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.
From Torredembarra it runs 296 km to Torredembarra; allow about 4 h 56 of riding. It goes by way of Britus Il, Albi II / Balma dels Punts, Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés and back through Albi II / Balma dels Punts. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Some quarries are ugly scars, and this one is a lesson in what the Romans meant by planning. The Médol quarry, a few kilometres east of Tarragona near Altafulla and Torredembarra, supplied the golden sandstone that built much of Roman Tarraco, the capital of a huge province. Blocks were cut here, hauled to the coast and shipped or carted along the Via Augusta to build temples, walls and the amphitheatre. The quarry is part of the archaeological ensemble of Tarraco inscribed by UNESCO in 2000.
Read the complete Médol Quary write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Médol Quary is where the day begins. Next is Britus Il.
What matters is the country around it, which is some of the finest in inland Catalonia. You are in the Conca de Barberà, the basin of the Francolí river, a few kilometres from the walled town of Montblanc and the village of Alcover, with the wooded wall of the Serra de Prades rising to the west. The area is dotted with prehistoric rock shelters, part of the great arc of Mediterranean rock art that runs down eastern Spain, and many of the site names along these rides are exactly that: a ledge of sandstone or limestone where hunters painted deer and archers thousands of years ago.
Read the complete Britus Il write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Britus Il comes up about 56 km into the recorded legs. Next is Albi II / Balma dels Punts.
L'Albi is a small village on a hill in Les Garrigues, the dry, olive-covered district southeast of Lleida, and its name appears in the archaeological record thanks to rock shelters in the area, including the Balma dels Punts, the shelter of the dots. The name suggests schematic paintings in the form of dots and lines, typical of the later phase of prehistoric art in the region, and the site is part of the UNESCO listing of Mediterranean rock art. The shelters are small and fragile, and some can only be visited with a guide, so check with the town hall or a local interpretation centre before heading out.
Read the complete Albi II / Balma dels Punts write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 100 km into the recorded legs you reach Albi II / Balma dels Punts. Next is 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés, about halfway. Next is back through Albi II / Balma dels Punts.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Albi II / Balma dels Punts write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Albi II / Balma dels Punts sits at 131 km, about halfway. Next is back through Britus Il.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Britus Il write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Britus Il comes up about 240 km into the recorded legs. Next is Médol Quary.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Médol Quary write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Médol Quary closes the day.
Médol Quary → Britus Il is 56 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Britus Il → Albi II / Balma dels Punts is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Albi II / Balma dels Punts → Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés → back through Albi II / Balma dels Punts is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Albi II / Balma dels Punts → back through Britus Il is 63 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Britus Il → Médol Quary is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.