Why this ride
237 km from el Cogul to el Cogul, about 4 h 17 of riding. The stops in between: Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume, Val de Caballé I, Abric del Barranc de Canà o de la mina fed and back through Val de Caballé I.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
La Roca dels moros and Abric del Barranc de Canà o de la mina fed
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 237 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 17
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. 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. La Roca dels moros
El Cogul is a village of a few dozen houses in Les Garrigues, the low, stony plateau of western Catalonia where the whole landscape seems to be one big olive grove. Just outside it, a wall of rock above a small valley holds one of the most important prehistoric paintings in the country. The shelter is known as the Roca dels Moros, the Moors' Rock, which is simply the Catalan habit of attributing anything old and mysterious to the Moors, and it was brought to scientific attention in the early twentieth century by a local priest.
Read the complete La Roca dels moros write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
La Roca dels moros is where the day begins. Next is Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume.
2. 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
Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume comes up 30 km in. Next is Val de Caballé I.
3. 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
60 km in you reach Val de Caballé I. Next is Abric del Barranc de Canà o de la mina fed.
4. Abric del Barranc de Canà o de la mina fed
Before the reservoir and the anglers' boats, Mequinenza was a coal town. The seams of lignite that run under the hills around the confluence of the Segre and the Ebro were dug for generations, and the coal was shipped down the river to feed the furnaces and power stations of a growing Spain. When the mines faded and the old town was submerged, a good part of the population left, and the people who remained are proud of a heritage that is half underground and half underwater. The Barranc de Canà shelter lies five kilometres out, in dry hills between the town and the road to Fraga.
Read the complete Abric del Barranc de Canà o de la mina fed write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abric del Barranc de Canà o de la mina fed, about halfway. Next is back through Val de Caballé I.
5. back through Val de Caballé I
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
back through Val de Caballé I sits at 120 km, about halfway. Next is back through Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume.
6. 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 comes up 150 km in. Next is La Roca dels moros.
7. La Roca dels moros
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete La Roca dels moros write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
La Roca dels moros closes the day.
Leg by leg
La Roca dels moros to Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume
La Roca dels moros → Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume is 41 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 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Val de Caballé I to Abric del Barranc de Canà o de la mina fed
Val de Caballé I → Abric del Barranc de Canà o de la mina fed is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abric del Barranc de Canà o de la mina fed to back through Val de Caballé I
Abric del Barranc de Canà o de la mina fed → back through Val de Caballé I is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Val de Caballé I to back through Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume
back through Val de Caballé I → back through Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume to La Roca dels moros
back through Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume → La Roca dels moros is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.