CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
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.
355 km from Socovos to Socovos, about 7 h 09 of riding. The stops in between: Lavadero Tello III, maina and back through Lavadero Tello III. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,200 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 Lavadero Tello III.
Los Vélez is a corner of Almería that most visitors to the coast never see: a high, dry country of pine forest, almond groves and pale limestone peaks, with the Sierra de María rising above two thousand metres. The Lavadero Tello, the washing place at Tello, is on the edge of that mountain land, near María and Vélez-Blanco, and the shelters of the area hold some of the most famous paintings in southern Spain. At the Cueva de los Letreros, near Vélez-Blanco, a small figure with outstretched arms holding a rainbow-like shape is the Indalo, adopted as the symbol of Almería and painted on houses across the province.
Read the complete Lavadero Tello III write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Lavadero Tello III comes up 72 km in. Next is maina.
Maina is an obscure name on the map in the Murcian hills north-west of Totana, where the Sierra Espuña rises above the valley of the Guadalentín. It refers to a rock shelter or painted site in the dry limestone country, part of the cluster of prehistoric art sites around here included in the World Heritage listing of Levantine rock art. As with many such places, there is often little to see without a guide, but the landscape around it is worth the ride.
Read the complete maina write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
143 km in you reach maina. Next is back through Lavadero Tello III.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Lavadero Tello III write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Lavadero Tello III, 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 → Lavadero Tello III is 66 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Lavadero Tello III → maina is 77 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
maina → back through Lavadero Tello III is 77 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Lavadero Tello III → Benizar I is 66 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.