The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
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401 km from El Campello to El Campello, about 7 h 36 of riding. It goes by way of Barranc de frainos- Abric I, Barraac de la Palla, Barranc de frainos- Abric II and Barranc d'Alpadull- Abric I. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Prado del Azogue
El Campello was a fishing village until quite recently, and it still has a working fish market on the seafront, where boats come in each afternoon and the catch is sold by auction. Today the town, with about 26,000 people, is one of the commuter and holiday towns on the coast north of Alicante, its beach lined with flats and its old harbour with small restaurants serving fresh fish and rice dishes. It is a nice place for a stop, with a long sandy beach and calm water, and in the summer evenings the promenade fills with families.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Prado del Azogue is where the day begins. Next is Barranc de frainos- Abric I.
2. Barranc de frainos- Abric I
The mountains behind Benidorm are a world away from the high-rise hotels and the beaches. Inland from the Costa Blanca, the land rises quickly into a jumble of limestone ridges, the highest of which, the Serra d'Aitana, reaches over fifteen hundred metres, the roof of the province of Alicante. Between Sella, Benilloba and Relleu, deep in this rugged country, the Barranc de Frainos holds a rock shelter with prehistoric paintings, part of the UNESCO listing of Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula. The sites here are small and fragile, and access is usually limited to guided visits, but the landscape is worth the journey.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Barranc de frainos- Abric I comes up 35 km in. Next is Barraac de la Palla.
3. Barraac de la Palla
Tormos and Sagra are tiny villages at the foot of the mountains in the north of Alicante province, at the point where the plain of the Marina Alta meets the hills. They are surrounded by orange groves and orchards, with the mountains of the Vall de Laguar and the Serra del Migdia rising steeply behind. The Barranc de la Palla, the ravine of the straw, cuts into the hills near Tormos, close also to Orba and the town of Pego.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
71 km in you reach Barraac de la Palla. Next is Barranc de frainos- Abric II.
4. Barranc de frainos- Abric II
A barranc is a ravine in Valencian, and the country behind Alicante is full of them, deep cuts in the pale limestone where the winter rains drain toward the sea. This one lies in the foothills of the Aitana range, near the villages of Benilloba and Sella, and hides a rock shelter with prehistoric paintings, protected under the same World Heritage banner as the painted caves of the whole Spanish Levant. The interior of Alicante province is quite different from the coast, with almond and olive terraces, pine forest and little white villages tucked into the folds, and the air smells of pine resin and thyme.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Barranc de frainos- Abric II, about halfway. Next is Barranc d'Alpadull- Abric I.
5. Barranc d'Alpadull- Abric I
The painted shelter of Barranc d'Alpadull sits in the folds of the Serra de Mariola, the limestone massif that rises between Bocairent, Alfafara and Agres in the inland corner where Valencia, Alicante and the old kingdom's hill country all meet. It is one of the many small overhangs in eastern Spain that carry Levantine rock art, the group of sites inscribed together by UNESCO as the Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin. Do not expect a museum. These are faint, reddish figures under a lip of stone, usually fenced, often hard to read unless the light is low and raking, and part of the pleasure is simply knowing that hunters drew here thousands of years before anyone thought of building a road up this valley.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 401 km.
Leg by leg
Prado del Azogue to Barranc de frainos- Abric I
Prado del Azogue → Barranc de frainos- Abric I is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Barranc de frainos- Abric I to Barraac de la Palla
Barranc de frainos- Abric I → Barraac de la Palla is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Barraac de la Palla to Barranc de frainos- Abric II
Barraac de la Palla → Barranc de frainos- Abric II is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Barranc de frainos- Abric II to Barranc d'Alpadull- Abric I
Barranc de frainos- Abric II → Barranc d'Alpadull- Abric I is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Barranc d'Alpadull- Abric I to back through Barranc de frainos- Abric II
Barranc d'Alpadull- Abric I → back through Barranc de frainos- Abric II is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Barranc de frainos- Abric II to back through Barraac de la Palla
back through Barranc de frainos- Abric II → back through Barraac de la Palla is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Barraac de la Palla to back through Barranc de frainos- Abric I
back through Barraac de la Palla → back through Barranc de frainos- Abric I is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Barranc de frainos- Abric I to Prado del Azogue
back through Barranc de frainos- Abric I → Prado del Azogue is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.