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.
A 220 km round trip from Velez Rubio - roughly 3 h in the saddle. On the way it passes Cueva del Tio Labrador, Lavadero Tello V, Abrigo de la fuente and back through Lavadero Tello V. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,400 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.
Almería is known for deserts and beaches, but its northern edge is a different country, a high, cold plateau of almond orchards and pine-covered sierras that the locals call Los Vélez. The town of Vélez-Blanco, with just over 2,000 people, lies under a castle on a rocky crest, and María and Chirivel are smaller places on the plateau. The region is protected as the Sierra María-Los Vélez natural park, and the air is clear, the sky enormous, and the nights cold, even in summer. In late winter the almond trees bloom pink and white on the slopes below the peaks.
Read the complete Chiquita write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Chiquita is where the day begins. Next is Cueva del Tio Labrador.
Vélez-Rubio is a larger and busier place than its neighbour Vélez-Blanco, with seven thousand people, a lively main street, and a church that is a surprise in a town this size. The Church of the Encarnación, begun in the eighteenth century, has twin towers and a massive Baroque façade, usually described as the largest Baroque church in Almería, and its bulk dominates the roofs. It is a good place to start before riding up toward the mountains, because the fuel stations here are the nearest reliable ones for a long way.
Read the complete Cueva del Tio Labrador write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Cueva del Tío Labrador comes up 29 km in. Next is Lavadero Tello V.
Los Vélez, in the north of Almería, is wool and almond country, and its history is one of shepherds, noblemen and Moriscos. For centuries flocks of sheep moved between the winter grazing of the lowlands and the summer pastures of the high sierras along old drove roads, and the area had a thriving wool trade. The shelter here, one of a group around Vélez-Blanco, carries prehistoric paintings, belonging to the Levantine art tradition that UNESCO recognises.
Read the complete Lavadero Tello V write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
58 km in you reach Lavadero Tello V. Next is Abrigo de la fuente.
Nerpio is about as remote as it gets in southern Spain: a village in the far south-west corner of Albacete province, deep in the Sierra del Segura, close to the borders of Andalucía and Murcia. It sits in the valley of the Taibilla river, surrounded by mountains, with terraced fields, walnut trees and pine forests on the slopes. The Abrigo de la Fuente, the shelter of the spring, lies in the hills about eleven kilometres from the village.
Read the complete Abrigo de la fuente write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Abrigo de la fuente, about halfway. Next is back through Lavadero Tello V.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Lavadero Tello V write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Lavadero Tello V sits at 116 km, about halfway. Next is back through Cueva del Tio Labrador.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cueva del Tio Labrador write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Cueva del Tio Labrador comes up 145 km in. Next is Chiquita.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Chiquita write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Chiquita closes the day.
Chiquita → Cueva del Tio Labrador is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cueva del Tío Labrador → Lavadero Tello V is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Lavadero Tello V → Abrigo de la fuente is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abrigo de la fuente → back through Lavadero Tello V is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Lavadero Tello V → back through Cueva del Tio Labrador is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cueva del Tio Labrador → Chiquita is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.