Why this ride
A 437 km round trip from Benissa - roughly 7 h 49 in the saddle. The stops in between: Barranc de les Covatelles, Barranc de les Coves- Abric I, Abric de Gontrán and Barranc de les Coves- Abric II. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Pinós and Barranc de les Coves- Abric II
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 437 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 7 h 49
- 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. 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
Pinós is where the day begins. Next is Barranc de les Covatelles.
2. Barranc de les Covatelles
Guadalest is a tiny village on a rock, entered through a tunnel cut in the stone, with a castle, a bell tower perched on a pinnacle and a view over a turquoise reservoir below. It is one of the most visited places in the province of Alicante, and it sits at the heart of a valley surrounded by mountains: the Aitana, the highest in the province at over fifteen hundred metres, the Serrella and the Xortà. The Barranc de les Covatelles is one of the ravines in this mountainous country, near Benimantell, Sella and Castell de Castells, with rock shelters that hold prehistoric paintings, one component of the World Heritage inscription for the rock art of the Mediterranean Basin.
Read the complete Barranc de les Covatelles write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Barranc de les Covatelles comes up about 53 km into the recorded legs. Next is Barranc de les Coves- Abric I.
3. Barranc de les Coves- Abric I
Ibi is the toy capital of Spain, a fact that surprises everyone who rides through this mountain town in the hills of Alicante. Since the early twentieth century, workshops here have produced dolls, tin toys and plastic figures, and the Valencian Toy Museum tells the story. The rock shelter named Barranc de les Coves Abric I lies in the hills between Ibi and Alcoy, in a ravine whose name simply means the gully of the caves.
Read the complete Barranc de les Coves- Abric I write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 89 km into the recorded legs you reach Barranc de les Coves- Abric I. Next is Abric de Gontrán.
4. Abric de Gontrán
Head south-west from Xàtiva along the old road to Castile and you climb gently into a corridor between two mountain ranges, the Serra Grossa on one side and the Serra de Enguera on the other. The town of Moixent sits where the corridor narrows, with Vallada just downstream and the vineyards of Fontanars dels Alforins on the plateau beyond. The Abric de Gontran lies in the hills just outside Moixent.
Read the complete Abric de Gontrán write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abric de Gontrán, about halfway. Next is Barranc de les Coves- Abric II.
5. Barranc de les Coves- Abric II
Ibi is the first thing to understand here, because the town sits so close that the rock shelter feels like its back garden. Ibi is a place that makes toys, and has done for generations; the whole Hoya de Castalla and the neighbouring town of Onil grew a tinplate-and-plastic industry that once filled children's bedrooms across Spain. Before the factories, Ibi was known for something colder: snow and ice gathered from the high ground of the Sierra de Mariola and stored in pits for the summer. A town that lives on cold in a region that bakes is a good story to carry up the hill.
Read the complete Barranc de les Coves- Abric II write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Barranc de les Coves- Abric II sits at 137 km, about halfway. Next is back through Abric de Gontrán.
6. back through Abric de Gontrán
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Abric de Gontrán write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Abric de Gontrán comes up about 291 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Barranc de les Coves- Abric I.
7. back through Barranc de les Coves- Abric I
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Barranc de les Coves- Abric I write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 341 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Barranc de les Coves- Abric I. Next is back through Barranc de les Covatelles.
8. back through Barranc de les Covatelles
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Barranc de les Covatelles write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Barranc de les Covatelles, late in the day. Next is Pinós.
9. 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
The route ends here after 437 km.
Leg by leg
Pinós to Barranc de les Covatelles
Pinós → Barranc de les Covatelles is 53 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Barranc de les Covatelles to Barranc de les Coves- Abric I
Barranc de les Covatelles → Barranc de les Coves- Abric I is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Barranc de les Coves- Abric I to Abric de Gontrán
Barranc de les Coves- Abric I → Abric de Gontrán is 74 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abric de Gontrán to Barranc de les Coves- Abric II
Abric de Gontrán → Barranc de les Coves- Abric II is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Barranc de les Coves- Abric II to back through Abric de Gontrán
Barranc de les Coves- Abric II → back through Abric de Gontrán is 78 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abric de Gontrán to back through Barranc de les Coves- Abric I
back through Abric de Gontrán → back through Barranc de les Coves- Abric I is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Barranc de les Coves- Abric I to back through Barranc de les Covatelles
back through Barranc de les Coves- Abric I → back through Barranc de les Covatelles is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Barranc de les Covatelles to Pinós
back through Barranc de les Covatelles → Pinós is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.