Why this ride
382 km from Villajoyosa to Villajoyosa, about 7 h 37 of riding. The stops in between: Barranc del Sord-Abric I, Barranc de les Coves- Abric I, Abric de Gontrán and Olula. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Tabla de Pochico and Olula
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 382 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 7 h 37
- 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. Tabla de Pochico
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.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Tabla de Pochico is where the day begins. Next is Barranc del Sord-Abric I.
2. Barranc del Sord-Abric I
Aitana is the mountain you can see from nearly everywhere in this part of Alicante, and at 1,558 metres it is the highest in the province. The village of Benimantell sits in its shadow, a tiny place of fewer than five hundred people with white houses and a view that ends in blue haze. The shelter named here, Barranc del Sord, belongs to the Tabla de Pochico group, a scatter of Levantine paintings in the hills of the Marina Baixa that form part of the UNESCO-listed rock art of the Mediterranean Basin.
Read the complete Barranc del Sord-Abric I write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Barranc del Sord-Abric I comes up about 49 km into the recorded legs. Next is Barranc de les Coves- Abric I.
3. Barranc de les Coves- Abric I
Ibi is the toy capital of Spain, a fact that surprises everyone who rides through this mountain town in the hills of Alicante. Since the early twentieth century, workshops here have produced dolls, tin toys and plastic figures, and the Valencian Toy Museum tells the story. The rock shelter named Barranc de les Coves Abric I lies in the hills between Ibi and Alcoy, in a ravine whose name simply means the gully of the caves.
Read the complete Barranc de les Coves- Abric I write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 91 km into the recorded legs you reach Barranc de les Coves- Abric I. Next is Abric de Gontrán.
4. Abric de Gontrán
Head south-west from Xàtiva along the old road to Castile and you climb gently into a corridor between two mountain ranges, the Serra Grossa on one side and the Serra de Enguera on the other. The town of Moixent sits where the corridor narrows, with Vallada just downstream and the vineyards of Fontanars dels Alforins on the plateau beyond. The Abric de Gontran lies in the hills just outside Moixent.
Read the complete Abric de Gontrán write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abric de Gontrán, about halfway. Next is Olula.
5. Olula
Caudete and Almansa sit in a corridor of land where Castile-La Mancha, Valencia and Murcia meet, and for centuries this was frontier country, where kingdoms and armies passed and fought. Olula is a point in the hills near Caudete, linked on the rides with rock-art shelters in the surrounding sierras, part of the extensive UNESCO listing of prehistoric art in Mediterranean Spain.
Read the complete Olula write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Olula sits at 146 km, about halfway. Next is back through Abric de Gontrán.
6. back through Abric de Gontrán
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Abric de Gontrán write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Abric de Gontrán comes up about 240 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Barranc de les Coves- Abric I.
7. back through Barranc de les Coves- Abric I
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Barranc de les Coves- Abric I write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 290 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Barranc de les Coves- Abric I. Next is back through Barranc del Sord-Abric I.
8. back through Barranc del Sord-Abric I
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Barranc del Sord-Abric I write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Barranc del Sord-Abric I, late in the day. Next is Tabla de Pochico.
9. Tabla de Pochico
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Tabla de Pochico write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 382 km.
Leg by leg
Tabla de Pochico to Barranc del Sord-Abric I
Tabla de Pochico → Barranc del Sord-Abric I is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Barranc del Sord-Abric I to Barranc de les Coves- Abric I
Barranc del Sord-Abric I → Barranc de les Coves- Abric I is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Barranc de les Coves- Abric I to Abric de Gontrán
Barranc de les Coves- Abric I → Abric de Gontrán is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abric de Gontrán to Olula
Abric de Gontrán → Olula is 55 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Olula to back through Abric de Gontrán
Olula → back through Abric de Gontrán is 44 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abric de Gontrán to back through Barranc de les Coves- Abric I
back through Abric de Gontrán → back through Barranc de les Coves- Abric I is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Barranc de les Coves- Abric I to back through Barranc del Sord-Abric I
back through Barranc de les Coves- Abric I → back through Barranc del Sord-Abric I is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Barranc del Sord-Abric I to Tabla de Pochico
back through Barranc del Sord-Abric I → Tabla de Pochico is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.