CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
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.
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A 544 km round trip from Palma de Gandía - roughly 8 h 59 in the saddle. The stops in between: Barranc del Xorquet, La Sarga- Abric I, Cueva de los Arcos and Cueva de las Arañas del Carabassi. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Behind Gandia, the orange groves climb into the folded limestone hills of La Safor, and among the tiny villages there, Palma de Gandía and Ador sit almost touching each other at the foot of the slopes. Cueva de la Clau is one of the many rock shelters in the Valencian hills that form part of the UNESCO-listed Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula, a scattered collection of hundreds of sites where prehistoric people painted hunters, animals, dancers and abstract signs on limestone overhangs.
Read the complete Cueva de la Clau write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Cueva de la Clau is where the day begins. Next is Barranc del Xorquet.
Ask a cyclist on the Costa Blanca about Coll de Rates and watch their face change. The pass road climbing from Parcent toward Tàrbena is a pilgrimage for professional teams in winter training, and it lies only a few kilometres from the Barranc del Xorquet, one of the ravines in the tangled limestone hills behind the coast. This is an area rich in prehistoric rock art: the shelters at Pla de Petracos near Castell de Castells hold some of the best examples of the so-called macro-schematic style, big abstract human figures painted in red thousands of years ago, and the ravines around here hide further sites.
Read the complete Barranc del Xorquet write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Barranc del Xorquet comes up 39 km in. Next is La Sarga- Abric I.
Alcoy, or Alcoi in Valencian, is a city of bridges, built where three rivers meet in deep ravines, in the mountains of northern Alicante. It was one of the cradles of Spain's industrial revolution, with textile and paper mills powered by its rivers, and its streets have fine modernist buildings from that era. It is also famous for its Moors and Christians festival in April, one of the most spectacular in Spain, with parades, music and mock battles in honour of Saint George. The rock shelters of La Sarga lie in the hills about eight kilometres from the city, toward Ibi.
Read the complete La Sarga- Abric I write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
77 km in you reach La Sarga- Abric I. Next is Cueva de los Arcos.
Behind the Costa Blanca, only a few kilometres from the busy beaches of El Campello and the high-rises of Benidorm, the land climbs steeply into limestone mountains that feel surprisingly wild. The Cabeçó d'Or, a jagged massif above the village of Busot, dominates the area, and its slopes are riddled with caves and shelters. The Cueva de los Arcos is one of the sites in this area included in the World Heritage inscription of the rock art of the Mediterranean Basin, with faint painted motifs on the rock. Nearby, the Cuevas del Canelobre, a huge cave with towering stalactites, is open for visits and is one of the most impressive show caves in the region.
Read the complete Cueva de los Arcos write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Cueva de los Arcos, about halfway. Next is Cueva de las Arañas del Carabassi.
The Carabassí is one of the last stretches of wild-ish coast between Alicante and Santa Pola: a line of dunes held together by pine and marram grass, a long beach, and the sea glittering under the flight path of Alicante airport. In the low rocky ground behind it lies a small cave known for painted marks, the Cueva de las Arañas del Carabassí, close to the village of El Altet and a short hop from Santa Pola.
Read the complete Cueva de las Arañas del Carabassi write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Cueva de las Arañas del Carabassi sits at 154 km, about halfway. Next is back through Cueva de los Arcos.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cueva de la Clau write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Cueva de los Arcos comes up 193 km in. Next is back through La Sarga- Abric I.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete La Sarga- Abric I write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
231 km in you reach back through La Sarga- Abric I. Next is back through Barranc del Xorquet.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Barranc del Xorquet write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Barranc del Xorquet, late in the day. Next is Cueva de la Clau.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cueva de la Clau write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 308 km.
Cueva de la Clau → Barranc del Xorquet is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Barranc del Xorquet → La Sarga- Abric I is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
La Sarga- Abric I → Cueva de los Arcos is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cueva de los Arcos → Cueva de las Arañas del Carabassi is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cueva de las Arañas del Carabassi → Back to Cueva de la Clau is 106 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through La Sarga- Abric I → back through Barranc del Xorquet is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Barranc del Xorquet → Cueva de la Clau is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.