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.
382 km from Torredonjimeno to Torredonjimeno, about 6 h 49 of riding. On the way it passes Baeza, Abrigo del.melgar, Úbeda and back through Abrigo del.melgar. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,050 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
Olives, and then more olives. Riding west out of Jaén towards Torredonjimeno you cross one of the most single-minded agricultural landscapes in Europe, a rolling grid of grey-green trees running over every hill to the horizon, broken only by white farmhouses and the occasional oil mill. Somewhere among these low hills near Villardompardo, the Cueva del Encajero is a small rock shelter with traces of prehistoric painting, one of the many scattered sites that make up the World Heritage listing of rock art in Spain's Mediterranean basin.
Read the complete Cueva del Encajero write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Cueva del Encajero is where the day begins. Next is Baeza.
Baeza is a town of honey-coloured stone set on a ridge above a sea of olive trees. From its edge, the view drops over the Guadalquivir valley to the dark line of the Sierra Mágina, and in every direction the hills are covered with orderly rows of olives, millions of them, the source of more olive oil than almost anywhere on earth. The town's Renaissance palaces, churches and squares, together with those of neighbouring Úbeda, make up a World Heritage site.
Read the complete Baeza write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Baeza comes up about 70 km into the recorded legs. Next is Abrigo del.melgar, 55 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 125 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 back through Abrigo del.melgar, 55 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.
back through Abrigo del.melgar sits at 221 km, about halfway. Next is back through Baeza.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Baeza write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Baeza comes up about 314 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cueva del Encajero.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cueva del Encajero write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Cueva del Encajero closes the day.
Cueva del Encajero → Baeza is 70 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Baeza → Abrigo del.melgar is 55 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 → 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 Baeza is 75 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Baeza → Cueva del Encajero is 68 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.