Why this ride
472 km from Santa Coloma de Cervelló to Santa Coloma de Cervelló, about 7 h 54 of riding. On the way it passes Cova dels Segarulls, Triumphal Arch of Berá, Britus Il and Antona I. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Crypt at the Colònia Güell and Antona I
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 472 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 7 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. 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 is where the day begins. Next is Cova dels Segarulls.
2. Cova dels Segarulls
The vineyards of the Penedès roll out in every direction from Vilafranca, and the Cova dels Segarulls lies among them, a few kilometres outside the town in the low hills toward the coastal range.
Read the complete Cova dels Segarulls write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cova dels Segarulls comes up about 47 km into the recorded legs. Next is Triumphal Arch of Berá.
3. Triumphal Arch of Berá
For centuries traffic on the main coastal road of Catalonia drove straight through a Roman triumphal arch. The Arc de Berà stands on the line of the Via Augusta, the great Roman road from the Pyrenees to Cádiz, about twenty kilometres northeast of Tarragona, and until the road was diverted around it in the late twentieth century, cars and trucks passed under its single span. It was built at the end of the first century BC, and an inscription records that it was erected according to the will of Lucius Licinius Sura, a figure whose identity historians still discuss. It is part of the UNESCO listing for the Roman remains of Tarraco.
Read the complete Triumphal Arch of Berá write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 80 km into the recorded legs you reach Triumphal Arch of Berá. Next is Britus Il.
4. Britus Il
What matters is the country around it, which is some of the finest in inland Catalonia. You are in the Conca de Barberà, the basin of the Francolí river, a few kilometres from the walled town of Montblanc and the village of Alcover, with the wooded wall of the Serra de Prades rising to the west. The area is dotted with prehistoric rock shelters, part of the great arc of Mediterranean rock art that runs down eastern Spain, and many of the site names along these rides are exactly that: a ledge of sandstone or limestone where hunters painted deer and archers thousands of years ago.
Read the complete Britus Il write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Britus Il, about halfway. Next is Antona I.
5. Antona I
In the Pre-Pyrenees of Lleida, the plain of Urgell ends and the land starts folding into dry, golden hills. Artesa de Segre, Camarasa and Cubells are small places along the edge of this country, where the Segre river and the Noguera Pallaresa bring water down from the mountains, and where reservoirs and gorges give the landscape its character. The Camarasa dam, built in the early twentieth century on the Noguera Pallaresa, is a big wall of concrete holding back a long, green-blue lake in a narrow valley.
Read the complete Antona I write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Antona I sits at 204 km, about halfway. Next is back through Britus Il.
6. back through Britus Il
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Britus Il write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Britus Il comes up about 324 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Triumphal Arch of Berá.
7. back through Triumphal Arch of Berá
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Triumphal Arch of Berá write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 392 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Triumphal Arch of Berá. Next is back through Cova dels Segarulls.
8. back through Cova dels Segarulls
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cova dels Segarulls write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Cova dels Segarulls, late in the day. Next is Crypt at the Colònia Güell.
9. 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
The route ends here after 472 km.
Leg by leg
Crypt at the Colònia Güell to Cova dels Segarulls
Crypt at the Colònia Güell → Cova dels Segarulls is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cova dels Segarulls to Triumphal Arch of Berá
Cova dels Segarulls → Triumphal Arch of Berá is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Triumphal Arch of Berá to Britus Il
Triumphal Arch of Berá → Britus Il is 69 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Britus Il to Antona I
Britus Il → Antona I is 86 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Antona I to back through Britus Il
Antona I → back through Britus Il is 89 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Britus Il to back through Triumphal Arch of Berá
back through Britus Il → back through Triumphal Arch of Berá is 68 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Triumphal Arch of Berá to back through Cova dels Segarulls
back through Triumphal Arch of Berá → back through Cova dels Segarulls is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cova dels Segarulls to Crypt at the Colònia Güell
back through Cova dels Segarulls → Crypt at the Colònia Güell is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.