Pinós and Palmeral of Elche

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 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 Coves- Abric I.

2. 2. 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

   Barranc de les Coves- Abric I comes up about 82 km into the recorded legs. Next is Palmeral of Elche.

3. 3. Palmeral of Elche

   Riding into Elche from the dry hills of southern Alicante, the sudden forest of date palms feels like a mistake of geography, as if a piece of North Africa had been set down in Spain. In a sense it was. The palm groves were laid out in their present form during the Islamic period, when Arab settlers brought an irrigation system of channels fed by the Vinalopó river and arranged the orchards in walled plots, with palms on the edges and crops beneath. Tens of thousands of palms remain today in and around the city, the largest palm grove in Europe, and the Palmeral was added to the UNESCO list in 2000.

   Read the complete Palmeral of Elche write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 157 km into the recorded legs you reach Palmeral of Elche. Next is back through Barranc de les Coves- Abric I.

4. 4. 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

   back through Barranc de les Coves- Abric I, late in the day. Next is Pinós.

5. 5. 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

   Back at Pinós. That is the ride.