CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
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Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
From Tarragona it runs 508 km to Tarragona; allow about 9 h 10 of riding. The stops in between: Britus I, La Vall de la Coma, Camino de la Cova Plana II and mas de Torres. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
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 Britus I.
Between Montblanc and Vimbodí, in the Conca de Barberà, the land rises toward the Prades mountains and the Serra de la Llena, and in the sandstone and limestone outcrops of these hills, prehistoric hunters left paintings in rock shelters. Britus I is one of these sites, with figures painted in the distinctive style of Levantine rock art, which shows scenes of hunting, gathering and daily life with lively human and animal figures. The rock art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula was inscribed by UNESCO in 1998, covering hundreds of sites from Catalonia to Andalusia. Many are small and fragile, and access is often restricted to protect them.
Read the complete Britus I write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Britus I comes up 41 km in. Next is La Vall de la Coma.
The Garrigues is the dry heart of Lleida province, a land of terraced hills, stone walls and endless olive groves, and La Vall de la Coma is one of its quiet valleys, in the municipality of L'Albi. In a few rock shelters here, prehistoric people painted small figures in red, part of the Levantine rock art of the Mediterranean basin that is recognized as a World Heritage Site. The paintings are fragile and modest in size, and access is usually organized through local guides or interpretation centres, so plan ahead rather than expecting to wander in.
Read the complete La Vall de la Coma write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
81 km in you reach La Vall de la Coma. Next is Camino de la Cova Plana II.
Three rivers come together near Mequinenza: the Ebro, flowing in from the west, and the Segre and Cinca, arriving together from the Pyrenees to the north. The meeting point, now swallowed by the reservoirs behind the dams, has always been a strategic place, and the much-restored castle on the hill above the town has watched over it for centuries. The Camino de la Cova Plana is a track in the hills east of town, towards the Catalan border, and the site recorded here is one of the many prehistoric rock shelters scattered across this dry, rugged landscape.
Read the complete Camino de la Cova Plana II write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Camino de la Cova Plana II, about halfway. Next is mas de Torres.
The Monegros in high summer is the closest thing Europe has to a desert, a wide, dry plateau of gypsum hills, wheat stubble and steppe scrub under a hard, white sky. Near the village of Candasnos, close to the main road between Zaragoza and Lleida, the shelter labelled Mas de Torres is one of the rock art sites of the Mediterranean Basin listed by UNESCO, a reminder that people lived and hunted here long before the land dried out to its present state.
Read the complete mas de Torres write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
mas de Torres sits at 163 km, about halfway. Next is back through Camino de la Cova Plana II.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Camino de la Cova Plana II write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Camino de la Cova Plana II comes up 203 km in. Next is back through La Vall de la Coma.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete La Vall de la Coma write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
244 km in you reach back through La Vall de la Coma. Next is back through Britus I.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Britus I write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Britus I, 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.
The route ends here after 508 km.
Paleochristian cemetery → Britus I is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Britus I → La Vall de la Coma is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
La Vall de la Coma → Camino de la Cova Plana II is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Camino de la Cova Plana II → mas de Torres is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
mas de Torres → back through Camino de la Cova Plana II is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Camino de la Cova Plana II → back through La Vall de la Coma is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through La Vall de la Coma → back through Britus I is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Britus I → Paleochristian cemetery is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.