Why this ride
A 298 km round trip from Barri Gòtic - roughly 5 h 18 in the saddle. It goes by way of Roca Roja, Abric de la Serra de la mussara and back through Roca Roja. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Palau de la Música Catalana and Abric de la Serra de la mussara
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 298 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 18
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Palau de la Música Catalana
The Palau de la Música Catalana is hidden. It stands on a narrow street in the old quarter of Barcelona, so close to the buildings opposite that you cannot step back far enough to take it in, and it was built between 1905 and 1908 for the Orfeó Català, a choral society that was the pride of Catalan cultural life at a time when Catalonia was finding its voice again. Lluís Domènech i Montaner designed it, and he threw everything at it: brick, mosaic, ceramics, sculpted flowers, stained glass, an iron frame so open that the walls are almost glass.
Read the complete Palau de la Música Catalana write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Palau de la Música Catalana is where the day begins. Next is Roca Roja.
2. Roca Roja
Roca Roja, the red rock, is a fitting name for this corner of inland Catalonia, where sandstone and conglomerate cliffs glow rust-coloured in the evening light above pine forest and small terraced fields. The point lies in the hills between Querol and Mediona, where the comarques of Alt Camp, Alt Penedès and Anoia meet, a rugged, thinly populated upland that most people speed past on the motorway between Barcelona and Lleida without realising it exists.
Read the complete Roca Roja write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Roca Roja comes up about 84 km into the recorded legs. Next is Abric de la Serra de la mussara.
3. Abric de la Serra de la mussara
Climb out of Reus on a clear morning and the Serra de la Mussara rises ahead like a wall, a limestone escarpment that holds up the edge of the Prades plateau and drops steeply to the plain of the Camp de Tarragona. The rock shelters along this cliff line, close to the village of Vilaplana, are part of the prehistoric painted landscape of eastern Spain. The best reason to stop, though, is the view: on a good day you look straight down over hazelnut orchards and olive groves to Reus, Tarragona and the sea.
Read the complete Abric de la Serra de la mussara write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 149 km into the recorded legs you reach Abric de la Serra de la mussara. Next is back through Roca Roja.
4. back through Roca Roja
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Roca Roja write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Roca Roja, late in the day. Next is Palau de la Música Catalana.
5. Palau de la Música Catalana
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Palau de la Música Catalana write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Palau de la Música Catalana. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Palau de la Música Catalana to Roca Roja
Palau de la Música Catalana → Roca Roja is 84 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Roca Roja to Abric de la Serra de la mussara
Roca Roja → Abric de la Serra de la mussara is 65 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abric de la Serra de la mussara to back through Roca Roja
Abric de la Serra de la mussara → back through Roca Roja is 66 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Roca Roja to Palau de la Música Catalana
back through Roca Roja → Palau de la Música Catalana is 83 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.