Why this ride
158 km from Confrides to Confrides, about 3 h 11 of riding. It goes by way of Barranc del Xorquet, Pinós and back through Barranc del Xorquet.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Penyó de les Carrasques- Abric I and Pinós
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 158 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 11
- 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 back through Barranc del Xorquet.
4. 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.
5. 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
Back at Penyó de les Carrasques- Abric I. That is the ride.
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 back through Barranc del Xorquet
Pinós → back through Barranc del Xorquet is 41 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.