Why this ride
From Alacón it runs 448 km to Alacón; allow about 7 h 43 of riding. It goes by way of Abric del mas de Barberà, Els Secans, Valmayor IV and Mallata C. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Covacho de la Tía mona and Mallata C
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 448 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 7 h 43
- 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. Covacho de la Tía mona
Aunt Mona's Shelter is the translation of the name, and like most such names, it hides a story nobody can now quite tell. Tía Mona was presumably a woman of Alacón, or of a farm nearby, whose memory stuck to a hollow in the rock long after her family stopped using it. The covacho, a small cave or overhang, lies about three and a half kilometres from the village, in the dry hills of the Bajo Aragón. It carries painting in the Levantine tradition, protected by UNESCO among the rock art of the Mediterranean basin in Spain, and it belongs to the cultural park of the Río Martín, which links the district's sites together.
Read the complete Covacho de la Tía mona write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Covacho de la Tía mona is where the day begins. Next is Abric del mas de Barberà.
2. Abric del mas de Barberà
Alcañiz is the capital of the Bajo Aragón, a region of olive groves, cereal fields and dry hills crossed by the Guadalope river in the south-east of Aragón. The town is crowned by a castle built for the Order of Calatrava, now a parador, and its main square, with a Gothic loggia and the town hall, is one of the finest in the region. The shelter of the Mas de Barberà lies in the hills just outside town, toward Castelserás and Calanda.
Read the complete Abric del mas de Barberà write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abric del mas de Barberà comes up about 68 km into the recorded legs. Next is Els Secans.
3. Els Secans
The lower Matarraña, in the far east of Aragón, is a drier, emptier country than the green upper valley. Here, the river flows through low hills of sandstone and limestone, with olive groves, almond trees and cereal fields, and the villages stand on hilltops, built of golden stone. Mazaleón is one of them, a small village above the river, with Maella and Calaceite nearby. Els Secans, a name meaning the dry lands, is a shelter with prehistoric paintings in the hills just outside the village.
Read the complete Els Secans write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 115 km into the recorded legs you reach Els Secans. Next is Valmayor IV.
4. Valmayor IV
Where the Ebro, the Segre and the Cinca meet in eastern Aragon, a vast reservoir stretches for dozens of kilometres between bare, ochre hills. The locals call it the Mar de Aragón, the Sea of Aragon, and it was created in the 1960s when the Mequinenza dam flooded the valley. The old town of Mequinenza went under the water too, and its people were moved to a new town built above, a story told in moving detail in the local museums and in the novels of Jesús Moncada, who grew up there.
Read the complete Valmayor IV write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Valmayor IV, about halfway. Next is Mallata C.
5. Mallata C
Ontiñena is a small farming village on the Alcanadre river, at the edge of the Monegros, the dry, wind-scoured steppe of central Aragón. Out in the ravines around it, prehistoric people left painted figures in rock shelters, among them the site labelled Mallata C, one of the many small components of the UNESCO listing of Mediterranean rock art. The paintings are small, simple and best seen with a local guide, and the walk there crosses a landscape that seems built for epic films: gypsum hills, eroded gullies and wide skies.
Read the complete Mallata C write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Mallata C sits at 182 km, about halfway. Next is back through Valmayor IV.
6. back through Valmayor IV
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Valmayor IV write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Valmayor IV comes up about 294 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Els Secans.
7. back through Els Secans
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Els Secans write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 334 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Els Secans. Next is back through Abric del mas de Barberà.
8. back through Abric del mas de Barberà
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Abric del mas de Barberà write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Abric del mas de Barberà, late in the day. Next is Covacho de la Tía mona.
9. Covacho de la Tía mona
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Covacho de la Tía mona write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 448 km.
Leg by leg
Covacho de la Tía mona to Abric del mas de Barberà
Covacho de la Tía mona → Abric del mas de Barberà is 68 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abric del mas de Barberà to Els Secans
Abric del mas de Barberà → Els Secans is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Els Secans to Valmayor IV
Els Secans → Valmayor IV is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Valmayor IV to Mallata C
Valmayor IV → Mallata C is 65 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mallata C to back through Valmayor IV
Mallata C → back through Valmayor IV is 74 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Valmayor IV to back through Els Secans
back through Valmayor IV → back through Els Secans is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Els Secans to back through Abric del mas de Barberà
back through Els Secans → back through Abric del mas de Barberà is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abric del mas de Barberà to Covacho de la Tía mona
back through Abric del mas de Barberà → Covacho de la Tía mona is 68 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
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