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 216 km round trip from Moratalla - roughly 4 h 08 in the saddle. It goes by way of Cueva de las Palamas, Abrigo del milano, Cueva de la Plata and back through Abrigo del milano. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,150 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Moratalla is the kind of hill town that looks as though it was poured down a slope: white houses tumbling below a castle tower, narrow lanes too steep for comfort, church bells echoing off the hills. Ten kilometres out, in the rugged country of north-west Murcia, the shelter of Las Cazuelas holds prehistoric paintings, part of the region's contribution to the UNESCO-listed Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin. The paintings are fragile and protected, and access is usually by guided visit, arranged in Moratalla or through the regional authorities.
Read the complete Las Cazuelas write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Las Cazuelas is where the day begins. Next is Cueva de las Palamas.
Cehegín, in the north-west of the Murcia region, is a town of two faces: a modern lower town, and an old town on a hill, with steep streets, noble houses and churches, declared a historic site. The Cueva de las Palomas, the cave of the doves, lies on the edge of the town, less than a kilometre from the centre, with the larger town of Caravaca de la Cruz about five kilometres away.
Read the complete Cueva de las Palamas write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Cueva de las Palamas comes up about 30 km into the recorded legs. Next is Abrigo del milano.
Bullas is wine country, and the vineyards of Monastrell grapes roll over the hills around the town in the northwest of Murcia, producing robust red wines under their own denomination of origin. The Abrigo del Milano, the kite's shelter, named after the bird of prey that circles over these hills, lies in the countryside between Bullas, Mula and Pliego. It is one of the many rock shelters in Murcia with prehistoric paintings, part of the UNESCO listing of Mediterranean rock art, though access to many shelters is restricted to protect them, so ask locally before trying to visit.
Read the complete Abrigo del milano write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 56 km into the recorded legs you reach Abrigo del milano. Next is Cueva de la Plata.
Aledo is a tiny village on a rocky spur in the hills of Murcia, a place that punches well above its weight in history. In the eleventh century, it was a fortress on the frontier between Christian Castile and the Muslim taifa kingdoms, and the siege of Aledo in 1088 was a major episode in the struggle for the peninsula. A tower still stands above the village. The Cueva de la Plata, the silver cave, lies in the hills nearby, between Aledo, Totana and Alhama de Murcia.
Read the complete Cueva de la Plata write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Cueva de la Plata, about halfway. Next is back through Abrigo del milano.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Abrigo del milano write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Abrigo del milano sits at 102 km, about halfway. Next is back through Cueva de las Palamas.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cueva de las Palamas write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Cueva de las Palamas comes up about 187 km into the recorded legs. Next is Las Cazuelas.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Las Cazuelas write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Las Cazuelas closes the day.
Las Cazuelas → Cueva de las Palamas is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cueva de las Palamas → Abrigo del milano is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abrigo del milano → Cueva de la Plata is 55 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cueva de la Plata → back through Abrigo del milano is 55 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abrigo del milano → back through Cueva de las Palamas is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cueva de las Palamas → Las Cazuelas is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.