CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
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.
From Villafranca del Cid it runs 171 km to Villafranca del Cid; allow about 3 h 25 of riding. It goes by way of Racó d'en Gil, Abric del mas dels Ous, Cova dels Cavalls and back through Abric del mas dels Ous. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,300 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available.
This is high Maestrat country, where Castellón's mountains roll into Teruel's, and the small rock shelter called the Covatina del Tossalet del Mas de la Rambla belongs to a family of sites that UNESCO lists together as the Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula. Under overhangs like this one, hunters and early farmers painted small, lively figures in red and black: archers in mid-stride, deer and ibex, scenes of hunting and gathering. The style, called Levantine art, is unusual for its movement and its storytelling, and many of the shelters are tiny, fragile and kept behind fences. Access is often by guided visit only, so check with the local tourist office before you count on seeing the paintings.
Read the complete Covatina del Tossalet del mas de !a Rambla write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Covatina del Tossalet del mas de !a Rambla is where the day begins. Next is Racó d'en Gil.
There is a small triangle of country in the Alt Maestrat, between Benassal, Catí and Albocàsser, where the hills fold into narrow ravines and the stone walls of old terraces climb every slope. Racó d'en Gil, a name meaning something like Gil's corner, lies in this landscape, and it sits within easy reach of the Valltorta gorge, the place that put Levantine rock art on the map.
Read the complete Racó d'en Gil write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Racó d'en Gil comes up about 35 km into the recorded legs. Next is Abric del mas dels Ous.
Xert is the kind of village you pass through on the way to somewhere else and then wonder why you did not stop. It lies in the Baix Maestrat in northern Castellón, below a ridge of bare limestone, with the old village climbing the slope and a newer part down by the road. The shelter called the Abric del Mas dels Ous, the shelter of the farmhouse of the eggs, is out in the dry hills nearby, between Xert, Canet lo Roig and Rosell.
Read the complete Abric del mas dels Ous write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 63 km into the recorded legs you reach Abric del mas dels Ous. Next is Cova dels Cavalls.
A line of archers closing in on a herd of deer, one animal already wounded and fleeing: the hunting scene in the Cova dels Cavalls is one of the most reproduced images of Spanish prehistoric art, and it sits in the Barranc de la Valltorta, a dry limestone gorge in the Castellón hinterland between Albocàsser and Tírig. The Valltorta shelters, together with nearby Gasulla, form one of the key groups of Levantine rock art, and the Museu de la Valltorta near Tírig runs guided visits to the main shelter and explains the paintings with replicas and finds. Check visiting times at the museum before you set off, because the shelter is only seen with a guide.
Read the complete Cova dels Cavalls write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Cova dels Cavalls, about halfway. Next is back through Abric del mas dels Ous.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Abric del mas dels Ous write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Abric del mas dels Ous sits at 111 km, about halfway. Next is back through Racó d'en Gil.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Racó d'en Gil write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Racó d'en Gil comes up about 134 km into the recorded legs. Next is Covatina del Tossalet del mas de !a Rambla.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Covatina del Tossalet del mas de !a Rambla write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Covatina del Tossalet del mas de !a Rambla closes the day.
Covatina del Tossalet del mas de !a Rambla → Racó d'en Gil is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Racó d'en Gil → Abric del mas dels Ous is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abric del mas dels Ous → Cova dels Cavalls is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cova dels Cavalls → back through Abric del mas dels Ous is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abric del mas dels Ous → back through Racó d'en Gil is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Racó d'en Gil → Covatina del Tossalet del mas de !a Rambla is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.