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 Moratalla it runs 463 km to Moratalla; allow about 8 h 37 of riding. It goes by way of Abrigo del Engarbo, Abrigo del.melgar and back through Abrigo del Engarbo. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,450 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.
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 Engarbo.
Deep in the Sierra de Segura in the northeast of Jaén province, close to where the Segura river is born, the Engarbo rock shelters hide a few small painted figures under limestone overhangs. They belong to the great serial UNESCO listing of Levantine rock art, prehistoric paintings found along the mountains of eastern Spain, with stylised humans and animals in red ochre that have survived thousands of years of sun, frost and goats. The shelters are modest and fragile, often fenced, and visits usually need to be arranged locally, so treat them as a reason to explore this remote corner rather than a guaranteed sight.
Read the complete Abrigo del Engarbo write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Abrigo del Engarbo comes up about 103 km into the recorded legs. Next is Abrigo del.melgar, 67 km on.
Quesada is a white town at the foot of the Sierra de Cazorla, in the province of Jaén, surrounded by an ocean of olive trees. The groves stretch to the horizon in every direction, a landscape that makes Jaén the world's largest producer of olive oil. Behind the town, the mountains rise steeply, with pine forest and limestone cliffs, and the Guadalquivir river has its source not far away. The Abrigo del Melgar lies in the hills just outside the town.
Read the complete Abrigo del.melgar write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 242 km into the recorded legs you reach Abrigo del.melgar. Next is back through Abrigo del Engarbo.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Abrigo del Engarbo write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Abrigo del Engarbo, 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 Engarbo is 103 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abrigo del Engarbo → Abrigo del.melgar is 139 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Abrigo del.melgar → back through Abrigo del Engarbo is 113 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Abrigo del Engarbo → Molino de Capel I is 108 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.