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.
A 398 km round trip from María - roughly 7 h 29 in the saddle. On the way it passes Abrigo de la fuente, Andragulla I, Las Cabritas and Andragulla II. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,400 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
High in the north of Almería province, far from the beaches most people associate with the name, the Sierra de María rises in grey limestone above a plateau of almond orchards and cereal fields. Gabar is a point in the hills between the villages of María and Vélez-Blanco, part of a cluster of rock-art shelters in the Los Vélez district. This corner of Spain is famous for one painted figure in particular: the Indalo, a little stick man holding an arc over his head, found in the Cueva de los Letreros just outside Vélez-Blanco. It has become the emblem of the whole province, painted on doors and sold as a lucky charm, which is a remarkable career for a prehistoric doodle.
Read the complete Gabar write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Gabar is where the day begins. Next is Abrigo de la fuente.
Nerpio is about as remote as it gets in southern Spain: a village in the far south-west corner of Albacete province, deep in the Sierra del Segura, close to the borders of Andalucía and Murcia. It sits in the valley of the Taibilla river, surrounded by mountains, with terraced fields, walnut trees and pine forests on the slopes. The Abrigo de la Fuente, the shelter of the spring, lies in the hills about eleven kilometres from the village.
Read the complete Abrigo de la fuente write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Abrigo de la fuente comes up about 51 km into the recorded legs. Next is Andragulla I.
In the far north-west corner of the Region of Murcia, where the land climbs towards the mountains of Albacete and Jaén, lies Moratalla, a town of whitewashed houses piled up a hillside beneath a castle tower. Its countryside is surprisingly wild for Murcia: pine forests, rivers, gorges and limestone ridges, some of the greenest land in a famously dry region. The rock shelter of Andragulla is one of many painted overhangs scattered through these hills, part of the Levantine rock art sites inscribed together by UNESCO. Many are protected behind fences and need a guide; the tourist office in Moratalla can advise.
Read the complete Andragulla I write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 112 km into the recorded legs you reach Andragulla I. Next is Las Cabritas.
Nerpio sits at the edge of the world, or at least at the edge of Albacete province, a small village in the Sierra de Taibilla close to where Murcia, Granada and Jaén come together. Its walnuts are famous, grown in old orchards along the river, and the hills around it hold some of the finest Levantine rock art in Spain. Las Cabritas, the little goats, is a shelter just over a kilometre from the village, named after the animals painted on its walls, and it is part of the World Heritage Site of Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin.
Read the complete Las Cabritas write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Las Cabritas, about halfway. Next is Andragulla II.
Moratalla is a big, rough municipality, with a rugged interior of pine ridges, rocky gullies and scattered hamlets, and Andragulla is one of those hamlets, twelve kilometres from the town. The shelters are in the folds of the hills south of the village. The surrounding country is one of the least known parts of Murcia, and it is a joy for a rider who likes silence, because the roads are narrow, winding and almost deserted.
Read the complete Andragulla II write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Andragulla II sits at 147 km, about halfway. Next is back through Las Cabritas.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Las Cabritas write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Las Cabritas comes up about 244 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Andragulla I.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Andragulla I write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 278 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Andragulla I. Next is back through Abrigo de la fuente.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Abrigo de la fuente write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Abrigo de la fuente, late in the day. Next is Gabar.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Gabar write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 398 km.
Gabar → Abrigo de la fuente is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abrigo de la fuente → Andragulla I is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Andragulla I → Las Cabritas is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Las Cabritas → Andragulla II is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Andragulla II → back through Las Cabritas is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Las Cabritas → back through Andragulla I is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Andragulla I → back through Abrigo de la fuente is 68 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abrigo de la fuente → Gabar is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.