Why this ride
A 193 km round trip from Juneda - roughly 2 h 50 in the saddle. The stops in between: Poblet Monastery, The, Triumphal Arch of Berá and back through The. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Roques Guàrdies II and Triumphal Arch of Berá
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 193 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 50
- 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. Roques Guàrdies II
Les Garrigues is the dry, stony corner of western Catalonia, south-east of Lleida, a land of low hills, terraced olive groves, almond trees and stone huts, where the light is hard and the summers are hot. Roques Guàrdies II is a rock shelter in these hills near Juneda and Arbeca, with traces of prehistoric paintings in the Levantine style, part of the World Heritage site of rock art in the Mediterranean Basin of the Iberian Peninsula.
Read the complete Roques Guàrdies II write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Roques Guàrdies II is where the day begins. Next is Poblet Monastery.
2. Poblet Monastery
Few places in Catalonia carry as much weight as Poblet. The Cistercian monastery was founded in the middle of the twelfth century on land granted by Count Ramon Berenguer IV, and over the following generations it became the royal pantheon of the Crown of Aragon, the place where kings chose to be buried under carved alabaster. It is still a working community of monks, which gives the vast walled complex a quietness that the coach parties never quite manage to break. UNESCO listed it in 1991, and walking through the outer gates, past the first enclosure and into the cloister, you feel the scale of medieval monastic power in a way that a textbook never conveys.
Read the complete Poblet Monastery write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Poblet Monastery comes up about 32 km into the recorded legs. Next is The.
3. The
Inside a plain-looking farmhouse building is a domed hall from the fourth century, its cupola covered in mosaics of hunting scenes, biblical stories and figures that may represent the imperial family. Some scholars believe it was built as a mausoleum for Constans, son of Constantine the Great, who was killed in 350; others are not so sure, and the debate is part of the fun. The site belongs to the UNESCO listing for the Roman town of Tarraco.
Read the complete The write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 70 km into the recorded legs you reach The. Next is Triumphal Arch of Berá.
4. Triumphal Arch of Berá
For centuries traffic on the main coastal road of Catalonia drove straight through a Roman triumphal arch. The Arc de Berà stands on the line of the Via Augusta, the great Roman road from the Pyrenees to Cádiz, about twenty kilometres northeast of Tarragona, and until the road was diverted around it in the late twentieth century, cars and trucks passed under its single span. It was built at the end of the first century BC, and an inscription records that it was erected according to the will of Lucius Licinius Sura, a figure whose identity historians still discuss. It is part of the UNESCO listing for the Roman remains of Tarraco.
Read the complete Triumphal Arch of Berá write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Triumphal Arch of Berá, about halfway. Next is back through The.
5. back through The
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through The sits at 129 km, about halfway. Next is back through Poblet Monastery.
6. back through Poblet Monastery
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Poblet Monastery write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Poblet Monastery comes up about 162 km into the recorded legs. Next is Roques Guàrdies II.
7. Roques Guàrdies II
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Roques Guàrdies II write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Roques Guàrdies II closes the day.
Leg by leg
Roques Guàrdies II to Poblet Monastery
Roques Guàrdies II → Poblet Monastery is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Poblet Monastery to The
Poblet Monastery → The is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The to Triumphal Arch of Berá
The → Triumphal Arch of Berá is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Triumphal Arch of Berá to back through The
Triumphal Arch of Berá → back through The is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through The to back through Poblet Monastery
back through The → back through Poblet Monastery is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Poblet Monastery to Roques Guàrdies II
back through Poblet Monastery → Roques Guàrdies II is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.