Why this ride
A 302 km round trip from Planes - roughly 4 h 33 in the saddle. It goes by way of Barranco de la Cueva I, Olula and Coves de la Vila. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Coves de la Vila and Olula
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 302 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 33
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Coves de la Vila
Planes sits in a cleft of the green hills above the Serpis river, in the Comtat, and the village of Beniarrés a few kilometres away is known for its reservoir, which fills the valley floor with a long, quiet sheet of water. The Coves de la Vila are a set of rock shelters in the cliffs above the village, and they belong to the Mediterranean Basin rock art that UNESCO listed in 1998. The paintings are in the Levantine style, red figures of hunters, goats and deer, and the shelters look out over the valley, giving you the same view as the people who painted them.
Read the complete Coves de la Vila write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Coves de la Vila is where the day begins. Next is Barranco de la Cueva I.
2. Barranco de la Cueva I
Behind Alicante and its beaches rises a line of bare, grey mountains, and the Cabeçó d'Or is the tallest of them, a ridge of about twelve hundred metres that shows its pale cliffs from the city. The Barranco de la Cueva runs through its foothills, inland from El Campello, in country of dry gullies, pine woods and abandoned almond terraces. It is a wild place for a spot so close to a city of three hundred thousand people.
Read the complete Barranco de la Cueva I write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Barranco de la Cueva I comes up 83 km in. Next is Olula.
3. Olula
Caudete and Almansa sit in a corridor of land where Castile-La Mancha, Valencia and Murcia meet, and for centuries this was frontier country, where kingdoms and armies passed and fought. Olula is a point in the hills near Caudete, linked on the rides with rock-art shelters in the surrounding sierras, part of the extensive UNESCO listing of prehistoric art in Mediterranean Spain.
Read the complete Olula write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
166 km in you reach Olula. Next is back through Barranco de la Cueva I.
4. Back to Coves de la Vila
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Coves de la Vila write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Barranco de la Cueva I, late in the day. Next is Coves de la Vila.
5. Coves de la Vila
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Coves de la Vila write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Coves de la Vila. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Coves de la Vila to Barranco de la Cueva I
Coves de la Vila → Barranco de la Cueva I is 59 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Barranco de la Cueva I to Olula
Barranco de la Cueva I → Olula is 101 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Olula to Back to Coves de la Vila
Olula → Back to Coves de la Vila is 77 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.