Why this ride
A 225 km round trip from Mequinensa / Mequinenza - roughly 3 h 55 in the saddle. On the way it passes mas de Torres, Bco. de Campells I and back through mas de Torres. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Val de Caballé I and Bco. de Campells I
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 225 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 55
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. 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. Val de Caballé I
Here the Ebro stops being a river and becomes a lake. Behind the great dams at Mequinenza and Riba-roja, the water backs up for kilometres into the dry hills of eastern Aragon, and locals call the reservoir the Mar de Aragón, the sea of Aragon. Val de Caballé is a gully in the hills south of the water, between Mequinenza, Nonaspe and Fabara, part of a scatter of prehistoric rock shelters in this corner where Aragon, Catalonia and the Matarranya meet.
Read the complete Val de Caballé I write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Val de Caballé I is where the day begins. Next is mas de Torres.
2. mas de Torres
The Monegros in high summer is the closest thing Europe has to a desert, a wide, dry plateau of gypsum hills, wheat stubble and steppe scrub under a hard, white sky. Near the village of Candasnos, close to the main road between Zaragoza and Lleida, the shelter labelled Mas de Torres is one of the rock art sites of the Mediterranean Basin listed by UNESCO, a reminder that people lived and hunted here long before the land dried out to its present state.
Read the complete mas de Torres write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
mas de Torres comes up 25 km in. Next is Bco. de Campells I, 24 km on.
3. Bco. de Campells I
The Ebro runs a long way to reach the sea, and at Mequinenza it was blocked, drowned and then reborn as a reservoir. Bco. de Campells, the ravine that shares the shelter's name, lies in the dry hills near this town in the Aragonese Bajo Cinca, where the Segre, the Cinca and the Ebro all come together in the same area. The shelter is one of the painted rock sites of the Mediterranean basin, with red figures in the Levantine style, and the setting is the sort of arid, sun-baked limestone country that gives the paintings their lasting quality.
Read the complete Bco. de Campells I write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
49 km in you reach Bco. de Campells I. Next is back through mas de Torres.
4. back through mas de Torres
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete mas de Torres write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through mas de Torres, late in the day. Next is Val de Caballé I.
5. Val de Caballé I
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Val de Caballé I write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Val de Caballé I. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Val de Caballé I to mas de Torres
Val de Caballé I → mas de Torres is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
mas de Torres to Bco. de Campells I
mas de Torres → Bco. de Campells I is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Bco. de Campells I to back through mas de Torres
Bco. de Campells I → back through mas de Torres is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through mas de Torres to Val de Caballé I
back through mas de Torres → Val de Caballé I is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.