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.
From Socovos it runs 121 km to Socovos; allow about 3 h 38 of riding. The stops in between: Las Cazuelas, Abrigo de Zaén II and back through Las Cazuelas. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,200 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available.
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 Zaén II.
Zaén is a quiet valley in the north-western corner of the Murcia region, in the municipality of Moratalla, where pine-covered sierras close in and the streams run clear and cold. The Abrigo de Zaén II is one of several painted rock shelters here, and like the others it belongs to the World Heritage Site of Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin, inscribed in 1998. Levantine art, found along the eastern side of the Iberian Peninsula, shows lively figures of humans and animals, often in scenes of hunting, gathering and, sometimes, conflict.
Read the complete Abrigo de Zaén II write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 59 km into the recorded legs you reach Abrigo de Zaén II. 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 Zaén II is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abrigo de Zaén II → back through Las Cazuelas is 34 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.