Monderes and Cova del Cogulló

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Monderes

   The plain of Lleida is one of the great orchards of Spain, a flat, fertile basin of peach, pear and apple trees, irrigated by canals drawn from the Segre. Alfarràs, Algerri and Almenar are villages in this agricultural world, set among fields and ditches on the edge of Catalonia, where the green plain begins to rise towards the dry hills of the Montsec to the north. In spring the orchards bloom in pink and white, and in late summer the fruit lorries crowd the roads. It is not dramatic scenery, but it is a landscape built by water, and the canals, including the long Canal d'Urgell and the canal of Aragon and Catalonia, are the reason it exists.

   Read the complete Monderes write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Monderes is where the day begins. Next is Cova del Tabac.

2. 2. Cova del Tabac

   Above the village of Camarasa, where the Segre comes out of the pre-Pyrenean hills onto the plain of Lleida, a cave in the limestone holds some of the most interesting rock paintings in Catalonia. The Cova del Tabac, the tobacco cave, is a wide shelter with schematic paintings, simplified human figures, animals and symbols in red, and it is one of the sites included in the UNESCO listing of Mediterranean rock art on the Iberian Peninsula. A short walk leads up from the road to the shelter, which also offers a fine view over the valley, and on a clear day the Pyrenees rise white on the northern horizon.

   Read the complete Cova del Tabac write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Cova del Tabac comes up about 46 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cova del Cogulló.

3. 3. Cova del Cogulló

   Between the plains of Lleida and the first serious mountains of the Pyrenees there is a band of country that most people cross without noticing, and it is a mistake. The Cova del Cogulló lies here, in the hills of the Noguera between Artesa de Segre and the Montsec, a long limestone wall that rises abruptly from the farmland. Rock shelters in these hills carry prehistoric paintings, part of the Mediterranean rock art tradition that runs all along eastern Spain, and the region's churches add a medieval layer, small Romanesque buildings in nearly every village.

   Read the complete Cova del Cogulló write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 99 km into the recorded legs you reach Cova del Cogulló. Next is back through Cova del Tabac.

4. 4. back through Cova del Tabac

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Cova del Tabac write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Cova del Tabac, late in the day. Next is Monderes.

5. 5. Monderes

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Monderes write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Monderes. That is the ride.