangs.
Read the complete Cueva de la Clau write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cueva de la Clau comes up about 65 km into the recorded legs. Next is Abric de la Paella.
3. Abric de la Paella
Muro de Alcoy and Cocentaina sit side by side in the valley of the Serpis river, in the Comtat, a district of northern Alicante surrounded by mountains. Cocentaina is crowned by a castle with a tall tower, and below it lies an old town with a palace of the Counts of Cocentaina and a Franciscan convent. The Abric de la Paella, named after the paella pan perhaps because of its shape, lies in the hills between the two towns.
Read the complete Abric de la Paella write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 114 km into the recorded legs you reach Abric de la Paella. Next is Abric de la Penya.
4. 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, about halfway. Next is Abric del Voro.
5. 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
Abric del Voro sits at 139 km, about halfway. Next is back through Abric de la Penya.
6. 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 comes up about 250 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Abric de la Paella.
7. back through Abric de la Paella
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Abric de la Paella write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 286 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Abric de la Paella. Next is back through Cueva de la Clau.
8. back through Cueva de la Clau
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cueva de la Clau write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Cueva de la Clau, late in the day. Next is Barranc del Xorquet.
9. Barranc del Xorquet
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Barranc del Xorquet 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 401 km.
Leg by leg
Barranc del Xorquet to Cueva de la Clau
Barranc del Xorquet → Cueva de la Clau is 65 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cueva de la Clau to Abric de la Paella
Cueva de la Clau → Abric de la Paella is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abric de la Paella to Abric de la Penya
Abric de la Paella → Abric de la Penya is 36 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 back through Abric de la Penya
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 back through Abric de la Paella
back through Abric de la Penya → back through Abric de la Paella is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abric de la Paella to back through Cueva de la Clau
back through Abric de la Paella → back through Cueva de la Clau is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cueva de la Clau to Barranc del Xorquet
back through Cueva de la Clau → Barranc del Xorquet is 67 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.