Why this ride
A 484 km round trip from Candasnos - roughly 8 h 07 in the saddle. On the way it passes Roca de marta, Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés, Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume and La Roca dels moros. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
mas de Torres and La Roca dels moros
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 484 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 8 h 07
- 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 Roca de marta.
2. 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
Roca de marta comes up 39 km in. Next is Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés.
3. 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
78 km in you reach Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés. Next is Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume.
4. 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, about halfway. Next is La Roca dels moros.
5. La Roca dels moros
El Cogul is a village of a few dozen houses in Les Garrigues, the low, stony plateau of western Catalonia where the whole landscape seems to be one big olive grove. Just outside it, a wall of rock above a small valley holds one of the most important prehistoric paintings in the country. The shelter is known as the Roca dels Moros, the Moors' Rock, which is simply the Catalan habit of attributing anything old and mysterious to the Moors, and it was brought to scientific attention in the early twentieth century by a local priest.
Read the complete La Roca dels moros write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
La Roca dels moros sits at 156 km, about halfway. Next is back through Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume.
6. back through Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
back through Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume comes up 194 km in. Next is back through Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés.
7. 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
233 km in you reach back through Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés. Next is back through Roca de marta.
8. 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
back through Roca de marta, 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 484 km.
Leg by leg
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 La Roca dels moros
Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume → La Roca dels moros is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
La Roca dels moros to back through Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume
La Roca dels moros → back through Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abric del Barranc de Sant Jaume to back through Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés
back through 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 mas de Torres
back through Roca de marta → mas de Torres is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.