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.
560 km from Aldeaquemada to Aldeaquemada, about 10 h 13 of riding. It goes by way of Renaissance Monumental Ensembles of Úbeda, Abrigo del.melgar, Úbeda and Cueva del Clarillo. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,050 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
Sierra Morena is the long, dark range that separates the plains of La Mancha from the valley of the Guadalquivir, and the high-road gateway between them is the gorge of Despeñaperros, a few kilometres to the east of Aldeaquemada. The name means something like the pass where dogs are thrown off the cliff, which tells you how the Castilians felt about it. The Cueva de Apolinario is a rock shelter in these hills, and belongs to the painted shelters of the Sierra Morena, with figures that experts date back several thousand years. The area also holds the rock art of the Mediterranean Basin, as protected by UNESCO.
Read the complete Cueva de Apolinario write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Cueva de Apolinario is where the day begins. Next is Renaissance Monumental Ensembles of Úbeda.
Úbeda stands on a ridge above an ocean of olive trees. In every direction, the province of Jaén rolls away in silver-green rows, millions of trees planted in geometric lines up to the horizon, and on this sea floats a town of honey-coloured stone that looks as if it had been lifted from Florence. In the sixteenth century, powerful local families who served the Spanish crown, above all Francisco de los Cobos, secretary to Emperor Charles V, poured their wealth into palaces and churches here, and the architect Andrés de Vandelvira gave them a Renaissance style of rare purity. Úbeda and its smaller neighbour Baeza were inscribed together on the UNESCO list in 2003.
Read the complete Renaissance Monumental Ensembles of Úbeda write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Renaissance Monumental Ensembles of Úbeda comes up about 110 km into the recorded legs. Next is Abrigo del.melgar, 52 km on.
Quesada is a white town at the foot of the Sierra de Cazorla, in the province of Jaén, surrounded by an ocean of olive trees. The groves stretch to the horizon in every direction, a landscape that makes Jaén the world's largest producer of olive oil. Behind the town, the mountains rise steeply, with pine forest and limestone cliffs, and the Guadalquivir river has its source not far away. The Abrigo del Melgar lies in the hills just outside the town.
Read the complete Abrigo del.melgar write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 157 km into the recorded legs you reach Abrigo del.melgar. Next is Úbeda.
In the middle of an ocean of olive trees, Úbeda rises on a ridge like a Renaissance city that took a wrong turn on its way to Florence. This town in the province of Jaén, along with its neighbour Baeza, was listed by UNESCO in 2003 for its sixteenth-century architecture, much of it the work of Andrés de Vandelvira, who built palaces, churches and chapels for wealthy noble families and royal officials. The Plaza Vázquez de Molina is the showpiece, a harmonious square lined with palaces and the extraordinary Sacra Capilla del Salvador, a funerary chapel built for Francisco de los Cobos, secretary to Emperor Charles V.
Read the complete Úbeda write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Úbeda, about halfway. Next is Cueva del Clarillo.
To understand this part of Jaén, you need to remember that it was a border. For two and a half centuries after the great Christian victory at Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212, the frontier between Castile and the Muslim kingdom of Granada ran through the mountains to the south and east of here, and the towns of Quesada and Cazorla were fortified outposts. Castle towers still crown hills all over the province, and the old name for the area, Adelantamiento de Cazorla, tells you that it was ruled for a long time by the archbishops of Toledo as a military lordship.
Read the complete Cueva del Clarillo write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Cueva del Clarillo sits at 209 km, about halfway. Next is back through Úbeda.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Úbeda write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Úbeda comes up about 338 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Abrigo del.melgar, 52 km on.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Abrigo del.melgar write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 385 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Abrigo del.melgar. Next is back through Renaissance Monumental Ensembles of Úbeda.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Renaissance Monumental Ensembles of Úbeda write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Renaissance Monumental Ensembles of Úbeda, late in the day. Next is Cueva de Apolinario.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cueva de Apolinario write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 560 km.
Cueva de Apolinario → Renaissance Monumental Ensembles of Úbeda is 110 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Renaissance Monumental Ensembles of Úbeda → Abrigo del.melgar is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abrigo del.melgar → Úbeda is 67 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Úbeda → Cueva del Clarillo is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cueva del Clarillo → back through Úbeda is 67 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Úbeda → back through Abrigo del.melgar is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abrigo del.melgar → back through Renaissance Monumental Ensembles of Úbeda is 67 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Renaissance Monumental Ensembles of Úbeda → Cueva de Apolinario is 109 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.