Pyrénées - Mont Perdu and Chaves I · 657 km from Broto
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
657 km
Riding-time estimate
10 h 46
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
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.
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.
657 km from Broto to Broto, about 10 h 46 of riding. It goes by way of Abrigo del Camino, Abrigo de Santa Eulaliade la Peña, Forau del Cocho and Chaves I. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,950 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Pyrénées - Mont Perdu
Monte Perdido, the lost mountain, at 3,355 metres, is the highest limestone massif in Europe and the centrepiece of a cross-border World Heritage site shared by Spain and France. On the Spanish side, it gives its name to the Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park, with deep canyons radiating out from the summit; on the French side, it looks down on the great cirques of Gavarnie and Troumouse.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Pyrénées - Mont Perdu is where the day begins. Next is Abrigo del Camino.
2. Abrigo del Camino
The Sierra de Guara is the southern edge of the Pyrenees, a limestone range cut by canyons so deep and narrow that they have made the area a centre for canyoning. The river Vero runs through one of them, a gorge of pale rock and clear green pools, and at its mouth stands the village of Alquézar, whose collegiate church and castle dominate a rocky spur above the water. The Abrigo del Camino is one of the painted shelters in this country, part of the Levantine rock art of the Mediterranean arc that UNESCO lists, in a landscape that suits prehistoric hunters well.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abrigo del Camino comes up 43 km in. Next is Abrigo de Santa Eulaliade la Peña.
3. Abrigo de Santa Eulaliade la Peña
Just north of Huesca, where the flat cereal land of the Hoya suddenly rears up into the first limestone walls of the Pre-Pyrenees, lies the little village of Nueno and, above it, the rock shelter named after Santa Eulalia de la Peña. This is the southern edge of the Sierra de Guara country, a landscape of gorges, conglomerate cliffs and scrub where griffon vultures ride the thermals and the light comes hard off pale stone.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
86 km in you reach Abrigo de Santa Eulaliade la Peña. Next is Forau del Cocho.
4. Forau del Cocho
South of Huesca the land opens out. The Pyrenees are behind you, a snowy line on a clear day, and ahead stretches the gently rolling cereal country that eventually turns into the dry steppes of Los Monegros. Forau del Cocho lies in this transitional landscape, between Torres de Barbués, Almuniente and the outskirts of Huesca itself, a place where the only relief is the occasional low ridge or gully cut into soft rock.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Forau del Cocho, about halfway. Next is Chaves I.
5. Chaves I
The Cueva de Chaves, in the foothills of the Sierra de Guara in Huesca, was one of the most important Neolithic sites in the Iberian Peninsula, with deposits showing some of the earliest farming and herding in north-eastern Spain. In 2007, in an act that caused outrage, the landowner bulldozed the cave's floor deposits, destroying much of the archaeological record, and the case went to court. Rock art shelters in the area, including Chaves I and others in the Vero river valley, survive and are part of the Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin listing, with paintings ranging from Palaeolithic to schematic art.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 657 km.
Leg by leg
Pyrénées - Mont Perdu to Abrigo del Camino
Pyrénées - Mont Perdu → Abrigo del Camino is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abrigo del Camino to Abrigo de Santa Eulaliade la Peña
Abrigo del Camino → Abrigo de Santa Eulaliade la Peña is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abrigo de Santa Eulaliade la Peña to Forau del Cocho
Abrigo de Santa Eulaliade la Peña → Forau del Cocho is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Forau del Cocho to Chaves I
Forau del Cocho → Chaves I is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Chaves I to back through Forau del Cocho
Chaves I → back through Forau del Cocho is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Forau del Cocho to back through Abrigo de Santa Eulaliade la Peña
back through Forau del Cocho → back through Abrigo de Santa Eulaliade la Peña is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abrigo de Santa Eulaliade la Peña to back through Abrigo del Camino
back through Abrigo de Santa Eulaliade la Peña → back through Abrigo del Camino is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abrigo del Camino to Pyrénées - Mont Perdu
back through Abrigo del Camino → Pyrénées - Mont Perdu is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.