Why this ride
497 km from Mazaleón to Mazaleón, about 9 h 16 of riding. It goes by way of Valmayor IV, Mallata C, Les Coves and Cova del Tabac. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Els Secans and Cova del Tabac
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 497 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 9 h 16
- 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 Secans
The lower Matarraña, in the far east of Aragón, is a drier, emptier country than the green upper valley. Here, the river flows through low hills of sandstone and limestone, with olive groves, almond trees and cereal fields, and the villages stand on hilltops, built of golden stone. Mazaleón is one of them, a small village above the river, with Maella and Calaceite nearby. Els Secans, a name meaning the dry lands, is a shelter with prehistoric paintings in the hills just outside the village.
Read the complete Els Secans write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Els Secans is where the day begins. Next is Valmayor IV.
2. Valmayor IV
Where the Ebro, the Segre and the Cinca meet in eastern Aragon, a vast reservoir stretches for dozens of kilometres between bare, ochre hills. The locals call it the Mar de Aragón, the Sea of Aragon, and it was created in the 1960s when the Mequinenza dam flooded the valley. The old town of Mequinenza went under the water too, and its people were moved to a new town built above, a story told in moving detail in the local museums and in the novels of Jesús Moncada, who grew up there.
Read the complete Valmayor IV write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Valmayor IV comes up about 40 km into the recorded legs. Next is Mallata C.
3. 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
about 105 km into the recorded legs you reach Mallata C. Next is Les Coves.
4. 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, about halfway. Next is Cova del Tabac.
5. Cova del Tabac
Above the village of Camarasa, where the Segre comes out of the pre-Pyrenean hills onto the plain of Lleida, a cave in the limestone holds some of the most interesting rock paintings in Catalonia. The Cova del Tabac, the tobacco cave, is a wide shelter with schematic paintings, simplified human figures, animals and symbols in red, and it is one of the sites included in the UNESCO listing of Mediterranean rock art on the Iberian Peninsula. A short walk leads up from the road to the shelter, which also offers a fine view over the valley, and on a clear day the Pyrenees rise white on the northern horizon.
Read the complete Cova del Tabac write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cova del Tabac sits at 192 km, about halfway. Next is back through Les Coves.
6. back through Les Coves
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
back through Les Coves comes up about 313 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Mallata C.
7. 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
about 383 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Mallata C. Next is back through Valmayor IV.
8. back through Valmayor IV
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Valmayor IV write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Valmayor IV, late in the day. Next is Els Secans.
9. Els Secans
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Els Secans 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 497 km.
Leg by leg
Els Secans to Valmayor IV
Els Secans → Valmayor IV is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Valmayor IV to Mallata C
Valmayor IV → Mallata C is 65 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 Cova del Tabac
Les Coves → Cova del Tabac is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cova del Tabac to back through Les Coves
Cova del Tabac → back through Les Coves is 70 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Les Coves to back through Mallata C
back through 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 Valmayor IV
back through Mallata C → back through Valmayor IV is 74 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Valmayor IV to Els Secans
back through Valmayor IV → Els Secans is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.