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.
172 km from Bolulla to Bolulla, about 3 h 45 of riding. It goes by way of Coves Roges Abric II-III, Barranc de mastec, Abric de la fos and back through Barranc de mastec. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
In the folded limestone hills behind the Costa Blanca, far enough inland that the resorts feel like another country, a rock shelter called Penya Escrita holds prehistoric paintings. The name means something like the written rock, which is what the people of Tàrbena and Bolulla called it long before archaeologists arrived. The figures belong to the rock art of the Mediterranean Basin of the Iberian Peninsula, a UNESCO site made up of hundreds of shelters scattered from Catalonia down to Andalusia, painted by hunter-gatherers and early farmers thousands of years ago. They are small, faded and easy to miss, and they are best appreciated with patience rather than expectation.
Read the complete Penya Escrita write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Penya Escrita is where the day begins. Next is Coves Roges Abric II-III.
Behind the Costa Blanca, between the beaches and the hills, lies a country of steep limestone valleys, almond terraces and tiny villages that few tourists reach. Coves Roges, the Red Caves, are shelters in the rock near Castell de Castells and Tàrbena, in the Marina Alta, where the Serra d'Aitana rises to over fifteen hundred metres and the Guadalest valley cuts deep into the mountains. Rock shelters here were painted and used in prehistory, and this part of Alicante has some of the best-known Levantine art, such as the shelters at Pla de Petracos not far away.
Read the complete Coves Roges Abric II-III write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Coves Roges Abric II-III comes up about 30 km into the recorded legs. Next is Barranc de mastec.
Between Cocentaina and Alcoy, in the hilly interior of Alicante province, a small ravine called the Barranc de Mastec holds rock shelters with prehistoric paintings, part of the UNESCO listing of rock art of the Mediterranean Basin. This corner of Spain is particularly rich in it, with styles ranging from the naturalistic Levantine figures of hunters and animals to the strange, abstract macro-schematic art that seems unique to these valleys. The ravine is surrounded by terraced olive and almond groves, pine woods and limestone crags.
Read the complete Barranc de mastec write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 58 km into the recorded legs you reach Barranc de mastec. Next is Abric de la fos.
The Vall d'Albaida is a broad valley in the south of the province of Valencia, between the Serra Grossa to the north and the Serra de Mariola to the south, and its towns grew wealthy on textiles. Aielo de Malferit, a small town on the edge of the valley, has a rock shelter called the Abric de la Fos in the hills nearby, with prehistoric paintings in the Levantine style. The shelter is protected and access is limited, so check with the local tourist office or interpretation centres before visiting.
Read the complete Abric de la fos write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Abric de la fos, about halfway. Next is back through Barranc de mastec.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Barranc de mastec write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Barranc de mastec sits at 99 km, about halfway. Next is back through Coves Roges Abric II-III.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Coves Roges Abric II-III write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Coves Roges Abric II-III comes up about 141 km into the recorded legs. Next is Penya Escrita.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Penya Escrita write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Penya Escrita closes the day.
Penya Escrita → Coves Roges Abric II-III is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Coves Roges Abric II-III → Barranc de mastec is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Barranc de mastec → Abric de la fos is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abric de la fos → back through Barranc de mastec is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Barranc de mastec → back through Coves Roges Abric II-III is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Coves Roges Abric II-III → Penya Escrita is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.