CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
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.
104 km from Socovos to Socovos, about 2 h 49 of riding. It goes by way of Las Cazuelas, Abrigo de la Ventana I and back through Las Cazuelas. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,300 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.
The names on the map around Moratalla tell the story of who was here before. Benizar begins with Beni, from the Arabic banu, the sons of, and the same prefix turns up all over the Spanish east: Benimantell, Benilloba, Benimarfull, Beniarrés. They are the names of the clans who farmed these valleys when this was part of al-Andalus, and who gave their ancestors' names to villages that have outlived the families. Benizar I is the first of four shelters in the hamlet's surroundings, about twelve kilometres from Moratalla, in a landscape of limestone ridges, pine and scrub.
Read the complete Benizar I write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Benizar I is where the day begins. Next is Las Cazuelas.
Moratalla is the kind of hill town that looks as though it was poured down a slope: white houses tumbling below a castle tower, narrow lanes too steep for comfort, church bells echoing off the hills. Ten kilometres out, in the rugged country of north-west Murcia, the shelter of Las Cazuelas holds prehistoric paintings, part of the region's contribution to the UNESCO-listed Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin. The paintings are fragile and protected, and access is usually by guided visit, arranged in Moratalla or through the regional authorities.
Read the complete Las Cazuelas write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Las Cazuelas comes up about 28 km into the recorded legs. Next is Abrigo de la Ventana I.
High in the Sierra de Segura, where Albacete, Murcia and Jaén meet, the Taibilla river cuts a deep valley through limestone mountains, and the cliffs and shelters along its banks hide some of the finest prehistoric paintings in Spain. The Abrigo de la Ventana, the window shelter, is one of them, near the village of Nerpio, and it is part of the World Heritage site of Levantine rock art.
Read the complete Abrigo de la Ventana I write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 52 km into the recorded legs you reach Abrigo de la Ventana I. Next is back through Las Cazuelas.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Las Cazuelas write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Las Cazuelas, late in the day. Next is Benizar I.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Benizar I write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Benizar I. That is the ride.
Benizar I → Las Cazuelas is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Las Cazuelas → Abrigo de la Ventana I is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abrigo de la Ventana I → back through Las Cazuelas is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Las Cazuelas → Benizar I is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.