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.
416 km from Nerpio to Nerpio, about 8 h 58 of riding. The stops in between: Molino de Capel I, Abrigo del Pozo III, Abrigo del Canto Blanco and Abrigo del mediodía I. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,350 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.
Some places are remote on the map and remote in the gut, and the country around the Cueva del Gitano is both. It lies in the Sierra de Segura on the southern fringe of Albacete province, in the municipality of Nerpio, where the mountains of Albacete, Murcia, Jaén and Granada all run into one another. This is one of the richest areas for prehistoric rock art in Spain, with dozens of painted shelters along the valley of the Taibilla river and its side ravines, and the Cueva del Gitano is one of the smaller sites in that dense cluster. The art is faint, the walk can be rough, and the setting does most of the talking.
Read the complete Cueva del Gitano write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Cueva del Gitano is where the day begins. Next is Molino de Capel I.
Moratalla stands at the north-west corner of Murcia like a lookout post, and the highlands behind it feel far from the coast. The town is crowned by a medieval castle and its streets run down a steep hillside, and the municipality covers a huge area of pine forest, ravines and rock shelters, many of them holding prehistoric paintings that now sit on the World Heritage list. The Molino de Capel, a watermill name from a rural spot in the hills near the Albacete border, belongs to that scattered countryside, where old farms, mills and caves sit in a landscape of rosemary, thyme and holm oak.
Read the complete Molino de Capel I write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Molino de Capel I comes up about 49 km into the recorded legs. Next is Abrigo del Pozo III.
The Segura river cuts through the north-west of Murcia in a series of gorges and green oases, and near Calasparra its banks hold a surprising treasure. The Abrigo del Pozo shelters, of which this is the third, contain prehistoric paintings in the Levantine style, small human and animal figures in red ochre that form part of the World Heritage rock art of the Mediterranean arc. The shelters are fragile and generally protected, often visited only with a guide, so check with the local tourist office before you count on seeing them.
Read the complete Abrigo del Pozo III write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 111 km into the recorded legs you reach Abrigo del Pozo III. Next is Abrigo del Canto Blanco.
Jumilla is wine country, and you know it as soon as you arrive. The town sits in the north of the Murcia region, surrounded by a high, dry plateau of vineyards growing the Monastrell grape, which produces powerful, dark red wines. A castle tops the hill above the old town, and the bodegas on its outskirts welcome visitors. The Abrigo del Canto Blanco, the shelter of the white stone, lies in the hills about five kilometres away.
Read the complete Abrigo del Canto Blanco write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Abrigo del Canto Blanco, about halfway. Next is Abrigo del mediodía I.
North of Yecla, where the Murcia region meets Albacete, the land rises into a series of isolated limestone hills above a wide, dry plain of vineyards and almond groves. The rock shelters scattered through this country, including the Abrigo del Mediodía, are part of the UNESCO listing of Mediterranean Iberian rock art. The best known cluster is on Monte Arabí, a striking, isolated rock mountain north of the town, whose Cantos de la Visera shelters hold both Levantine and schematic paintings.
Read the complete Abrigo del mediodía I write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Abrigo del mediodía I sits at 169 km, about halfway. Next is back through Abrigo del Canto Blanco.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Abrigo del Canto Blanco write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Abrigo del Canto Blanco comes up about 252 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Abrigo del Pozo III.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Abrigo del Pozo III write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 303 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Abrigo del Pozo III. Next is back through Molino de Capel I.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Molino de Capel I write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Molino de Capel I, late in the day. Next is Cueva del Gitano.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cueva del Gitano write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 416 km.
Cueva del Gitano → Molino de Capel I is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Molino de Capel I → Abrigo del Pozo III is 62 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abrigo del Pozo III → Abrigo del Canto Blanco is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abrigo del Canto Blanco → Abrigo del mediodía I is 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abrigo del mediodía I → back through Abrigo del Canto Blanco is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abrigo del Canto Blanco → back through Abrigo del Pozo III is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abrigo del Pozo III → back through Molino de Capel I is 59 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Molino de Capel I → Cueva del Gitano is 53 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.