Why this ride
A 351 km round trip from Mequinensa / Mequinenza - roughly 7 h 02 in the saddle. On the way it passes mas de Torres, Mallata C, Les Coves and back through Mallata C. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Bco. de la Plana II and Les Coves
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 351 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 7 h 02
- 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 la Plana II
Mequinenza is a town that was moved. In the 1960s the Ebro was dammed below the confluence with the Segre and the Cinca, and the new reservoir, known as the Mar de Aragón, drowned the old river valley. The old town was largely abandoned and its people rehoused up the slope, which is why the place feels more planned than ancient. What remained was the castle on its rock, a coal-mining history that fed the power stations of the lower Ebro, and a landscape of limestone ridges, pine and rock rose dropping to a long, green-blue lake. The Barranco de la Plana is one of the dry ravines running down to it, and the shelter that gives this stop its name sits among the rock art of the Mediterranean Basin that UNESCO listed in 1998.
Read the complete Bco. de la Plana II write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Bco. de la Plana II is where the day begins. Next is mas de Torres.
2. 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
mas de Torres comes up 45 km in. Next is Mallata C.
3. Mallata C
Ontiñena is a small farming village on the Alcanadre river, at the edge of the Monegros, the dry, wind-scoured steppe of central Aragón. Out in the ravines around it, prehistoric people left painted figures in rock shelters, among them the site labelled Mallata C, one of the many small components of the UNESCO listing of Mediterranean rock art. The paintings are small, simple and best seen with a local guide, and the walk there crosses a landscape that seems built for epic films: gypsum hills, eroded gullies and wide skies.
Read the complete Mallata C write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
89 km in you reach Mallata C. Next is Les Coves.
4. Les Coves
The western edge of Catalonia, around Lleida, is fruit country. Irrigation canals bring water from the Pyrenean rivers to a broad, flat plain of orchards growing apples, pears and peaches, laid out in neat lines that stretch to the horizon. Les Coves lies in this area, close to the Aragonese border, between Alfarràs, Albelda and Algerri, where the valley of the Noguera Ribagorçana spills out of the hills and onto the plain.
Read the complete Les Coves write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Les Coves, about halfway. Next is back through Mallata C.
5. back through Mallata C
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Mallata C write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Mallata C sits at 178 km, about halfway. Next is back through mas de Torres.
6. back through mas de Torres
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
back through mas de Torres comes up 223 km in. Next is Bco. de la Plana II, 44 km on.
7. Bco. de la Plana II
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Bco. de la Plana II write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Bco. de la Plana II closes the day.
Leg by leg
Bco. de la Plana II to mas de Torres
Bco. de la Plana II → mas de Torres is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
mas de Torres to Mallata C
mas de Torres → Mallata C is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mallata C to Les Coves
Mallata C → Les Coves is 66 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Les Coves to back through Mallata C
Les Coves → back through Mallata C is 66 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Mallata C to back through mas de Torres
back through Mallata C → back through mas de Torres is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through mas de Torres to Bco. de la Plana II
back through mas de Torres → Bco. de la Plana II is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Bco. de la Plana I and Les Coves · 351 km
- Vallbufandes I and Les Coves · 349 km
- Bco. de Campells II and Les Coves · 360 km
- Bco. de Campells I and Les Coves · 358 km