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.
458 km from Benassal to Benassal, about 8 h 16 of riding. On the way it passes Castell de Villafamés, Abric del mas dels Ous, La fenellosa and Caídas del Salbimec. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,050 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.
Benassal and Culla are mountain villages in the Alt Maestrat, in the interior of the province of Castelló, a region of limestone plateaus, deep gorges and stone walls that feels a world away from the beaches of the coast. La Covassa del Molinell, a large rock shelter near Benassal, is one of many in the Maestrat with prehistoric paintings. The region is one of the richest areas for Levantine rock art, with the famous shelters of the Valltorta gorge, near Tírig, just to the east.
Read the complete La Covassa del molinell write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
La Covassa del molinell is where the day begins. Next is Castell de Villafamés.
Villafamés announces itself from a long way off: a village of white and ochre houses stacked up a hill of reddish rock, with the remains of a castle crowning the top. It stands a little inland from the coast of Castellón, roughly between Borriol, Cabanes and the beach town of Benicàssim, close enough to the sea that you can smell salt on a westerly breeze turning, yet already in that rumpled hill country that leads up into the Maestrat.
Read the complete Castell de Villafamés write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Castell de Villafamés comes up about 32 km into the recorded legs. Next is Abric del mas dels Ous.
Xert is the kind of village you pass through on the way to somewhere else and then wonder why you did not stop. It lies in the Baix Maestrat in northern Castellón, below a ridge of bare limestone, with the old village climbing the slope and a newer part down by the road. The shelter called the Abric del Mas dels Ous, the shelter of the farmhouse of the eggs, is out in the dry hills nearby, between Xert, Canet lo Roig and Rosell.
Read the complete Abric del mas dels Ous write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 92 km into the recorded legs you reach Abric del mas dels Ous. Next is La fenellosa.
People in Aragón like to call the Matarraña their Tuscany, and for once the comparison is not entirely marketing. It is a comarca of honey-coloured stone villages on hilltops, olive groves on terraces, almond trees and vineyards, with the limestone wall of the Ports de Beseit rising behind. La Fenellosa lies in this country, between Valderrobres, Fuentespalda and Mas de Barberans across the Catalan line, in the rough hills where the farmland gives way to the mountains.
Read the complete La fenellosa write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
La fenellosa, about halfway. Next is Caídas del Salbimec.
The Matarraña, or Matarranya as most locals call it, is the corner of Aragón that feels Catalan, Valencian and Aragonese at once, and it has quietly become one of the most rewarding regions in Spain to explore on two wheels. The shelter known as Caídas del Salbimec lies in the hills between Valdeltormo, Mazaleón and Calaceite, one of the many prehistoric art sites along the eastern edge of the peninsula that are protected together by UNESCO. The paintings are modest, and access may involve a rough track and a walk, but the setting is typical of the region: a sandstone outcrop above olive groves and almond terraces, with the river cutting below.
Read the complete Caídas del Salbimec write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Caídas del Salbimec sits at 173 km, about halfway. Next is back through La fenellosa.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete La fenellosa write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through La fenellosa comes up about 273 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Abric del mas dels Ous.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Abric del mas dels Ous write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 365 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Abric del mas dels Ous. Next is back through Castell de Villafamés.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Castell de Villafamés write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Castell de Villafamés, late in the day. Next is La Covassa del molinell.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete La Covassa del molinell write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 458 km.
La Covassa del molinell → Castell de Villafamés is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Castell de Villafamés → Abric del mas dels Ous is 60 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Abric del mas dels Ous → La fenellosa is 92 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
La fenellosa → Caídas del Salbimec is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Caídas del Salbimec → back through La fenellosa is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through La fenellosa → back through Abric del mas dels Ous is 92 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abric del mas dels Ous → back through Castell de Villafamés is 59 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Castell de Villafamés → La Covassa del molinell is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.