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CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

Cueva del Reloj and Cerro de la Caldera

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
224 km
Riding-time estimate
6 h 26
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis

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.

Open this ride in CurveScout

Why this ride

From Quesada it runs 224 km to Quesada; allow about 6 h 26 of riding. On the way it passes Úbeda, Cerro de la Caldera and back through Úbeda. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,050 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

  1. 1. Cueva del Reloj

    A cave with a clock in its name: nobody can tell you for certain why, but El Reloj, the shelter above the Quesada countryside in the province of Jaén, has been given that name since long before the archaeologists arrived. It lies four kilometres from the town of Quesada, on the western edge of the Sierra de Cazorla, Segura y Las Villas, Spain's largest protected area. The area is thick with painted shelters, among them Cueva del Reloj, Las Covachicas and La Alamedilla, which appear together on the route and which belong to the rock art listed by UNESCO in 1998.

    Read the complete Cueva del Reloj write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Cueva del Reloj is where the day begins. Next is Úbeda.

  2. 2. 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.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Úbeda comes up about 50 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cerro de la Caldera.

  3. 3. Cerro de la Caldera

    The Sierra Morena marks the end of Andalusia, the hilly rampart that the old road from Madrid had to cross before dropping into the Guadalquivir lowlands. Cerro de la Caldera, a hill near Aldeaquemada in the north-east of Jaén province, sits in the heart of this frontier, in a quiet landscape of holm oaks, cork oaks, rockrose scrub and sandstone outcrops. Rock shelters in these hills hold schematic and Levantine paintings, and the area is part of the wider World Heritage listing of Iberian rock art.

    Read the complete Cerro de la Caldera write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    about 113 km into the recorded legs you reach Cerro de la Caldera. Next is back through Úbeda.

  4. 4. back through Úbeda

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Úbeda write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    back through Úbeda, late in the day. Next is Cueva del Reloj.

  5. 5. Cueva del Reloj

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Cueva del Reloj write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Back at Cueva del Reloj. That is the ride.

Leg by leg

Cueva del Reloj to Úbeda

Cueva del Reloj → Úbeda is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Úbeda to Cerro de la Caldera

Úbeda → Cerro de la Caldera is 63 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Cerro de la Caldera to back through Úbeda

Cerro de la Caldera → back through Úbeda is 63 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Úbeda to Cueva del Reloj

back through Úbeda → Cueva del Reloj is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

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