Why this ride
176 km from Mequinensa / Mequinenza to Mequinensa / Mequinenza, about 2 h 58 of riding. It goes by way of mas de Patriciel I, mas de Torres and back through mas de Patriciel I. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Bco. de Campells II and mas de Torres
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 176 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 58
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. 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 mas de Patriciel I.
2. mas de Patriciel I
Where the Ebro and the Segre meet near Mequinenza, the rivers have been dammed into two long reservoirs, and the result is a strange, beautiful landscape of blue water filling deep valleys among dry, terraced hills. The rock shelters of Mas de Patriciel lie in the hills between Mequinenza, Nonaspe and Fayón, part of the network of painted sites that UNESCO listed as the Mediterranean rock art of Iberia.
Read the complete mas de Patriciel I write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
mas de Patriciel I comes up 20 km in. Next is mas de Torres.
3. mas de Torres
The Monegros in high summer is the closest thing Europe has to a desert, a wide, dry plateau of gypsum hills, wheat stubble and steppe scrub under a hard, white sky. Near the village of Candasnos, close to the main road between Zaragoza and Lleida, the shelter labelled Mas de Torres is one of the rock art sites of the Mediterranean Basin listed by UNESCO, a reminder that people lived and hunted here long before the land dried out to its present state.
Read the complete mas de Torres write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
39 km in you reach mas de Torres. Next is back through mas de Patriciel I.
4. back through mas de Patriciel I
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete mas de Patriciel I write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through mas de Patriciel I, late in the day. Next is Bco. de Campells II, 19 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 mas de Patriciel I
Bco. de Campells II → mas de Patriciel I is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
mas de Patriciel I to mas de Torres
mas de Patriciel I → mas de Torres is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
mas de Torres to back through mas de Patriciel I
mas de Torres → back through mas de Patriciel I is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through mas de Patriciel I to Bco. de Campells II
back through mas de Patriciel I → Bco. de Campells II is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.