Why this ride
A 416 km round trip from Albinyana - roughly 5 h 28 in the saddle. On the way it passes Crypt at the Colònia Güell, La Vall de la Coma and back through Crypt at the Colònia Güell. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Cova de Vallmajor and La Vall de la Coma
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 416 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 28
- 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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Cova de Vallmajor
Inland from the Costa Daurada, behind the beach towns of El Vendrell and Calafell, the land rises into the low hills of the Baix Penedès, a landscape of vineyards, almond and olive groves, pine woods and small villages. The Cova de Vallmajor, near Albinyana and Bonastre, is a rock shelter in these hills with prehistoric paintings, part of the Levantine rock art of the Mediterranean that is recognised as a World Heritage Site. The paintings are faint and the shelter is protected, so visits are usually by arrangement.
Read the complete Cova de Vallmajor write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cova de Vallmajor is where the day begins. Next is Crypt at the Colònia Güell.
2. Crypt at the Colònia Güell
Few people ride out of Barcelona expecting to find Gaudí in a mill village, but that is exactly what waits at Santa Coloma de Cervelló, a short hop up the Llobregat from Sant Boi. The Colònia Güell was a textile colony founded by the industrialist Eusebi Güell, who moved his cotton works out of the city in the 1890s and built housing, a school, shops and a theatre for the workers around the factory. He asked his friend Antoni Gaudí for a church. Gaudí spent about ten years on the design and its foundations, and when money and the Güell family's enthusiasm ran out around 1914, only the lower level had been finished. That crypt is what you come to see.
Read the complete Crypt at the Colònia Güell write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Crypt at the Colònia Güell comes up about 66 km into the recorded legs. Next is La Vall de la Coma.
3. La Vall de la Coma
The Garrigues is the dry heart of Lleida province, a land of terraced hills, stone walls and endless olive groves, and La Vall de la Coma is one of its quiet valleys, in the municipality of L'Albi. In a few rock shelters here, prehistoric people painted small figures in red, part of the Levantine rock art of the Mediterranean basin that is recognized as a World Heritage Site. The paintings are fragile and modest in size, and access is usually organized through local guides or interpretation centres, so plan ahead rather than expecting to wander in.
Read the complete La Vall de la Coma write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 217 km into the recorded legs you reach La Vall de la Coma. Next is back through Crypt at the Colònia Güell.
4. back through Crypt at the Colònia Güell
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Crypt at the Colònia Güell write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Crypt at the Colònia Güell, late in the day. Next is Cova de Vallmajor.
5. Cova de Vallmajor
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cova de Vallmajor write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Cova de Vallmajor. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Cova de Vallmajor to Crypt at the Colònia Güell
Cova de Vallmajor → Crypt at the Colònia Güell is 66 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Crypt at the Colònia Güell to La Vall de la Coma
Crypt at the Colònia Güell → La Vall de la Coma is 151 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
La Vall de la Coma to back through Crypt at the Colònia Güell
La Vall de la Coma → back through Crypt at the Colònia Güell is 132 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Crypt at the Colònia Güell to Cova de Vallmajor
back through Crypt at the Colònia Güell → Cova de Vallmajor is 67 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.