Why this ride
146 km from Aspa to Aspa, about 2 h 10 of riding. The stops in between: Roques Guàrdies II, Poblet Monastery and back through Roques Guàrdies II. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés and Poblet Monastery
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 146 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 10
- 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. Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés
South of Lleida the irrigated orchards give way abruptly to dry, open steppe, and the little village of Alfés sits on the edge of that change. The Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés are rock paintings in a small sandstone shelter near the village, schematic designs in red pigment, mostly abstract lines, dots and simplified figures, that belong to the later, more symbolic phase of prehistoric art in eastern Spain, and they are included in the UNESCO listing of Mediterranean Basin rock art. They are modest to look at, but there is something powerful about seeing marks left by people thousands of years ago in such an open, wind-swept place.
Read the complete Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés is where the day begins. Next is Roques Guàrdies II.
2. Roques Guàrdies II
Les Garrigues is the dry, stony corner of western Catalonia, south-east of Lleida, a land of low hills, terraced olive groves, almond trees and stone huts, where the light is hard and the summers are hot. Roques Guàrdies II is a rock shelter in these hills near Juneda and Arbeca, with traces of prehistoric paintings in the Levantine style, part of the World Heritage site of rock art in the Mediterranean Basin of the Iberian Peninsula.
Read the complete Roques Guàrdies II write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Roques Guàrdies II comes up about 32 km into the recorded legs. Next is Poblet Monastery.
3. Poblet Monastery
Few places in Catalonia carry as much weight as Poblet. The Cistercian monastery was founded in the middle of the twelfth century on land granted by Count Ramon Berenguer IV, and over the following generations it became the royal pantheon of the Crown of Aragon, the place where kings chose to be buried under carved alabaster. It is still a working community of monks, which gives the vast walled complex a quietness that the coach parties never quite manage to break. UNESCO listed it in 1991, and walking through the outer gates, past the first enclosure and into the cloister, you feel the scale of medieval monastic power in a way that a textbook never conveys.
Read the complete Poblet Monastery write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 60 km into the recorded legs you reach Poblet Monastery. Next is back through Roques Guàrdies II.
4. back through Roques Guàrdies II
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Roques Guàrdies II write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Roques Guàrdies II, late in the day. Next is Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés.
5. Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés to Roques Guàrdies II
Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés → Roques Guàrdies II is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Roques Guàrdies II to Poblet Monastery
Roques Guàrdies II → Poblet Monastery is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Poblet Monastery to back through Roques Guàrdies II
Poblet Monastery → back through Roques Guàrdies II is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Roques Guàrdies II to Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés
back through Roques Guàrdies II → Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés is 56 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.