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 Tarragona it runs 258 km to Tarragona; allow about 3 h 38 of riding. It goes by way of Cova dels Segarulls, La Pedra de les Orenetes and back through Cova dels Segarulls. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 73 km this is Monserrat Mountain Road, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
When the Roman city of Tarraco converted to Christianity, its people began burying their dead beside the Francolí river, west of the town, and the necropolis that grew up there over the fourth and fifth centuries is now one of the most important early Christian burial sites in the western Mediterranean. Hundreds of tombs were found, from simple graves to carved marble sarcophagi, along with remains of a basilica. Tradition links the site with Saint Fructuosus, the bishop of Tarraco burned in the amphitheatre in the year 259 along with two deacons.
Read the complete Paleochristian cemetery write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Paleochristian cemetery is where the day begins. Next is Cova dels Segarulls.
The vineyards of the Penedès roll out in every direction from Vilafranca, and the Cova dels Segarulls lies among them, a few kilometres outside the town in the low hills toward the coastal range.
Read the complete Cova dels Segarulls write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Cova dels Segarulls comes up about 57 km into the recorded legs. Next is La Pedra de les Orenetes.
La Pedra de les Orenetes, the Swallows' Stone, is a granite boulder in the hills above La Roca del Vallès, and its surface is covered with small carved hollows and other marks left by people in prehistory. Nobody knows exactly what they meant; such engraved rocks are found across Catalonia, and theories range from ritual offerings to maps of the stars. The rock sits among cork oaks and pines in the Serralada Litoral, the coastal range that separates the Vallès plain from the sea, and the walk to reach it is short and pleasant, through scented forest with views over the plain.
Read the complete La Pedra de les Orenetes write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 130 km into the recorded legs you reach La Pedra de les Orenetes. Next is back through Cova dels Segarulls.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cova dels Segarulls write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Cova dels Segarulls, late in the day. Next is Paleochristian cemetery.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Paleochristian cemetery write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Paleochristian cemetery. That is the ride.
Paleochristian cemetery → Cova dels Segarulls is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cova dels Segarulls → La Pedra de les Orenetes is 73 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
La Pedra de les Orenetes → back through Cova dels Segarulls is 72 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Cova dels Segarulls → Paleochristian cemetery is 56 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.