Why this ride
A 149 km round trip from Juneda - roughly 2 h in the saddle. On the way it passes La Roca dels moros, Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume and back through La Roca dels moros. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
La Vall de la Coma and Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 149 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 18
- 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 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 is where the day begins. Next is La Roca dels moros.
2. 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 comes up about 17 km into the recorded legs. Next is Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume.
3. 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
about 70 km into the recorded legs you reach Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume. Next is back through La Roca dels moros.
4. back through 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 through La Roca dels moros, late in the day. Next is La Vall de la Coma.
5. 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 at La Vall de la Coma. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
La Vall de la Coma to La Roca dels moros
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.
La Roca dels moros to Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume
La Roca dels moros → Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume is 53 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume to back through La Roca dels moros
Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume → back through La Roca dels moros is 63 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through La Roca dels moros to La Vall de la Coma
back through 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.