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CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

Los Sacristanes and Central E. de Santonje

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
295 km
Riding-time estimate
8 h 15
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.

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Why this ride

A 295 km round trip from Nerpio - roughly 8 h 15 in the saddle. The stops in between: Río frío, Letreros de los mártires, Central E. de Santonje and back through Letreros de los mártires. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,450 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

  1. 1. Los Sacristanes

    Los Sacristanes is a name given to a group of painted shelters in the empty uplands near Nerpio, in the south-western corner of Albacete province. It sits on the high, pine-covered ground between the Taibilla valley and the headwaters of the Segura, a place so thinly populated that the nearest town of any size is the better part of an hour away. The paintings here, like those across this region, belong to the World Heritage site of Levantine rock art, and they are best seen with a local guide from Nerpio's interpretation centre.

    Read the complete Los Sacristanes write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Los Sacristanes is where the day begins. Next is Río frío.

  2. 2. Río frío

    Cold water is a rare luxury in southern Spain, and a stream called Río Frío promises exactly that. It is a land of pine forests, limestone crags, deep river gorges and tiny villages, and the painted rock shelters scattered through these hills are part of the UNESCO listing of rock art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula.

    Read the complete Río frío write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Río frío comes up about 41 km into the recorded legs. Next is Letreros de los mártires.

  3. 3. Letreros de los mártires

    Out in the high north-east of Granada province, Huéscar feels a long way from the Alhambra and the beaches of the Costa Tropical. This is the altiplano, a broad upland of wheat fields, almond trees and pale badlands at around a thousand metres, ringed by mountains, with the great limestone hump of La Sagra rising to the north. The rock shelter called Letreros de los Mártires lies in this country, a dozen or so kilometres from the town.

    Read the complete Letreros de los mártires write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    about 90 km into the recorded legs you reach Letreros de los mártires. Next is Central E. de Santonje, 31 km on.

  4. 4. Central E. de Santonje

    The Indalo, a little stick figure holding an arc over its head, is now the symbol of the whole province of Almería, painted on houses, cars and souvenirs, and it comes from a rock shelter here in the hills around Vélez-Blanco. The Cueva de los Letreros, a few kilometres from this point, holds the original among other paintings of the Levantine and schematic styles, and the shelters of the Sierra de María are part of the World Heritage Site of Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula, inscribed in 1998. Santonje, as the area is called, is one of a cluster of sites in these mountains.

    Read the complete Central E. de Santonje write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Central E. de Santonje, about halfway. Next is back through Letreros de los mártires.

  5. 5. back through Letreros de los mártires

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Letreros de los mártires write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    back through Letreros de los mártires sits at 121 km, about halfway. Next is back through Río frío.

  6. 6. back through Río frío

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Río frío write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    back through Río frío comes up about 247 km into the recorded legs. Next is Los Sacristanes.

  7. 7. Los Sacristanes

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Los Sacristanes write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Los Sacristanes closes the day.

Leg by leg

Los Sacristanes to Río frío

Los Sacristanes → Río frío is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Río frío to Letreros de los mártires

Río frío → Letreros de los mártires is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Letreros de los mártires to Central E. de Santonje

Letreros de los mártires → Central E. de Santonje is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Central E. de Santonje to back through Letreros de los mártires

Central E. de Santonje → back through Letreros de los mártires is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Letreros de los mártires to back through Río frío

back through Letreros de los mártires → back through Río frío is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Río frío to Los Sacristanes

back through Río frío → Los Sacristanes is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

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