Why this ride
A 121 km round trip from Torre del Compte - roughly 2 h 38 in the saddle. It goes by way of Els Secans, Valcomuna and back through Els Secans. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Roca dels moros and Valcomuna
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 121 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 38
- 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. Roca dels moros
In 1903, a young man from Calaceite named Juan Cabré, who would go on to become one of Spain's pioneering archaeologists, found painted figures of deer and other animals in a rock shelter in the Calapatá ravine, between Calaceite and Cretas. The Roca dels Moros became one of the first sites of Levantine rock art identified in Spain, and it helped open up a whole new field of study. Today it is part of the UNESCO listing of rock art of the Mediterranean Basin, and a visit here is a small pilgrimage to the beginnings of that story.
Read the complete Roca dels moros write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Roca dels moros is where the day begins. Next is Els Secans.
2. Els Secans
The lower Matarraña, in the far east of Aragón, is a drier, emptier country than the green upper valley. Here, the river flows through low hills of sandstone and limestone, with olive groves, almond trees and cereal fields, and the villages stand on hilltops, built of golden stone. Mazaleón is one of them, a small village above the river, with Maella and Calaceite nearby. Els Secans, a name meaning the dry lands, is a shelter with prehistoric paintings in the hills just outside the village.
Read the complete Els Secans write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Els Secans comes up about 23 km into the recorded legs. Next is Valcomuna.
3. Valcomuna
Lower Aragon is a country of dry hills, olive groves and red earth, and in its ravines people painted on the rock thousands of years ago. Valcomuna is one of those rock art sites, between Alcañiz and Caspe near the village of Maella, part of the great family of painted shelters running down Spain's Mediterranean side that UNESCO listed as the Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula. The figures in this tradition are small and lively, archers, deer, goats and people in motion, painted in red and black under overhangs where the weather could not wash them away.
Read the complete Valcomuna 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 Valcomuna. Next is back through Els Secans.
4. back through Els Secans
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Els Secans write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Els Secans, late in the day. Next is Roca dels moros.
5. Roca dels moros
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Roca dels moros write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Roca dels moros. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Roca dels moros to Els Secans
Roca dels moros → Els Secans is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Els Secans to Valcomuna
Els Secans → Valcomuna is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Valcomuna to back through Els Secans
Valcomuna → back through Els Secans is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Els Secans to Roca dels moros
back through Els Secans → Roca dels moros is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.