Why this ride
An 88 km round trip from el Cogul - roughly 1 h 57 in the saddle. It goes by way of La Vall de la Coma, Poblet Monastery and back through La Vall de la Coma. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
La Roca dels moros and Poblet Monastery
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 88 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 57
- 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. 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 La Vall de la Coma.
2. La Vall de la Coma
The Garrigues is the dry heart of Lleida province, a land of terraced hills, stone walls and endless olive groves, and La Vall de la Coma is one of its quiet valleys, in the municipality of L'Albi. In a few rock shelters here, prehistoric people painted small figures in red, part of the Levantine rock art of the Mediterranean basin that is recognized as a World Heritage Site. The paintings are fragile and modest in size, and access is usually organized through local guides or interpretation centres, so plan ahead rather than expecting to wander in.
Read the complete La Vall de la Coma write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
La Vall de la Coma comes up about 17 km into the recorded legs. Next is Poblet Monastery.
3. Poblet Monastery
Few places in Catalonia carry as much weight as Poblet. The Cistercian monastery was founded in the middle of the twelfth century on land granted by Count Ramon Berenguer IV, and over the following generations it became the royal pantheon of the Crown of Aragon, the place where kings chose to be buried under carved alabaster. It is still a working community of monks, which gives the vast walled complex a quietness that the coach parties never quite manage to break. UNESCO listed it in 1991, and walking through the outer gates, past the first enclosure and into the cloister, you feel the scale of medieval monastic power in a way that a textbook never conveys.
Read the complete Poblet Monastery write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 44 km into the recorded legs you reach Poblet Monastery. Next is back through La Vall de la Coma.
4. back through La Vall de la Coma
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete La Vall de la Coma write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through La Vall de la Coma, late in the day. Next is La Roca dels moros.
5. 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
Back at La Roca dels moros. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
La Roca dels moros to La Vall de la Coma
La Roca dels moros → La Vall de la Coma is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
La Vall de la Coma to Poblet Monastery
La Vall de la Coma → Poblet Monastery is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Poblet Monastery to back through La Vall de la Coma
Poblet Monastery → back through La Vall de la Coma is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through La Vall de la Coma to La Roca dels moros
back through La Vall de la Coma → La Roca dels moros is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.