Why this ride
From Calasparra it runs 364 km to Calasparra; allow about 6 h 40 of riding. The stops in between: Abrigo Grande de minateda, Cueva del Peliciego, Olula and Abric de Gontrán. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Los Rumíes and Abric de Gontrán
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 364 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 h 40
- 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. Los Rumíes
The name Los Rumíes looks like the Arabic word rumi, which was once used across the Muslim world for Romans, then for Christians, and the Spanish landscape is full of names like it, left behind by eight centuries of Andalusi presence. The place lies in the dry hills north of the Segura valley, near Calasparra, and the rides that visit it also pass through the wider district of the Abrigo Grande de Minateda, one of the most famous painted shelters in the whole Levantine tradition. The rock art of this corner of Spain is substantial and varied.
Read the complete Los Rumies write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Los Rumíes is where the day begins. Next is Abrigo Grande de minateda.
2. Abrigo Grande de minateda
The Abrigo Grande de Minateda is the big one, the name says so, and for once the name is accurate. It is among the most important rock art shelters in the south-east of Spain, a wide overhang in the soft rock outside Hellín in Albacete, where layers of painting from different periods sit one on top of the other. Hunters, deer, goats and strange, elongated human figures were drawn here over thousands of years, and the site is covered by World Heritage protection. The country around it is dry, broken and beautiful, a land of badlands, gullies and flat-topped hills that looks almost like another continent.
Read the complete Abrigo Grande de minateda write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abrigo Grande de minateda comes up about 43 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cueva del Peliciego.
3. Cueva del Peliciego
Jumilla is wine. This town in the north of Murcia sits in a high, dry valley surrounded by bare mountains, and its vineyards, planted with the Monastrell grape, produce powerful red wines under the Jumilla designation of origin, one of the oldest in Spain. The Cueva del Peliciego, a rock shelter in the hills near the town, holds prehistoric paintings in the Levantine style, and it has been known since the early twentieth century, when it was one of the first rock art sites studied in the region.
Read the complete Cueva del Peliciego write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 78 km into the recorded legs you reach Cueva del Peliciego. Next is Olula.
4. Olula
Caudete and Almansa sit in a corridor of land where Castile-La Mancha, Valencia and Murcia meet, and for centuries this was frontier country, where kingdoms and armies passed and fought. Olula is a point in the hills near Caudete, linked on the rides with rock-art shelters in the surrounding sierras, part of the extensive UNESCO listing of prehistoric art in Mediterranean Spain.
Read the complete Olula write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Olula, about halfway. Next is Abric de Gontrán.
5. Abric de Gontrán
Head south-west from Xàtiva along the old road to Castile and you climb gently into a corridor between two mountain ranges, the Serra Grossa on one side and the Serra de Enguera on the other. The town of Moixent sits where the corridor narrows, with Vallada just downstream and the vineyards of Fontanars dels Alforins on the plateau beyond. The Abric de Gontran lies in the hills just outside Moixent.
Read the complete Abric de Gontrán write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abric de Gontrán sits at 155 km, about halfway. Next is back through Olula.
6. back through Olula
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Olula write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Olula comes up about 228 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Cueva del Peliciego.
7. back through Cueva del Peliciego
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cueva del Peliciego write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 289 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Cueva del Peliciego. Next is back through Abrigo Grande de minateda.
8. back through Abrigo Grande de minateda
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Abrigo Grande de minateda write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Abrigo Grande de minateda, late in the day. Next is Los Rumies.
9. Los Rumíes
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Los Rumies write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 364 km.
Leg by leg
Los Rumíes to Abrigo Grande de minateda
Los Rumíes → Abrigo Grande de minateda is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abrigo Grande de minateda to Cueva del Peliciego
Abrigo Grande de minateda → Cueva del Peliciego is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cueva del Peliciego to Olula
Cueva del Peliciego → Olula is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Olula to Abric de Gontrán
Olula → Abric de Gontrán is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abric de Gontrán to back through Olula
Abric de Gontrán → back through Olula is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Olula to back through Cueva del Peliciego
back through Olula → back through Cueva del Peliciego is 61 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cueva del Peliciego to back through Abrigo Grande de minateda
back through Cueva del Peliciego → back through Abrigo Grande de minateda is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abrigo Grande de minateda to Los Rumies
back through Abrigo Grande de minateda → Los Rumies is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.