Why this ride
171 km from Mequinensa / Mequinenza to Mequinensa / Mequinenza, about 2 h 53 of riding. On the way it passes Val de Caballé I, mas de Torres and back through Val de Caballé I.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Bco. de la Plana II and mas de Torres
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 171 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 53
- 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 Val de Caballé I.
2. Val de Caballé I
Here the Ebro stops being a river and becomes a lake. Behind the great dams at Mequinenza and Riba-roja, the water backs up for kilometres into the dry hills of eastern Aragon, and locals call the reservoir the Mar de Aragón, the sea of Aragon. Val de Caballé is a gully in the hills south of the water, between Mequinenza, Nonaspe and Fabara, part of a scatter of prehistoric rock shelters in this corner where Aragon, Catalonia and the Matarranya meet.
Read the complete Val de Caballé I write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Val de Caballé I comes up 18 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
36 km in you reach mas de Torres. Next is back through Val de Caballé I.
4. back through Val de Caballé I
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Val de Caballé I write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Val de Caballé I, late in the day. Next is Bco. de la Plana II, 18 km on.
5. 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
Back at Bco. de la Plana II. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Bco. de la Plana II to Val de Caballé I
Bco. de la Plana II → Val de Caballé I is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Val de Caballé I to mas de Torres
Val de Caballé I → mas de Torres is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
mas de Torres to back through Val de Caballé I
mas de Torres → back through Val de Caballé I is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Val de Caballé I to Bco. de la Plana II
back through Val de Caballé I → Bco. de la Plana II is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Bco. de la Plana I and mas de Torres · 171 km
- Vallbufandes I and mas de Torres · 171 km