Why this ride
A 314 km round trip from Totana - roughly 4 h 37 in the saddle. On the way it passes Cejo Cortado I, Cavidad II and back through Cejo Cortado I.
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 314 km round trip from Totana - roughly 4 h 37 in the saddle. On the way it passes Cejo Cortado I, Cavidad II and back through Cejo Cortado I.
Maina is an obscure name on the map in the Murcian hills north-west of Totana, where the Sierra Espuña rises above the valley of the Guadalentín. It refers to a rock shelter or painted site in the dry limestone country, part of the cluster of prehistoric art sites around here included in the World Heritage listing of Levantine rock art. As with many such places, there is often little to see without a guide, but the landscape around it is worth the ride.
Read the complete maina write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
maina is where the day begins. Next is Cejo Cortado I.
Mula is a town in the heart of the Murcia region, built on the slopes of a hill crowned by a sixteenth-century castle, with an old quarter of narrow streets, noble houses and churches. Around it, a dry landscape of hills, ravines and badlands opens out, with orchards and olive groves along the river. The Cejo Cortado, a name meaning the cut brow, refers to a rocky escarpment with prehistoric shelters about seven kilometres from the town, between Mula, Albudeite and Ricote.
Read the complete Cejo Cortado I write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Cejo Cortado I comes up about 76 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cavidad II.
South of Hellín the land opens into the dry, high steppe of southern Albacete, a country of esparto grass, almond terraces and bare limestone ridges, and it is in these ridges that the small painted cavities of the area hide. Cavidad II is one of them, a modest hollow in the rock with prehistoric pigment on its walls, part of a dense scatter of rock art sites around the Minateda area that archaeologists have studied for more than a century. Like most of the Levantine sites it is fragile and frequently protected by a grille, so it rewards patience and imagination more than a quick photograph.
Read the complete Cavidad II write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 155 km into the recorded legs you reach Cavidad II. Next is back through Cejo Cortado I.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cejo Cortado I write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Cejo Cortado I, late in the day. Next is maina.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete maina write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at maina. That is the ride.
maina → Cejo Cortado I is 76 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Cejo Cortado I → Cavidad II is 79 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cavidad II → back through Cejo Cortado I is 82 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cejo Cortado I → maina is 76 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.