Tabla de Pochico and Penya de Benicadell

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 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 Cova de la Catxupa- Abric I.

2. 2. Cova de la Catxupa- Abric I

   The Marina Alta is the northern Costa Blanca at its most mixed: villas on every slope, a ribbon of coast running from Moraira to Jávea, and just behind it, farm terraces, dry stone walls and small rock shelters where prehistoric people left their mark. The Cova de la Catxupa, near Teulada and Benitachell, is one of them, a shelter in the hills a few kilometres from the sea, listed with the other Mediterranean rock art of the Iberian Peninsula.

   Read the complete Cova de la Catxupa- Abric I write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Cova de la Catxupa- Abric I comes up about 56 km into the recorded legs. Next is Penya de Benicadell.

3. 3. Penya de Benicadell

   From almost anywhere in the southern half of Valencia province you can see it: a long, jagged ridge of grey limestone with a sharp tooth at its eastern end, standing on the skyline like a broken saw. The Benicadell, at 1,104 metres, separates the Vall d'Albaida to the north from the Comtat to the south, and the sharp summit, the Penya, is the mountain's signature. At its foot lie the villages of Beniarrés, Ràfol de Salem and Otos.

   Read the complete Penya de Benicadell write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 130 km into the recorded legs you reach Penya de Benicadell. Next is back through Cova de la Catxupa- Abric I.

4. 4. back through Cova de la Catxupa- Abric I

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Cova de la Catxupa- 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 Cova de la Catxupa- Abric I, late in the day. Next is Tabla de Pochico.

5. 5. 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

   Back at Tabla de Pochico. That is the ride.