CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
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.
245 km from Nerpio to Nerpio, about 5 h 03 of riding. It goes by way of Abrigo del molino de Bagil, Cueva de las Palamas, Abrigo del milano and back through Cueva de las Palamas. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,350 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.
Nerpio sits at about a thousand metres in the Sierra de Segura foothills, at the far south-west corner of Albacete province, in a high valley that feels closer to Andalusia than to La Mancha. It is an out-of-the-way place, with orchards of apples, almond and walnut trees in the valley bottoms and bare limestone peaks above. The area is famous among specialists for its rock art: dozens of shelters in the surrounding gorges hold paintings of the Levantine and Schematic styles, and they are part of the Mediterranean-arc group UNESCO listed in 1998. The Friso de los Gitanos, the Gypsies' Frieze, is one of the better known, and the name tells you that locals have been looking at it for a long time.
Read the complete friso de los Gitanos o Abrigo del Cazador write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
friso de los Gitanos o Abrigo del Cazador is where the day begins. Next is Abrigo del molino de Bagil.
The northwest of Murcia is a world away from the coastal resorts. Around Moratalla, the land rises into the mountains that form the southern edge of the Sierra de Segura, a rugged country of pine forests, deep river valleys, terraced hillsides and white villages perched on rocks. The Abrigo del Molino de Bagil is one of the many rock shelters in this area that contain prehistoric paintings, part of the UNESCO listing of the rock art of the Mediterranean Basin. Moratalla and its neighbours have an especially rich collection, with scenes of hunters, archers and animals painted in the Levantine style thousands of years ago. Many shelters are protected by fences, and visits are possible only with guides or by arrangement.
Read the complete Abrigo del molino de Bagil write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Abrigo del molino de Bagil comes up about 32 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cueva de las Palamas.
Cehegín, in the north-west of the Murcia region, is a town of two faces: a modern lower town, and an old town on a hill, with steep streets, noble houses and churches, declared a historic site. The Cueva de las Palomas, the cave of the doves, lies on the edge of the town, less than a kilometre from the centre, with the larger town of Caravaca de la Cruz about five kilometres away.
Read the complete Cueva de las Palamas write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 90 km into the recorded legs you reach Cueva de las Palamas. Next is Abrigo del milano.
Bullas is wine country, and the vineyards of Monastrell grapes roll over the hills around the town in the northwest of Murcia, producing robust red wines under their own denomination of origin. The Abrigo del Milano, the kite's shelter, named after the bird of prey that circles over these hills, lies in the countryside between Bullas, Mula and Pliego. It is one of the many rock shelters in Murcia with prehistoric paintings, part of the UNESCO listing of Mediterranean rock art, though access to many shelters is restricted to protect them, so ask locally before trying to visit.
Read the complete Abrigo del milano write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Abrigo del milano, about halfway. Next is back through Cueva de las Palamas.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cueva de las Palamas write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Cueva de las Palamas sits at 118 km, about halfway. Next is back through Abrigo del molino de Bagil.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Abrigo del molino de Bagil write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Abrigo del molino de Bagil comes up about 211 km into the recorded legs. Next is friso de los Gitanos o Abrigo del Cazador.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete friso de los Gitanos o Abrigo del Cazador write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
friso de los Gitanos o Abrigo del Cazador closes the day.
friso de los Gitanos o Abrigo del Cazador → Abrigo del molino de Bagil is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abrigo del molino de Bagil → Cueva de las Palamas is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cueva de las Palamas → Abrigo del milano is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abrigo del milano → back through Cueva de las Palamas is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cueva de las Palamas → back through Abrigo del molino de Bagil is 56 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abrigo del molino de Bagil → friso de los Gitanos o Abrigo del Cazador is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.