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CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

Convent of La Encarnación and University and Historic Precinct of Alcalá

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
309 km
Riding-time estimate
4 h 25
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis

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.

Open this ride in CurveScout

Why this ride

309 km from Ávila to Ávila, about 4 h 25 of riding. On the way it passes Subsidiary building \La Casita del Infante, University and Historic Precinct of Alcalá and back through Subsidiary building \La Casita del Infante. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,350 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

  1. 1. Convent of La Encarnación

    Teresa de Cepeda y Ahumada entered the Convent of the Incarnation in Ávila in 1535, when she was about twenty, and she stayed for twenty-seven years. The convent was large, comfortable and rather sociable, with visitors in the parlour and a lively social life among the nuns, and it was only after decades of illness, prayer and unease that she left in 1562 to found a small, strict house of her own, San José, the first of her reformed Carmelite convents. She became Saint Teresa of Jesus, one of the great writers of the Spanish language, and her cell and the rooms where she lived are still shown in the convent, a short distance outside the old walls.

    Read the complete Convent of La Encarnación write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Convent of La Encarnación is where the day begins. Next is Subsidiary building \La Casita del Infante.

  2. 2. Subsidiary building \La Casita del Infante

    Most people who come to San Lorenzo de El Escorial only see the monastery, that vast granite grid Philip II raised in the second half of the sixteenth century as palace, basilica, library and royal tomb all at once. A short walk below it, through terraced gardens and woodland, sits something far more human in scale. The Casita del Infante, also called the Casita de Arriba, was designed by Juan de Villanueva in the late eighteenth century for the Infante Gabriel, a son of Carlos III, as a place to retreat, play music and escape the endless etiquette of court. Its sibling, the Casita del Príncipe, lies down the hill near the town of El Escorial and was built for the future Carlos IV.

    Read the complete Subsidiary building \La Casita del Infante write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Subsidiary building \La Casita del Infante comes up about 73 km into the recorded legs. Next is University and Historic Precinct of Alcalá.

  3. 3. University and Historic Precinct of Alcalá

    Alcalá de Henares has a talent for producing writers. Miguel de Cervantes was born here in 1547, and a house museum in the old town commemorates him. The university, founded by Cardinal Cisneros in 1499, was one of the earliest planned university towns in Europe and a model for institutions in the Americas, and its Renaissance and Baroque buildings, with their stone façades and courtyards, are the core of the UNESCO listing that Alcalá received in 1998 for its university and historic precinct. The Paraninfo, the ceremonial hall, is where the Cervantes Prize is presented each year.

    Read the complete University and Historic Precinct of Alcalá write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    about 151 km into the recorded legs you reach University and Historic Precinct of Alcalá. Next is back through Subsidiary building \La Casita del Infante.

  4. 4. back through Subsidiary building \La Casita del Infante

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Subsidiary building \La Casita del Infante write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    back through Subsidiary building \La Casita del Infante, late in the day. Next is Convent of La Encarnación.

  5. 5. Convent of La Encarnación

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Convent of La Encarnación write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Back at Convent of La Encarnación. That is the ride.

Leg by leg

Convent of La Encarnación to Subsidiary building \La Casita del Infante

Convent of La Encarnación → Subsidiary building \La Casita del Infante is 73 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Subsidiary building \La Casita del Infante to University and Historic Precinct of Alcalá

Subsidiary building \La Casita del Infante → University and Historic Precinct of Alcalá is 78 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.

University and Historic Precinct of Alcalá to back through Subsidiary building \La Casita del Infante

University and Historic Precinct of Alcalá → back through Subsidiary building \La Casita del Infante is 83 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.

back through Subsidiary building \La Casita del Infante to Convent of La Encarnación

back through Subsidiary building \La Casita del Infante → Convent of La Encarnación is 74 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

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