Why this ride
From Calasparra it runs 364 km to Calasparra; allow about 6 h 41 of riding. It goes by way of Abrigo de los Cortijos, Cueva del Peliciego, Olula and Abric de Gontrán. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
El Laberinto and Abric de Gontrán
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 364 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 h 41
- 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. El Laberinto
Calasparra is a rice town, which sounds odd until you see the terraces beside the Segura river, flooded and green in summer, with herons wading between the plants. The rice here has its own protected designation, and it is the base for paella in much of Spain. The river has carved a deep gorge, the Almadenes canyon, on its way through the hills, and in the rock above the water, hidden among limestone cliffs, there are shelters decorated with paintings made thousands of years ago. El Laberinto is one of them, part of the rock art tradition of the Mediterranean basin, listed by UNESCO.
Read the complete El Laberinto write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
El Laberinto is where the day begins. Next is Abrigo de los Cortijos.
2. Abrigo de los Cortijos
Hellín is a town in the south-east of Albacete province, on the edge of the dry plains of La Mancha, where the landscape breaks into hills and ravines on its way down to the Segura river. Its old town climbs a hill crowned by a castle, and its streets are lined with houses from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The Abrigo de los Cortijos lies in the hills about nine kilometres from the town, toward Albatana and Tobarra.
Read the complete Abrigo de los Cortijos write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abrigo de los Cortijos comes up about 43 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cueva del Peliciego.
3. Cueva del Peliciego
Jumilla is wine. This town in the north of Murcia sits in a high, dry valley surrounded by bare mountains, and its vineyards, planted with the Monastrell grape, produce powerful red wines under the Jumilla designation of origin, one of the oldest in Spain. The Cueva del Peliciego, a rock shelter in the hills near the town, holds prehistoric paintings in the Levantine style, and it has been known since the early twentieth century, when it was one of the first rock art sites studied in the region.
Read the complete Cueva del Peliciego write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 78 km into the recorded legs you reach Cueva del Peliciego. Next is Olula.
4. Olula
Caudete and Almansa sit in a corridor of land where Castile-La Mancha, Valencia and Murcia meet, and for centuries this was frontier country, where kingdoms and armies passed and fought. Olula is a point in the hills near Caudete, linked on the rides with rock-art shelters in the surrounding sierras, part of the extensive UNESCO listing of prehistoric art in Mediterranean Spain.
Read the complete Olula write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Olula, about halfway. Next is Abric de Gontrán.
5. Abric de Gontrán
Head south-west from Xàtiva along the old road to Castile and you climb gently into a corridor between two mountain ranges, the Serra Grossa on one side and the Serra de Enguera on the other. The town of Moixent sits where the corridor narrows, with Vallada just downstream and the vineyards of Fontanars dels Alforins on the plateau beyond. The Abric de Gontran lies in the hills just outside Moixent.
Read the complete Abric de Gontrán write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abric de Gontrán sits at 155 km, about halfway. Next is back through Olula.
6. back through Olula
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Olula write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Olula comes up about 228 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Cueva del Peliciego.
7. back through Cueva del Peliciego
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cueva del Peliciego write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 289 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Cueva del Peliciego. Next is back through Abrigo de los Cortijos.
8. back through Abrigo de los Cortijos
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Abrigo de los Cortijos write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Abrigo de los Cortijos, late in the day. Next is El Laberinto.
9. El Laberinto
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete El Laberinto write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 364 km.
Leg by leg
El Laberinto to Abrigo de los Cortijos
El Laberinto → Abrigo de los Cortijos is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abrigo de los Cortijos to Cueva del Peliciego
Abrigo de los Cortijos → Cueva del Peliciego is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cueva del Peliciego to Olula
Cueva del Peliciego → Olula is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Olula to Abric de Gontrán
Olula → Abric de Gontrán is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abric de Gontrán to back through Olula
Abric de Gontrán → back through Olula is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Olula to back through Cueva del Peliciego
back through Olula → back through Cueva del Peliciego is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cueva del Peliciego to back through Abrigo de los Cortijos
back through Cueva del Peliciego → back through Abrigo de los Cortijos is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abrigo de los Cortijos to El Laberinto
back through Abrigo de los Cortijos → El Laberinto is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.