Why this ride
From Candasnos it runs 311 km to Candasnos; allow about 9 h 09 of riding. The stops in between: Val de mamet I, Sierra de los Rincones I, Valmayor IV and Bco. de la Plana II.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
mas de Torres and Bco. de la Plana II
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 311 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 9 h 09
- 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. 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 is where the day begins. Next is Val de mamet I.
2. Val de mamet I
The Ebro river cuts through Aragon in a wide, dry valley, and where it meets its tributaries the Segre and Cinca around Mequinenza it was dammed in the twentieth century to make long, narrow lakes among bare hills. Val de Mamet is a dry side valley in this country, with a shelter that holds prehistoric paintings. The surroundings are arid and open, with low limestone cliffs, thyme and rosemary scrub, and scattered pines and almonds, and the silence is broken mostly by the wind and the occasional hawk.
Read the complete Val de mamet I write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Val de mamet I comes up 18 km in. Next is Sierra de los Rincones I.
3. Sierra de los Rincones I
Aragon and Catalonia meet along the Segre and Ebro here, and the map is full of names that mean corners and nooks. The Sierra de los Rincones is a low range of dry, rocky hills above the confluence of the Segre, Cinca and Ebro rivers, with scrub of juniper, thyme and pine and a lot of bare ground, in a region that gets less than 400 millimetres of rain a year. The great reservoir of Mequinenza, the Mar de Aragón, lies to the south, and from the high ground the view takes in water, hills and a haze of dust. The Ebro here is more than a river, it is a reservoir, with the valley flooded and the old towns beneath the water.
Read the complete Sierra de los Rincones I write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
36 km in you reach Sierra de los Rincones I. Next is Valmayor IV.
4. Valmayor IV
Where the Ebro, the Segre and the Cinca meet in eastern Aragon, a vast reservoir stretches for dozens of kilometres between bare, ochre hills. The locals call it the Mar de Aragón, the Sea of Aragon, and it was created in the 1960s when the Mequinenza dam flooded the valley. The old town of Mequinenza went under the water too, and its people were moved to a new town built above, a story told in moving detail in the local museums and in the novels of Jesús Moncada, who grew up there.
Read the complete Valmayor IV write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Valmayor IV, about halfway. Next is Bco. de la Plana II, 18 km on.
5. Bco. de la Plana II
Mequinenza is a town that was moved. In the 1960s the Ebro was dammed below the confluence with the Segre and the Cinca, and the new reservoir, known as the Mar de Aragón, drowned the old river valley. The old town was largely abandoned and its people rehoused up the slope, which is why the place feels more planned than ancient. What remained was the castle on its rock, a coal-mining history that fed the power stations of the lower Ebro, and a landscape of limestone ridges, pine and rock rose dropping to a long, green-blue lake. The Barranco de la Plana is one of the dry ravines running down to it, and the shelter that gives this stop its name sits among the rock art of the Mediterranean Basin that UNESCO listed in 1998.
Read the complete Bco. de la Plana II write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Bco. de la Plana II sits at 72 km, about halfway. Next is back through Valmayor IV.
6. back through Valmayor IV
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Valmayor IV write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Valmayor IV comes up 89 km in. Next is back through Sierra de los Rincones I.
7. back through Sierra de los Rincones I
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Sierra de los Rincones I write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
107 km in you reach back through Sierra de los Rincones I. Next is back through Val de mamet I.
8. back through Val de mamet I
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Val de mamet I write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Val de mamet I, late in the day. Next is mas de Torres.
9. 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
The route ends here after 311 km.
Leg by leg
mas de Torres to Val de mamet I
mas de Torres → Val de mamet I is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Val de mamet I to Sierra de los Rincones I
Val de mamet I → Sierra de los Rincones I is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Sierra de los Rincones I to Valmayor IV
Sierra de los Rincones I → Valmayor IV is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Valmayor IV to Bco. de la Plana II
Valmayor IV → Bco. de la Plana II is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Bco. de la Plana II to back through Valmayor IV
Bco. de la Plana II → back through Valmayor IV is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Valmayor IV to back through Sierra de los Rincones I
back through Valmayor IV → back through Sierra de los Rincones I is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Sierra de los Rincones I to back through Val de mamet I
back through Sierra de los Rincones I → back through Val de mamet I is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Val de mamet I to mas de Torres
back through Val de mamet I → mas de Torres is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.