Why this ride
From Confrides it runs 269 km to Confrides; allow about 5 h 45 of riding. The stops in between: Barranc del Xorquet, Pinós, Racó de la Cova dels Llidoners and Barranc de Beniali- Abric l.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Penyó de les Carrasques- Abric I and Barranc de Beniali- Abric l
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 269 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 45
- 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. Penyó de les Carrasques- Abric I
The Aitana range is the highest in the Alicante hinterland, a long limestone ridge rising to more than fifteen hundred metres above the Costa Blanca, and the village of Benimantell lies in a valley at its foot, with Castell de Castells and Sella tucked into the hills to the east. The Penyó de les Carrasques is a rocky outcrop in this country, and the shelter in it is part of the Mediterranean Basin rock art listed by UNESCO in 1998. The paintings are in the Levantine style, small red figures of hunters and animals, and they look out over a landscape of terraced valleys, quite unlike the high-rise beach towns twenty kilometres away.
Read the complete Penyó de les Carrasques- Abric I write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Penyó de les Carrasques- Abric I is where the day begins. Next is Barranc del Xorquet.
2. Barranc del Xorquet
Ask a cyclist on the Costa Blanca about Coll de Rates and watch their face change. The pass road climbing from Parcent toward Tàrbena is a pilgrimage for professional teams in winter training, and it lies only a few kilometres from the Barranc del Xorquet, one of the ravines in the tangled limestone hills behind the coast. This is an area rich in prehistoric rock art: the shelters at Pla de Petracos near Castell de Castells hold some of the best examples of the so-called macro-schematic style, big abstract human figures painted in red thousands of years ago, and the ravines around here hide further sites.
Read the complete Barranc del Xorquet write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Barranc del Xorquet comes up about 42 km into the recorded legs. Next is Pinós.
3. Pinós
Inland from the busy coast of the Marina Alta, behind Benissa and Calp, the land folds into a series of steep, terraced valleys where almond and olive trees cling to dry-stone walls and white farmhouses sit among the pines. Pinós is a rural area in the hills near Benissa, Senija and Jalón, and the rides link it to the rock-art shelters of the barrancs, the ravines that cut through the limestone of this region, part of the UNESCO listing of Mediterranean prehistoric art. The exact contents of the nearby shelters are for specialists, but the landscape itself has a quiet, timeless beauty, especially in the soft light of late afternoon.
Read the complete Pinós write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 76 km into the recorded legs you reach Pinós. Next is Racó de la Cova dels Llidoners.
4. Racó de la Cova dels Llidoners
Somewhere up in these limestone folds, thousands of years ago, someone painted little figures on the rock that are still there. The Racó de la Cova dels Llidoners is one of many painted shelters in the Marina Alta, the north-eastern corner of the province of Alicante, which form part of the UNESCO-listed rock art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula. The shelters hold Levantine, Schematic and older Macroschematic paintings, showing hunters, animals and abstract shapes, and many are protected by fences and only visitable with a guide. The valleys around Murla, Orba and Tormos are full of them.
Read the complete Racó de la Cova dels Llidoners write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Racó de la Cova dels Llidoners, about halfway. Next is Barranc de Beniali- Abric l.
5. Barranc de Beniali- Abric l
The Vall de Gallinera is one of those valleys that seems to exist slightly outside time. Running east to west in the mountains of northern Alicante, it holds eight tiny villages strung along a single road, terraced slopes of cherry trees, and above them limestone ridges cut by steep ravines. The Barranc de Beniali is one of those ravines, and in a shelter on its walls prehistoric people painted figures that are now part of the World Heritage site of Levantine rock art. The valley next door, the Vall d'Ebo, is just as wild, and its Cova del Rull is a show cave full of stalactites.
Read the complete Barranc de Beniali- Abric l write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Barranc de Beniali- Abric l sits at 68 km, about halfway. Next is back through Racó de la Cova dels Llidoners.
6. back through Racó de la Cova dels Llidoners
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Racó de la Cova dels Llidoners write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Racó de la Cova dels Llidoners comes up about 166 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Pinós.
7. back through Pinós
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Pinós write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 188 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Pinós. Next is back through Barranc del Xorquet.
8. back through Barranc del Xorquet
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Barranc del Xorquet write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Barranc del Xorquet, late in the day. Next is Penyó de les Carrasques- Abric I.
9. Penyó de les Carrasques- Abric I
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Penyó de les Carrasques- Abric I write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 269 km.
Leg by leg
Penyó de les Carrasques- Abric I to Barranc del Xorquet
Penyó de les Carrasques- Abric I → Barranc del Xorquet is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Barranc del Xorquet to Pinós
Barranc del Xorquet → Pinós is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Pinós to Racó de la Cova dels Llidoners
Pinós → Racó de la Cova dels Llidoners is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Racó de la Cova dels Llidoners to Barranc de Beniali- Abric l
Racó de la Cova dels Llidoners → Barranc de Beniali- Abric l is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Barranc de Beniali- Abric l to back through Racó de la Cova dels Llidoners
Barranc de Beniali- Abric l → back through Racó de la Cova dels Llidoners is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Racó de la Cova dels Llidoners to back through Pinós
back through Racó de la Cova dels Llidoners → back through Pinós is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Pinós to back through Barranc del Xorquet
back through Pinós → back through Barranc del Xorquet is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Barranc del Xorquet to Penyó de les Carrasques- Abric I
back through Barranc del Xorquet → Penyó de les Carrasques- Abric I is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.