Why this ride
266 km from Beniatjar to Beniatjar, about 5 h 54 of riding. On the way it passes Coves Roges- Abric I, Barranc de Beniali- Abric l, Racó de la Cova dels Llidoners and Barranc de Beniali- Abric V.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Coveta del mig- Abric I and Barranc de Beniali- Abric V
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 266 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 54
- 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. Coveta del mig- Abric I
Otos is a tiny village in the Vall d'Albaida, in the south of Valencia province, and it has an unusual claim to fame: its walls are decorated with dozens of sundials, designed by artists and scattered through the streets, making the village a kind of open-air museum of time. Nearby, in the hills around Otos, Bèlgida and Ráfol de Salem, prehistoric people left paintings in rock shelters, and the Coveta del Mig is one of the sites included in the World Heritage site of the rock art of the Mediterranean Basin. The art here includes schematic figures, simplified human and animal forms, and the area is part of a rich zone of rock art that extends into the mountains of the Alicante province to the south.
Read the complete Coveta del mig- Abric I write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Coveta del mig- Abric I is where the day begins. Next is Coves Roges- Abric I.
2. Coves Roges- Abric I
Planes looks like a village that has been arguing with gravity for a thousand years and winning. Its houses climb a hill crowned by the remains of a Moorish castle, and the whole place overlooks a valley of olive and almond terraces that falls toward the Beniarrés reservoir. The Coves Roges, the red caves, lie in the broken limestone country around here, and the first of their shelters carries prehistoric paintings, part of the scattered rock art of the Valencian mountains. The colour in the name is not poetry: the rock itself is stained a warm iron red.
Read the complete Coves Roges- Abric I write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Coves Roges- Abric I comes up about 41 km into the recorded legs. Next is Barranc de Beniali- Abric l.
3. Barranc de Beniali- Abric l
The Vall de Gallinera is one of those valleys that seems to exist slightly outside time. Running east to west in the mountains of northern Alicante, it holds eight tiny villages strung along a single road, terraced slopes of cherry trees, and above them limestone ridges cut by steep ravines. The Barranc de Beniali is one of those ravines, and in a shelter on its walls prehistoric people painted figures that are now part of the World Heritage site of Levantine rock art. The valley next door, the Vall d'Ebo, is just as wild, and its Cova del Rull is a show cave full of stalactites.
Read the complete Barranc de Beniali- Abric l write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 70 km into the recorded legs you reach Barranc de Beniali- Abric l. Next is Racó de la Cova dels Llidoners.
4. Racó de la Cova dels Llidoners
Somewhere up in these limestone folds, thousands of years ago, someone painted little figures on the rock that are still there. The Racó de la Cova dels Llidoners is one of many painted shelters in the Marina Alta, the north-eastern corner of the province of Alicante, which form part of the UNESCO-listed rock art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula. The shelters hold Levantine, Schematic and older Macroschematic paintings, showing hunters, animals and abstract shapes, and many are protected by fences and only visitable with a guide. The valleys around Murla, Orba and Tormos are full of them.
Read the complete Racó de la Cova dels Llidoners write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Racó de la Cova dels Llidoners, about halfway. Next is Barranc de Beniali- Abric V.
5. Barranc de Beniali- Abric V
Beniali is another of the little hamlets of the Vall de Gallinera, tucked into the folds of the Alicante mountains between Villalonga and the head of the valley. The name looks Arabic and is, as with many place names here: the Beni- prefix means sons of, and recalls the clans who farmed these valleys during the centuries of Muslim rule. That legacy runs through the valley in the terraces cut out of the hillside, the irrigation channels, and the old way of growing fruit and almonds on thin soil.
Read the complete Barranc de Beniali- Abric V write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Barranc de Beniali- Abric V sits at 66 km, about halfway. Next is back through Racó de la Cova dels Llidoners.
6. back through Racó de la Cova dels Llidoners
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Racó de la Cova dels Llidoners write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Racó de la Cova dels Llidoners comes up about 164 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Barranc de Beniali- Abric l.
7. back through Barranc de Beniali- Abric l
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Barranc de Beniali- Abric l write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 194 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Barranc de Beniali- Abric l. Next is back through Coves Roges- Abric I.
8. back through Coves Roges- Abric I
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Coves Roges- Abric I write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Coves Roges- Abric I, late in the day. Next is Coveta del mig- Abric I.
9. Coveta del mig- Abric I
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Coveta del mig- Abric I 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 266 km.
Leg by leg
Coveta del mig- Abric I to Coves Roges- Abric I
Coveta del mig- Abric I → Coves Roges- Abric I is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Coves Roges- Abric I to Barranc de Beniali- Abric l
Coves Roges- Abric I → Barranc de Beniali- Abric l is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Barranc de Beniali- Abric l to Racó de la Cova dels Llidoners
Barranc de Beniali- Abric l → Racó de la Cova dels Llidoners is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Racó de la Cova dels Llidoners to Barranc de Beniali- Abric V
Racó de la Cova dels Llidoners → Barranc de Beniali- Abric V is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Barranc de Beniali- Abric V to back through Racó de la Cova dels Llidoners
Barranc de Beniali- Abric V → back through Racó de la Cova dels Llidoners is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Racó de la Cova dels Llidoners to back through Barranc de Beniali- Abric l
back through Racó de la Cova dels Llidoners → back through Barranc de Beniali- Abric l is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Barranc de Beniali- Abric l to back through Coves Roges- Abric I
back through Barranc de Beniali- Abric l → back through Coves Roges- Abric I is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Coves Roges- Abric I to Coveta del mig- Abric I
back through Coves Roges- Abric I → Coveta del mig- Abric I is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.