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.
From Alpera it runs 274 km to Alpera; allow about 6 h 09 of riding. The stops in between: Barranco del Cabezo del moro, Abric de Gontrán, Penya roja o Ulls de Canals and back through Abric de Gontrán. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 850 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available.
In 1910 a local man led researchers to a shallow shelter above the plain of Alpera in Albacete, and the paintings they found there became some of the best known examples of Levantine rock art in Spain. The Cueva de la Vieja shows archers with feathered headdresses, women in long skirts, deer and goats, all painted with a sense of movement that still feels immediate. The nearby Cueva del Queso holds more figures. Both are part of the UNESCO listing for the rock art of the Iberian Mediterranean, and guided visits run from the village, so check times with Alpera's tourist office.
Read the complete Cueva de la Vieja write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Cueva de la Vieja is where the day begins. Next is Barranco del Cabezo del moro.
Almansa is one of those towns you see from the motorway and do not stop at, and that is a mistake. Its castle is spectacular, a Gothic fortress built on a sharp limestone outcrop right in the middle of town, looking exactly like a child's drawing of a castle. Around it spreads a wide plain at about seven hundred metres, the meeting point of the Valencian, Murcian and Castilian lands, and a few kilometres out in the surrounding hills lies the ravine known as the Barranco del Cabezo del Moro.
Read the complete Barranco del Cabezo del moro write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Barranco del Cabezo del moro comes up about 39 km into the recorded legs. Next is Abric de Gontrán.
Head south-west from Xàtiva along the old road to Castile and you climb gently into a corridor between two mountain ranges, the Serra Grossa on one side and the Serra de Enguera on the other. The town of Moixent sits where the corridor narrows, with Vallada just downstream and the vineyards of Fontanars dels Alforins on the plateau beyond. The Abric de Gontran lies in the hills just outside Moixent.
Read the complete Abric de Gontrán write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 93 km into the recorded legs you reach Abric de Gontrán. Next is Penya roja o Ulls de Canals.
This is the country of toys and herbs, an unusual pairing. Onil and Ibi, in the inland hills of Alicante, grew up as centres of toy-making, starting with tin and later plastic, and the local museum in Ibi tells how a mountain valley became a world supplier of dolls and games. On the other side, the Sierra de Mariola, a natural park rich in aromatic plants, supplies the herbs for a local liqueur and for traditional remedies. Bocairent, a handsome old town on a rocky spur, has houses built right at the edge of a gorge and a set of man-made caves carved into the cliff, the Covetes dels Moros.
Read the complete Penya roja o Ulls de Canals write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Penya roja o Ulls de Canals, about halfway. Next is back through Abric de Gontrán.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Abric de Gontrán write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Abric de Gontrán sits at 121 km, about halfway. Next is back through Barranco del Cabezo del moro.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Barranco del Cabezo del moro write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Barranco del Cabezo del moro comes up about 227 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cueva de la Vieja.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cueva de la Vieja write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Cueva de la Vieja closes the day.
Cueva de la Vieja → Barranco del Cabezo del moro is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Barranco del Cabezo del moro → Abric de Gontrán is 54 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abric de Gontrán → Penya roja o Ulls de Canals is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Penya roja o Ulls de Canals → back through Abric de Gontrán is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abric de Gontrán → back through Barranco del Cabezo del moro is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Barranco del Cabezo del moro → Cueva de la Vieja is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.