Why this ride
186 km from Mazaleón to Mazaleón, about 3 h 22 of riding. It goes by way of Valmayor IV, Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume, Val de Caballé I and back through Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Els Secans and Val de Caballé I
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 186 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 22
- 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 Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume.
3. Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume
Mequinenza had to move. In the 1960s and 1970s, two dams built on the Ebro created a huge reservoir known as the Mar de Aragón, and the old town at the meeting of the Ebro and the Segre was abandoned and largely demolished, its people resettled in a new town above. The story is told in the town's museums and in the novels of Jesús Moncada, who grew up in the old Mequinenza. In a ravine nearby, the Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume holds prehistoric paintings, part of the World Heritage Site of Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin.
Read the complete Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 61 km into the recorded legs you reach Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume. Next is Val de Caballé I.
4. 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
Val de Caballé I, about halfway. Next is back through Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume.
5. back through Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume sits at 115 km, about halfway. Next is back through Valmayor IV.
6. 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 comes up about 146 km into the recorded legs. Next is Els Secans.
7. 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
Els Secans closes the day.
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 Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume
Valmayor IV → Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume to Val de Caballé I
Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume → 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 back through Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume
Val de Caballé I → back through Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume to back through Valmayor IV
back through Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume → back through Valmayor IV is 23 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.