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.
From Tarragona it runs 275 km to Tarragona; allow about 5 h 26 of riding. It goes by way of Abric de la Serra de la mussara, Albi II / Balma dels Punts, Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés and back through Albi II / Balma dels Punts. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Rome built a road through Spain, and this tower stands beside what was left of it. The Torre dels Escipions, the Tower of the Scipios, is a tall, square funerary monument, about nine metres high in its present state, on the old line of the Via Augusta a few kilometres from Tarragona. It was built in the first century AD, and for a long time people thought it was the tomb of the Scipio brothers, the Roman generals who died fighting the Carthaginians in Spain around 211 BC. That story is almost certainly false, but the name stuck.
Read the complete Tower of the Scipios write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Tower of the Scipios is where the day begins. Next is Abric de la Serra de la mussara.
Climb out of Reus on a clear morning and the Serra de la Mussara rises ahead like a wall, a limestone escarpment that holds up the edge of the Prades plateau and drops steeply to the plain of the Camp de Tarragona. The rock shelters along this cliff line, close to the village of Vilaplana, are part of the prehistoric painted landscape of eastern Spain. The best reason to stop, though, is the view: on a good day you look straight down over hazelnut orchards and olive groves to Reus, Tarragona and the sea.
Read the complete Abric de la Serra de la mussara write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Abric de la Serra de la mussara comes up about 47 km into the recorded legs. Next is Albi II / Balma dels Punts.
L'Albi is a small village on a hill in Les Garrigues, the dry, olive-covered district southeast of Lleida, and its name appears in the archaeological record thanks to rock shelters in the area, including the Balma dels Punts, the shelter of the dots. The name suggests schematic paintings in the form of dots and lines, typical of the later phase of prehistoric art in the region, and the site is part of the UNESCO listing of Mediterranean rock art. The shelters are small and fragile, and some can only be visited with a guide, so check with the town hall or a local interpretation centre before heading out.
Read the complete Albi II / Balma dels Punts write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 90 km into the recorded legs you reach Albi II / Balma dels Punts. Next is Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés.
South of Lleida the irrigated orchards give way abruptly to dry, open steppe, and the little village of Alfés sits on the edge of that change. The Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés are rock paintings in a small sandstone shelter near the village, schematic designs in red pigment, mostly abstract lines, dots and simplified figures, that belong to the later, more symbolic phase of prehistoric art in eastern Spain, and they are included in the UNESCO listing of Mediterranean Basin rock art. They are modest to look at, but there is something powerful about seeing marks left by people thousands of years ago in such an open, wind-swept place.
Read the complete Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés, about halfway. Next is back through Albi II / Balma dels Punts.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Albi II / Balma dels Punts write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Albi II / Balma dels Punts sits at 133 km, about halfway. Next is back through Abric de la Serra de la mussara.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Abric de la Serra de la mussara write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Abric de la Serra de la mussara comes up about 229 km into the recorded legs. Next is Tower of the Scipios.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Tower of the Scipios write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Tower of the Scipios closes the day.
Tower of the Scipios → Abric de la Serra de la mussara is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abric de la Serra de la mussara → Albi II / Balma dels Punts is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Albi II / Balma dels Punts → Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Pintures Rupestres d'Alfés → back through Albi II / Balma dels Punts is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Albi II / Balma dels Punts → back through Abric de la Serra de la mussara is 62 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abric de la Serra de la mussara → Tower of the Scipios is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.