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.
63 km from Moratalla to Moratalla, about 1 h 16 of riding. It goes by way of Abrigo del Sabinar, Abrigo de la Cornisa and back through Abrigo del Sabinar. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,400 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Moratalla stands at the north-west corner of Murcia like a lookout post, and the highlands behind it feel far from the coast. The town is crowned by a medieval castle and its streets run down a steep hillside, and the municipality covers a huge area of pine forest, ravines and rock shelters, many of them holding prehistoric paintings that now sit on the World Heritage list. The Molino de Capel, a watermill name from a rural spot in the hills near the Albacete border, belongs to that scattered countryside, where old farms, mills and caves sit in a landscape of rosemary, thyme and holm oak.
Read the complete Molino de Capel I write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Molino de Capel I is where the day begins. Next is Abrigo del Sabinar.
The Abrigo del Sabinar lies in the remote mountains of north-western Murcia, near Moratalla, where the Sierra de Segura and the Sierra del Taibilla meet, and its paintings of human figures and animals, including deer and goats, are among the finest examples of Levantine rock art in the region. The shelter is part of the Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin listing, and the area around Moratalla and Nerpio is particularly rich in painted shelters. The landscape is wild and rugged, with pine forests, limestone cliffs and deep river valleys, and the villages are few and far between.
Read the complete Abrigo del Sabinar write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Abrigo del Sabinar comes up about 14 km into the recorded legs. Next is Abrigo de la Cornisa.
High above the Segura headwaters, the village of Nerpio feels more like a mountain outpost than part of southern Spain. It lies on the edge of the Sierra de Alcaraz and the Sierra de Segura, well over a thousand metres up, and the climate is the sort that sends locals indoors in January and has snow arriving early. The Abrigo de la Cornisa belongs to a cluster of painted shelters in the district, and the Nerpio area as a whole is known for having one of the richest groups of rock paintings in the country.
Read the complete Abrigo de la Cornisa write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 31 km into the recorded legs you reach Abrigo de la Cornisa. Next is back through Abrigo del Sabinar.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Abrigo del Sabinar write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Abrigo del Sabinar, late in the day. Next is Molino de Capel I.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Molino de Capel I write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Molino de Capel I. That is the ride.
Molino de Capel I → Abrigo del Sabinar is 14 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abrigo del Sabinar → Abrigo de la Cornisa is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abrigo de la Cornisa → back through Abrigo del Sabinar is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abrigo del Sabinar → Molino de Capel I is 14 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.