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.
318 km from Socovos to Socovos, about 7 h 29 of riding. It goes by way of Andragulla I, friso de los Gitanos o Abrigo del Cazador, Diosa madre and back through friso de los Gitanos o Abrigo del Cazador. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,350 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
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 Andragulla I.
In the far north-west corner of the Region of Murcia, where the land climbs towards the mountains of Albacete and Jaén, lies Moratalla, a town of whitewashed houses piled up a hillside beneath a castle tower. Its countryside is surprisingly wild for Murcia: pine forests, rivers, gorges and limestone ridges, some of the greenest land in a famously dry region. The rock shelter of Andragulla is one of many painted overhangs scattered through these hills, part of the Levantine rock art sites inscribed together by UNESCO. Many are protected behind fences and need a guide; the tourist office in Moratalla can advise.
Read the complete Andragulla I write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Andragulla I comes up about 47 km into the recorded legs. Next is friso de los Gitanos o Abrigo del Cazador.
Nerpio sits at about a thousand metres in the Sierra de Segura foothills, at the far south-west corner of Albacete province, in a high valley that feels closer to Andalusia than to La Mancha. It is an out-of-the-way place, with orchards of apples, almond and walnut trees in the valley bottoms and bare limestone peaks above. The area is famous among specialists for its rock art: dozens of shelters in the surrounding gorges hold paintings of the Levantine and Schematic styles, and they are part of the Mediterranean-arc group UNESCO listed in 1998. The Friso de los Gitanos, the Gypsies' Frieze, is one of the better known, and the name tells you that locals have been looking at it for a long time.
Read the complete friso de los Gitanos o Abrigo del Cazador write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 76 km into the recorded legs you reach friso de los Gitanos o Abrigo del Cazador. 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.
Diosa madre, about halfway. Next is back through friso de los Gitanos o Abrigo del Cazador.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete friso de los Gitanos o Abrigo del Cazador write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through friso de los Gitanos o Abrigo del Cazador sits at 106 km, about halfway. Next is back through Andragulla I.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Andragulla I write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Andragulla I comes up about 270 km into the recorded legs. 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.
Solana del molinico closes the day.
Solana del molinico → Andragulla I is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Andragulla I → friso de los Gitanos o Abrigo del Cazador is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
friso de los Gitanos o Abrigo del Cazador → Diosa madre is 107 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Diosa madre → back through friso de los Gitanos o Abrigo del Cazador is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through friso de los Gitanos o Abrigo del Cazador → back through Andragulla I is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Andragulla I → Solana del molinico is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.