Why this ride
From Torre del Compte it runs 488 km to Torre del Compte; allow about 10 h 10 of riding. It goes by way of Valcomuna, Val de Caballé I, Mallata C and Les Coves. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Els Gascons and Les Coves
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 488 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 10 h 10
- 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. Els Gascons
The Matarraña, or Matarranya in Catalan, is a river that runs from the high ground of the Ports de Beseit through southern Teruel and down toward the Ebro, and its valley is one of the most appealing corners of inland Spain. Els Gascons lies nine kilometres from Valderrobres and seven from Calaceite, in a country of olive groves, almond terraces and low stone walls. The painted shelters here are among the eastern outliers of the Levantine art that UNESCO listed in 1998, and the catalogue includes names such as Valcomuna and Albi, which turn up in this route.
Read the complete Els Gascons write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Els Gascons is where the day begins. Next is Valcomuna.
2. Valcomuna
Lower Aragon is a country of dry hills, olive groves and red earth, and in its ravines people painted on the rock thousands of years ago. Valcomuna is one of those rock art sites, between Alcañiz and Caspe near the village of Maella, part of the great family of painted shelters running down Spain's Mediterranean side that UNESCO listed as the Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula. The figures in this tradition are small and lively, archers, deer, goats and people in motion, painted in red and black under overhangs where the weather could not wash them away.
Read the complete Valcomuna write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Valcomuna comes up about 60 km into the recorded legs. Next is Val de Caballé I.
3. Val de Caballé I
Here the Ebro stops being a river and becomes a lake. Behind the great dams at Mequinenza and Riba-roja, the water backs up for kilometres into the dry hills of eastern Aragon, and locals call the reservoir the Mar de Aragón, the sea of Aragon. Val de Caballé is a gully in the hills south of the water, between Mequinenza, Nonaspe and Fabara, part of a scatter of prehistoric rock shelters in this corner where Aragon, Catalonia and the Matarranya meet.
Read the complete Val de Caballé I write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 100 km into the recorded legs you reach Val de Caballé I. Next is Mallata C.
4. Mallata C
Ontiñena is a small farming village on the Alcanadre river, at the edge of the Monegros, the dry, wind-scoured steppe of central Aragón. Out in the ravines around it, prehistoric people left painted figures in rock shelters, among them the site labelled Mallata C, one of the many small components of the UNESCO listing of Mediterranean rock art. The paintings are small, simple and best seen with a local guide, and the walk there crosses a landscape that seems built for epic films: gypsum hills, eroded gullies and wide skies.
Read the complete Mallata C write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Mallata C, about halfway. Next is Les Coves.
5. Les Coves
The western edge of Catalonia, around Lleida, is fruit country. Irrigation canals bring water from the Pyrenean rivers to a broad, flat plain of orchards growing apples, pears and peaches, laid out in neat lines that stretch to the horizon. Les Coves lies in this area, close to the Aragonese border, between Alfarràs, Albelda and Algerri, where the valley of the Noguera Ribagorçana spills out of the hills and onto the plain.
Read the complete Les Coves write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Les Coves sits at 189 km, about halfway. Next is back through Mallata C.
6. back through Mallata C
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Mallata C write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Mallata C comes up about 313 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Val de Caballé I.
7. back through Val de Caballé I
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Val de Caballé I write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 387 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Val de Caballé I. Next is back through Valcomuna.
8. back through Valcomuna
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Valcomuna write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Valcomuna, late in the day. Next is Els Gascons.
9. Els Gascons
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Els Gascons 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 488 km.
Leg by leg
Els Gascons to Valcomuna
Els Gascons → Valcomuna is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Valcomuna to Val de Caballé I
Valcomuna → Val de Caballé I is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Val de Caballé I to Mallata C
Val de Caballé I → Mallata C is 66 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mallata C to Les Coves
Mallata C → Les Coves is 77 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Les Coves to back through Mallata C
Les Coves → back through Mallata C is 70 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Mallata C to back through Val de Caballé I
back through Mallata C → back through Val de Caballé I is 74 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Val de Caballé I to back through Valcomuna
back through Val de Caballé I → back through Valcomuna is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Valcomuna to Els Gascons
back through Valcomuna → Els Gascons is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.