Torre de la iglesia de San Martín and Castellón de los machos
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
331 km
Riding-time estimate
6 h 18
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.
From Teruel it runs 331 km to Teruel; allow about 6 h 18 of riding. The stops in between: Abrigo de la Paridera de las Tajadas, Cueva de la Peña de la morería, Castellón de los machos and back through Cueva de la Peña de la morería. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,600 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Torre de la iglesia de San Martín
Teruel is a small provincial capital high on the Aragonese plateau, and its skyline is made of Mudéjar towers, built by Muslim craftsmen working for Christian patrons in brick and glazed ceramic tiles. The tower of San Martín, dating to the early fourteenth century, is one of the finest, a square tower straddling a street, so that traffic passes through an arch at its base. With the other Mudéjar towers of the city and the cathedral, it forms part of the World Heritage listing of Mudéjar Architecture of Aragon.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Torre de la iglesia de San Martín is where the day begins. Next is Abrigo de la Paridera de las Tajadas.
2. Abrigo de la Paridera de las Tajadas
Red sandstone is the first thing you notice. Between Albarracín, Bezas and Gea de Albarracín the ground turns the colour of rust, broken into towers, corridors and rounded boulders under a dense cover of maritime pine. This is the Pinares de Rodeno, a protected landscape in the Sierra de Albarracín, and its overhangs shelter some of the best-known Levantine rock paintings in Aragon, including pale and red bulls that seem far too large for the shallow hollows that hold them. The Abrigo de la Paridera de las Tajadas is one of these shelters, its name borrowed from the shepherds' pens, parideras, where ewes were brought to lamb under the rock.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abrigo de la Paridera de las Tajadas comes up about 27 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cueva de la Peña de la morería.
3. Cueva de la Peña de la morería
The Sierra de Albarracín is a high, cold, empty land of pine forests, red sandstone and limestone, at well over a thousand metres, and it hides some of the most interesting prehistoric rock art in Spain. The Pinares de Rodeno, a protected landscape of pine forests and red sandstone outcrops near Albarracín, has shelters with paintings of bulls, deer and human figures, included in UNESCO's inscription of the rock art of the Mediterranean Basin. The Cueva de la Peña de la Morería is one of the sites in this region, near the villages of Bronchales and Orihuela del Tremedal, at the foot of the mountains.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 68 km into the recorded legs you reach Cueva de la Peña de la morería. Next is Castellón de los machos.
4. Castellón de los machos
High in the Serranía de Cuenca, among pine woods and sandstone outcrops near the village of Villar del Humo, prehistoric hunters painted figures on the rock shelters thousands of years ago. The site called Castellón de los Machos is one of a cluster in this area that belongs to the vast UNESCO listing of rock art of the Mediterranean Basin of the Iberian Peninsula, which covers hundreds of painted shelters from Catalonia to Andalusia. The images here are small, reddish and stylised, and finding them takes patience and good eyes.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Torre de la iglesia de San Martín closes the day.
Leg by leg
Torre de la iglesia de San Martín to Abrigo de la Paridera de las Tajadas
Torre de la iglesia de San Martín → Abrigo de la Paridera de las Tajadas is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abrigo de la Paridera de las Tajadas to Cueva de la Peña de la morería
Abrigo de la Paridera de las Tajadas → Cueva de la Peña de la morería is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cueva de la Peña de la morería to Castellón de los machos
Cueva de la Peña de la morería → Castellón de los machos is 90 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Castellón de los machos to back through Cueva de la Peña de la morería
Castellón de los machos → back through Cueva de la Peña de la morería is 100 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cueva de la Peña de la morería to back through Abrigo de la Paridera de las Tajadas
back through Cueva de la Peña de la morería → back through Abrigo de la Paridera de las Tajadas is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abrigo de la Paridera de las Tajadas to Torre de la iglesia de San Martín
back through Abrigo de la Paridera de las Tajadas → Torre de la iglesia de San Martín is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.