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 248 km round trip from Villajoyosa - roughly 5 h 15 in the saddle. On the way it passes Barranc de frainos- Abric I, Cova Llarga, Cova de la Petxina and back through Cova Llarga. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Villajoyosa, the Vila, is one of those towns that makes a bad first impression only on the way in. The approach is lined with apartment blocks, but the old seafront is a long row of houses painted in bright colours, ochre, pink, blue and green, said to have helped fishermen find their own door from the sea. Behind the harbour the church stands fortress-like, built with walls designed to withstand pirate raids, and the whole place smells faintly of the sea and, oddly, of chocolate, because the town is home to one of Spain's best known chocolate makers, founded in the nineteenth century. The Tabla de Pochico lies in the hills a few kilometres inland, in the scrubby, rocky land that rises behind the coast.
Read the complete Tabla de Pochico write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Tabla de Pochico is where the day begins. Next is Barranc de frainos- Abric I.
The mountains behind Benidorm are a world away from the high-rise hotels and the beaches. Inland from the Costa Blanca, the land rises quickly into a jumble of limestone ridges, the highest of which, the Serra d'Aitana, reaches over fifteen hundred metres, the roof of the province of Alicante. Between Sella, Benilloba and Relleu, deep in this rugged country, the Barranc de Frainos holds a rock shelter with prehistoric paintings, part of the UNESCO listing of Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula. The sites here are small and fragile, and access is usually limited to guided visits, but the landscape is worth the journey.
Read the complete Barranc de frainos- Abric I write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Barranc de frainos- Abric I comes up about 38 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cova Llarga.
The Benicadell is the mountain that tells you where you are in this part of Valencia. Its long, sharp limestone ridge, topped by a distinctive rocky tooth, separates the Vall d'Albaida from the valleys of Alcoy and Cocentaina, and on clear days it is visible from the coast. The Cova Llarga, the long cave, sits on the southern side of this world, in the folded hills near Beniarrés, Terrateig and Planes, and it belongs to the scatter of small sites that record people living, painting and sheltering in these hills since prehistory.
Read the complete Cova Llarga write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 85 km into the recorded legs you reach Cova Llarga. Next is Cova de la Petxina.
Bellús is a small village in the valley of the Albaida river in southern Valencia, just upstream from where the river flows into a reservoir and then joins the Júcar. The old village was partly flooded by the reservoir, and the new one stands on higher ground. The Cova de la Petxina, the cave of the shell, is in the hills near the village, close to Guadasequies and Genovés.
Read the complete Cova de la Petxina write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Cova de la Petxina, about halfway. Next is back through Cova Llarga.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cova Llarga write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Cova Llarga sits at 109 km, about halfway. Next is back through Barranc de frainos- Abric I.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Barranc de frainos- Abric I write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Barranc de frainos- Abric I comes up about 211 km into the recorded legs. Next is Tabla de Pochico.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Tabla de Pochico write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Tabla de Pochico closes the day.
Tabla de Pochico → Barranc de frainos- Abric I is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Barranc de frainos- Abric I → Cova Llarga is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cova Llarga → Cova de la Petxina is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cova de la Petxina → back through Cova Llarga is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cova Llarga → back through Barranc de frainos- Abric I is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Barranc de frainos- Abric I → Tabla de Pochico is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.