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.
199 km from Calasparra to Calasparra, about 4 h 10 of riding. The stops in between: Abrigo del milano, Cueva de las Conchas, Las Cazuelas and back through Cueva de las Conchas. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,150 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available.
The Segura river does something dramatic near Calasparra: it squeezes into the Almadenes canyon, a narrow gorge in grey limestone, and the first time you see it from the rim it is a quiet shock in a district otherwise made of dry hills and irrigated bottoms. The Cueva de las Cabras sits in that territory, in the dry uplands of Murcia where the Spanish Levant starts to blur into the interior plateau, and its rock paintings belong to the same family as those further north in Castellón.
Read the complete Cueva de las Cabras write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Cueva de las Cabras is where the day begins. Next is Abrigo del milano.
Bullas is wine country, and the vineyards of Monastrell grapes roll over the hills around the town in the northwest of Murcia, producing robust red wines under their own denomination of origin. The Abrigo del Milano, the kite's shelter, named after the bird of prey that circles over these hills, lies in the countryside between Bullas, Mula and Pliego. It is one of the many rock shelters in Murcia with prehistoric paintings, part of the UNESCO listing of Mediterranean rock art, though access to many shelters is restricted to protect them, so ask locally before trying to visit.
Read the complete Abrigo del milano write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Abrigo del milano comes up about 49 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cueva de las Conchas.
Cehegín's old town rises in a tight cluster of ochre houses and church towers on a hill above the Argos river, in the northwest of Murcia, and it is one of the best-preserved historic centres in the region, with narrow streets, noble houses and churches dating back to the sixteenth century. The Cueva de las Conchas, the cave of the shells, lies less than a kilometre from the town, and it is part of the rich network of prehistoric sites in this area, included in the UNESCO listing of Mediterranean rock art.
Read the complete Cueva de las Conchas write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 70 km into the recorded legs you reach Cueva de las Conchas. Next is Las Cazuelas.
Moratalla is the kind of hill town that looks as though it was poured down a slope: white houses tumbling below a castle tower, narrow lanes too steep for comfort, church bells echoing off the hills. Ten kilometres out, in the rugged country of north-west Murcia, the shelter of Las Cazuelas holds prehistoric paintings, part of the region's contribution to the UNESCO-listed Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin. The paintings are fragile and protected, and access is usually by guided visit, arranged in Moratalla or through the regional authorities.
Read the complete Las Cazuelas write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Las Cazuelas, about halfway. Next is back through Cueva de las Conchas.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cueva de las Conchas write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Cueva de las Conchas sits at 105 km, about halfway. Next is back through Abrigo del milano.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Abrigo del milano write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Abrigo del milano comes up about 150 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cueva de las Cabras.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cueva de las Cabras write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Cueva de las Cabras closes the day.
Cueva de las Cabras → Abrigo del milano is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abrigo del milano → Cueva de las Conchas is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cueva de las Conchas → Las Cazuelas is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Las Cazuelas → back through Cueva de las Conchas is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cueva de las Conchas → back through Abrigo del milano is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abrigo del milano → Cueva de las Cabras is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.