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.
From Socovos it runs 628 km to Socovos; allow about 14 h 18 of riding. On the way it passes Cañaica del Calar l, Diosa madre, Cañada de la Cruz and Chiquita. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,400 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.
Socovos is the sort of village you only find by getting a little lost: a cluster of white houses below a ruined castle in the far southeast of Albacete province, where the plains of La Mancha give way to the tangled ridges of the Sierra de Segura. Solana del Molinico, close by, is one of the rock-art shelters in this corner of Spain that belong to the UNESCO listing for Levantine rock art. The word solana means a sun-facing slope, and many of these painted overhangs face south, catching the warmth on winter days just as they must have done when hunters and gatherers sheltered here.
Read the complete Solana del molinico write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Solana del molinico is where the day begins. Next is Cañaica del Calar l.
Very few people get here. The Cañaica del Calar lies in the far north-west of the region of Murcia, near the border with Albacete and Andalusia, in a wild landscape of limestone plateaus, pine forests and deep valleys around Moratalla and Nerpio. The calar is the local word for a limestone plateau, and the rock shelters on its edges hold prehistoric paintings in the Levantine style, part of the World Heritage rock art of the Mediterranean. The area around Nerpio is one of the richest in Spain for rock art.
Read the complete Cañaica del Calar l write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Cañaica del Calar l comes up about 36 km into the recorded legs. Next is Diosa madre.
Some places on a map feel remote; this one actually is. The point named Diosa Madre, mother goddess, lies in the mountains of the Sierra de Segura, in the far southwest of Albacete province, roughly sixteen kilometres from Yeste and not far from the border with Jaén. The mountains themselves are the real experience.
Read the complete Diosa madre write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 109 km into the recorded legs you reach Diosa madre. Next is Cañada de la Cruz.
The Cañada de la Cruz is a high valley or drovers' pasture in the Segura mountains; cañada is the word for the traditional livestock routes and grazing grounds used by shepherds moving their flocks between summer and winter pastures, and this part of Spain has a long history of transhumance.
Read the complete Cañada de la Cruz write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Cañada de la Cruz, about halfway. Next is Chiquita.
Almería is known for deserts and beaches, but its northern edge is a different country, a high, cold plateau of almond orchards and pine-covered sierras that the locals call Los Vélez. The town of Vélez-Blanco, with just over 2,000 people, lies under a castle on a rocky crest, and María and Chirivel are smaller places on the plateau. The region is protected as the Sierra María-Los Vélez natural park, and the air is clear, the sky enormous, and the nights cold, even in summer. In late winter the almond trees bloom pink and white on the slopes below the peaks.
Read the complete Chiquita write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Chiquita sits at 197 km, about halfway. Next is back through Cañada de la Cruz.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cañada de la Cruz write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Cañada de la Cruz comes up about 461 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Diosa madre.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Diosa madre write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 519 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Diosa madre. Next is back through Cañaica del Calar l.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cañaica del Calar l write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Cañaica del Calar l, late in the day. Next is Solana del molinico.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Solana del molinico write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 628 km.
Solana del molinico → Cañaica del Calar l is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cañaica del Calar l → Diosa madre is 73 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Diosa madre → Cañada de la Cruz is 55 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cañada de la Cruz → Chiquita is 149 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Chiquita → back through Cañada de la Cruz is 148 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Cañada de la Cruz → back through Diosa madre is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Diosa madre → back through Cañaica del Calar l is 73 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cañaica del Calar l → Solana del molinico is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.