Why this ride
A 100 km round trip from Mazaleón - roughly 1 h 46 in the saddle. On the way it passes Cueva de mas del Abogat, Els figuerals and back through Cueva de mas del Abogat. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Els Secans and Els figuerals
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 100 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 46
- 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 Cueva de mas del Abogat.
2. Cueva de mas del Abogat
Calaceite is the kind of village that makes you slow down without being asked: honey-coloured stone, arcaded squares, a big baroque church and grand old houses with carved doorways, all perched on a ridge in the Matarraña, the corner of Teruel where Aragón meets Catalonia and Valencia. A few kilometres from it lies the Cueva de Mas del Abogat, one of the painted rock shelters that belong to the UNESCO listing of prehistoric art in the Mediterranean Basin of the Iberian Peninsula. As with its sisters across eastern Spain, the paintings are small and often hard to read; the setting is what you take away.
Read the complete Cueva de mas del Abogat write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cueva de mas del Abogat comes up about 21 km into the recorded legs. Next is Els figuerals.
3. Els figuerals
The Matarraña, or Matarranya in Catalan, is the corner of Teruel that tourism brochures like to call Spain's Tuscany, and for once the comparison is not silly. Olive groves and almond orchards climb rolling hills topped by stone villages with church towers, while to the south the limestone wall of the Ports de Beseit rises abruptly, cut by gorges and clear rivers. Near the village of Fuentespalda, a painted shelter called Els Figuerals adds this valley to the long UNESCO roll of Iberian rock art.
Read the complete Els figuerals write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 48 km into the recorded legs you reach Els figuerals. Next is back through Cueva de mas del Abogat.
4. back through Cueva de mas del Abogat
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cueva de mas del Abogat write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Cueva de mas del Abogat, late in the day. Next is Els Secans.
5. 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
Back at Els Secans. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Els Secans to Cueva de mas del Abogat
Els Secans → Cueva de mas del Abogat is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cueva de mas del Abogat to Els figuerals
Cueva de mas del Abogat → Els figuerals is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Els figuerals to back through Cueva de mas del Abogat
Els figuerals → back through Cueva de mas del Abogat is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cueva de mas del Abogat to Els Secans
back through Cueva de mas del Abogat → Els Secans is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.