CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
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.
A 398 km round trip from Villafranca del Cid - roughly 8 h 30 in the saddle. On the way it passes mas d'en Josep- Abric l, Galeria del Roure, Las Rozas I and Abric del mas de Barberà. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,250 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.
Racó means corner in Valencian, and this really is a corner: a fold in the limestone hills between Benassal, Culla and Vilafranca, in the interior of Castellón where the coast's crowds feel a continent away. The rock shelter here is one of the many small sites of Levantine prehistoric painting that together make up a UNESCO World Heritage listing, and like most of them it is modest, fenced and best seen with a local guide. What lingers is less the painting than the idea of hunters choosing this exact overhang, with water close by and a view down the valley, and leaving their mark on it.
Read the complete Racó de Nando write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Racó de Nando is where the day begins. Next is mas d'en Josep- Abric l.
If the rock art of eastern Spain has a capital, it is the Valltorta gorge in the Maestrat of Castellón, and the Mas d'en Josep shelter is one of its classic sites. The paintings here belong to the Levantine style, small, lively scenes of hunters with bows, running figures and animals in motion, drawn with an energy that still feels modern. One famous panel from this area shows a deer hunt; others depict archers in mid-stride. The shelters of the Valltorta are part of the UNESCO-listed rock art of the Mediterranean Basin, and the museum at Tírig, near the gorge, is the place to start: it explains the art, shows reproductions, and organises guided visits to the shelters, which are fenced and protected.
Read the complete mas d'en Josep- Abric l write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
mas d'en Josep- Abric l comes up about 33 km into the recorded legs. Next is Galeria del Roure.
Morella rises from the plateau of the Ports like something from a dream: a walled town wrapped around a rocky hill, crowned by a castle, with the Gothic basilica of Santa María la Mayor in the middle, and two kilometres of medieval walls with towers and gates running around the base. It is one of the most impressive historic towns in Spain, and the Galeria del Roure, a rock shelter about four kilometres away, is part of the cluster of prehistoric sites around Morella, including Morella la Vella, one of the important rock-art sites of the Valencian region, all part of the UNESCO listing of Mediterranean rock art. The shelters are small and some are protected, so ask at the tourist office in town about visits.
Read the complete Galeria del Roure write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 88 km into the recorded legs you reach Galeria del Roure. Next is Las Rozas I.
The upper valley of the Guadalope in Teruel is a place where limestone has been folded, cut and carved into an extraordinary array of shapes: cliffs, gorges, natural arches and pinnacles, with the river winding between them in places of startling green. Near Castellote, the painted shelter labelled Las Rozas I is one of the sites of Levantine rock art listed by UNESCO. Its figures are faint and fragile, but they speak of people who hunted deer and ibex in these same valleys thousands of years ago.
Read the complete Las Rozas I write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Las Rozas I, about halfway. Next is Abric del mas de Barberà.
Alcañiz is the capital of the Bajo Aragón, a region of olive groves, cereal fields and dry hills crossed by the Guadalope river in the south-east of Aragón. The town is crowned by a castle built for the Order of Calatrava, now a parador, and its main square, with a Gothic loggia and the town hall, is one of the finest in the region. The shelter of the Mas de Barberà lies in the hills just outside town, toward Castelserás and Calanda.
Read the complete Abric del mas de Barberà write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Abric del mas de Barberà sits at 158 km, about halfway. Next is back through Las Rozas I.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Las Rozas I write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Las Rozas I comes up about 250 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Galeria del Roure.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Galeria del Roure write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 309 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Galeria del Roure. Next is back through mas d'en Josep- Abric l.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete mas d'en Josep- Abric l write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through mas d'en Josep- Abric l, late in the day. Next is Racó de Nando.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Racó de Nando write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 398 km.
Racó de Nando → mas d'en Josep- Abric l is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
mas d'en Josep- Abric l → Galeria del Roure is 55 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Galeria del Roure → Las Rozas I is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Las Rozas I → Abric del mas de Barberà is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abric del mas de Barberà → back through Las Rozas I is 53 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Las Rozas I → back through Galeria del Roure is 59 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Galeria del Roure → back through mas d'en Josep- Abric l is 55 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through mas d'en Josep- Abric l → Racó de Nando is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.