Why this ride
451 km from Ontiñena to Ontiñena, about 7 h 56 of riding. It goes by way of mas de Torres, Roca de marta, Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés and Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Mallata C and Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 451 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 7 h 56
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. 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. Mallata C
Ontiñena is a small farming village on the Alcanadre river, at the edge of the Monegros, the dry, wind-scoured steppe of central Aragón. Out in the ravines around it, prehistoric people left painted figures in rock shelters, among them the site labelled Mallata C, one of the many small components of the UNESCO listing of Mediterranean rock art. The paintings are small, simple and best seen with a local guide, and the walk there crosses a landscape that seems built for epic films: gypsum hills, eroded gullies and wide skies.
Read the complete Mallata C write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Mallata C is where the day begins. Next is mas de Torres.
2. mas de Torres
The Monegros in high summer is the closest thing Europe has to a desert, a wide, dry plateau of gypsum hills, wheat stubble and steppe scrub under a hard, white sky. Near the village of Candasnos, close to the main road between Zaragoza and Lleida, the shelter labelled Mas de Torres is one of the rock art sites of the Mediterranean Basin listed by UNESCO, a reminder that people lived and hunted here long before the land dried out to its present state.
Read the complete mas de Torres write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
mas de Torres comes up 38 km in. Next is Roca de marta.
3. Roca de marta
Mequinenza lies where the Segre river meets the Ebro, and the town you see today is not the one that stood here before the 1960s. When a dam was built downstream on the Ebro, the old town was flooded by the reservoir, known as the Mar de Aragón, and its people moved to a new settlement on higher ground. The old castle still sits above the water, and the reservoir stretches in long fingers between bare, ochre hills. It is a landscape both beautiful and a little melancholy, and the lake is famous among anglers for enormous catfish.
Read the complete Roca de marta write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
77 km in you reach Roca de marta. Next is Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés.
4. Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés
South of Lleida the irrigated orchards give way abruptly to dry, open steppe, and the little village of Alfés sits on the edge of that change. The Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés are rock paintings in a small sandstone shelter near the village, schematic designs in red pigment, mostly abstract lines, dots and simplified figures, that belong to the later, more symbolic phase of prehistoric art in eastern Spain, and they are included in the UNESCO listing of Mediterranean Basin rock art. They are modest to look at, but there is something powerful about seeing marks left by people thousands of years ago in such an open, wind-swept place.
Read the complete Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés, about halfway. Next is Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume.
5. 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
Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume sits at 154 km, about halfway. Next is back through Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés.
6. back through Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés comes up 192 km in. Next is back through Roca de marta.
7. back through Roca de marta
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Roca de marta write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
230 km in you reach back through Roca de marta. Next is back through mas de Torres.
8. back through mas de Torres
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete mas de Torres write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through mas de Torres, late in the day. Next is Mallata C.
9. Mallata C
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Mallata C 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 451 km.
Leg by leg
Mallata C to mas de Torres
Mallata C → mas de Torres is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
mas de Torres to Roca de marta
mas de Torres → Roca de marta is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Roca de marta to Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés
Roca de marta → Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés to Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume
Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés → Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume to back through Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés
Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume → back through Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés to back through Roca de marta
back through Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés → back through Roca de marta is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Roca de marta to back through mas de Torres
back through Roca de marta → back through mas de Torres is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through mas de Torres to Mallata C
back through mas de Torres → Mallata C is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.