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.
506 km from Aldeaquemada to Aldeaquemada, about 9 h 11 of riding. On the way it passes Renaissance Monumental Ensembles of Úbeda, Abrigo del.melgar, Letreros de los mártires and back through Abrigo del.melgar. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,400 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Poyo medio Cimbarra
Aldeaquemada is a village of barely five hundred people in the Sierra Morena, in the north of Jaén province, and the hills around it are among the wildest in Andalusia. The Cimbarra gorge is the dramatic feature of the area, a deep cleft cut by the Guarrizas river through dark slate and quartzite, with cliffs, oak and rock rose on the slopes and vultures riding the air above. The Poyo Medio, a rocky outcrop on the gorge, holds a rock shelter with paintings that belong to the tradition of schematic and Levantine art in the Sierra Morena, among the oldest signs of human presence in the region.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Poyo medio Cimbarra is where the day begins. Next is Renaissance Monumental Ensembles of Úbeda.
2. Renaissance Monumental Ensembles of Úbeda
Úbeda stands on a ridge above an ocean of olive trees. In every direction, the province of Jaén rolls away in silver-green rows, millions of trees planted in geometric lines up to the horizon, and on this sea floats a town of honey-coloured stone that looks as if it had been lifted from Florence. In the sixteenth century, powerful local families who served the Spanish crown, above all Francisco de los Cobos, secretary to Emperor Charles V, poured their wealth into palaces and churches here, and the architect Andrés de Vandelvira gave them a Renaissance style of rare purity. Úbeda and its smaller neighbour Baeza were inscribed together on the UNESCO list in 2003.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Renaissance Monumental Ensembles of Úbeda comes up about 102 km into the recorded legs. Next is Abrigo del.melgar, 57 km on.
3. Abrigo del.melgar
Quesada is a white town at the foot of the Sierra de Cazorla, in the province of Jaén, surrounded by an ocean of olive trees. The groves stretch to the horizon in every direction, a landscape that makes Jaén the world's largest producer of olive oil. Behind the town, the mountains rise steeply, with pine forest and limestone cliffs, and the Guadalquivir river has its source not far away. The Abrigo del Melgar lies in the hills just outside the town.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 148 km into the recorded legs you reach Abrigo del.melgar. Next is Letreros de los mártires.
4. Letreros de los mártires
Out in the high north-east of Granada province, Huéscar feels a long way from the Alhambra and the beaches of the Costa Tropical. This is the altiplano, a broad upland of wheat fields, almond trees and pale badlands at around a thousand metres, ringed by mountains, with the great limestone hump of La Sagra rising to the north. The rock shelter called Letreros de los Mártires lies in this country, a dozen or so kilometres from the town.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Poyo medio Cimbarra closes the day.
Leg by leg
Poyo medio Cimbarra to Renaissance Monumental Ensembles of Úbeda
Poyo medio Cimbarra → Renaissance Monumental Ensembles of Úbeda is 102 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Renaissance Monumental Ensembles of Úbeda to Abrigo del.melgar
Renaissance Monumental Ensembles of Úbeda → Abrigo del.melgar is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abrigo del.melgar to Letreros de los mártires
Abrigo del.melgar → Letreros de los mártires is 92 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Letreros de los mártires to back through Abrigo del.melgar
Letreros de los mártires → back through Abrigo del.melgar is 118 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Abrigo del.melgar to back through Renaissance Monumental Ensembles of Úbeda
back through Abrigo del.melgar → back through Renaissance Monumental Ensembles of Úbeda is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Renaissance Monumental Ensembles of Úbeda to Poyo medio Cimbarra
back through Renaissance Monumental Ensembles of Úbeda → Poyo medio Cimbarra is 101 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.