Why this ride
308 km from Mequinensa / Mequinenza to Mequinensa / Mequinenza, about 4 h 20 of riding. On the way it passes Roques Guàrdies II, Cova del Tabac and back through Roques Guàrdies II.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Bco. de Campells II and Cova del Tabac
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 308 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 20
- 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. Bco. de Campells II
Mequinenza has a double life. There is the town you can ride into today, a quiet place on a hillside above a vast stretch of water, and there is the town that lies underneath that water, the old Mequinenza, which was flooded when the reservoir was filled in the 1960s and whose people were moved up the hill. The writer Jesús Moncada grew up in the old town and made it the subject of his novels in Catalan, so if you want one book to read before coming here, that is the one to look for. The Bco. de Campells is a dry ravine two and a half kilometres out, with a small rock shelter holding prehistoric paintings.
Read the complete Bco. de Campells II write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Bco. de Campells II is where the day begins. Next is Roques Guàrdies II.
2. Roques Guàrdies II
Les Garrigues is the dry, stony corner of western Catalonia, south-east of Lleida, a land of low hills, terraced olive groves, almond trees and stone huts, where the light is hard and the summers are hot. Roques Guàrdies II is a rock shelter in these hills near Juneda and Arbeca, with traces of prehistoric paintings in the Levantine style, part of the World Heritage site of rock art in the Mediterranean Basin of the Iberian Peninsula.
Read the complete Roques Guàrdies II write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Roques Guàrdies II comes up about 93 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cova del Tabac.
3. Cova del Tabac
Above the village of Camarasa, where the Segre comes out of the pre-Pyrenean hills onto the plain of Lleida, a cave in the limestone holds some of the most interesting rock paintings in Catalonia. The Cova del Tabac, the tobacco cave, is a wide shelter with schematic paintings, simplified human figures, animals and symbols in red, and it is one of the sites included in the UNESCO listing of Mediterranean rock art on the Iberian Peninsula. A short walk leads up from the road to the shelter, which also offers a fine view over the valley, and on a clear day the Pyrenees rise white on the northern horizon.
Read the complete Cova del Tabac write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 150 km into the recorded legs you reach Cova del Tabac. Next is back through Roques Guàrdies II.
4. back through Roques Guàrdies II
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Roques Guàrdies II write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Roques Guàrdies II, late in the day. Next is Bco. de Campells II, 61 km on.
5. Bco. de Campells II
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Bco. de Campells II write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Bco. de Campells II. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Bco. de Campells II to Roques Guàrdies II
Bco. de Campells II → Roques Guàrdies II is 93 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Roques Guàrdies II to Cova del Tabac
Roques Guàrdies II → Cova del Tabac is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cova del Tabac to back through Roques Guàrdies II
Cova del Tabac → back through Roques Guàrdies II is 65 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Roques Guàrdies II to Bco. de Campells II
back through Roques Guàrdies II → Bco. de Campells II is 93 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.