Why this ride
A 70 km round trip from Velez Rubio - roughly 1 h 57 in the saddle. It goes by way of Hoyos II, Gabar and back through Hoyos II. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,200 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Cueva del Tío Labrador and Gabar
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 70 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 57
- 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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Cueva del Tío Labrador
Vélez-Rubio is a larger and busier place than its neighbour Vélez-Blanco, with seven thousand people, a lively main street, and a church that is a surprise in a town this size. The Church of the Encarnación, begun in the eighteenth century, has twin towers and a massive Baroque façade, usually described as the largest Baroque church in Almería, and its bulk dominates the roofs. It is a good place to start before riding up toward the mountains, because the fuel stations here are the nearest reliable ones for a long way.
Read the complete Cueva del Tio Labrador write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cueva del Tío Labrador is where the day begins. Next is Hoyos II.
2. Hoyos II
Above the whitewashed roofs of Vélez-Blanco stands one of the most unexpected castles in Spain. It was built in the early sixteenth century for the first Marquis of Los Vélez, Pedro Fajardo, on a rocky spur, with a severe Gothic exterior and a Renaissance courtyard of astonishing delicacy inside. In the early twentieth century the owners sold the marble courtyard, which was taken down stone by stone and shipped abroad, and it now stands, reassembled, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. A later restoration left the castle itself with plain rooms, but it remains a splendid sight from the road.
Read the complete Hoyos II write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hoyos II comes up about 15 km into the recorded legs. Next is Gabar.
3. Gabar
High in the north of Almería province, far from the beaches most people associate with the name, the Sierra de María rises in grey limestone above a plateau of almond orchards and cereal fields. Gabar is a point in the hills between the villages of María and Vélez-Blanco, part of a cluster of rock-art shelters in the Los Vélez district. This corner of Spain is famous for one painted figure in particular: the Indalo, a little stick man holding an arc over his head, found in the Cueva de los Letreros just outside Vélez-Blanco. It has become the emblem of the whole province, painted on doors and sold as a lucky charm, which is a remarkable career for a prehistoric doodle.
Read the complete Gabar write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 35 km into the recorded legs you reach Gabar. Next is back through Hoyos II.
4. back through Hoyos II
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hoyos II write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Hoyos II, late in the day. Next is Cueva del Tio Labrador.
5. Cueva del Tío Labrador
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cueva del Tio Labrador 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 Tio Labrador. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Cueva del Tío Labrador to Hoyos II
Cueva del Tío Labrador → Hoyos II is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hoyos II to Gabar
Hoyos II → Gabar is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Gabar to back through Hoyos II
Gabar → back through Hoyos II is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hoyos II to Cueva del Tio Labrador
back through Hoyos II → Cueva del Tio Labrador is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.