Why this ride
211 km from Caspe to Caspe, about 3 h 44 of riding. It goes by way of mas de Torres, Bco. de la Plana II and back through mas de Torres. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Val de mamet I and Bco. de la Plana II
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 211 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 44
- 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 mamet I
The Ebro river cuts through Aragon in a wide, dry valley, and where it meets its tributaries the Segre and Cinca around Mequinenza it was dammed in the twentieth century to make long, narrow lakes among bare hills. Val de Mamet is a dry side valley in this country, with a shelter that holds prehistoric paintings. The surroundings are arid and open, with low limestone cliffs, thyme and rosemary scrub, and scattered pines and almonds, and the silence is broken mostly by the wind and the occasional hawk.
Read the complete Val de mamet I write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Val de mamet 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 23 km in. Next is Bco. de la Plana II, 23 km on.
3. Bco. de la Plana II
Mequinenza is a town that was moved. In the 1960s the Ebro was dammed below the confluence with the Segre and the Cinca, and the new reservoir, known as the Mar de Aragón, drowned the old river valley. The old town was largely abandoned and its people rehoused up the slope, which is why the place feels more planned than ancient. What remained was the castle on its rock, a coal-mining history that fed the power stations of the lower Ebro, and a landscape of limestone ridges, pine and rock rose dropping to a long, green-blue lake. The Barranco de la Plana is one of the dry ravines running down to it, and the shelter that gives this stop its name sits among the rock art of the Mediterranean Basin that UNESCO listed in 1998.
Read the complete Bco. de la Plana II write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
46 km in you reach Bco. de la Plana II. 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 mamet I.
5. Val de mamet I
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Val de mamet 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 mamet I. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Val de mamet I to mas de Torres
Val de mamet I → mas de Torres is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
mas de Torres to Bco. de la Plana II
mas de Torres → Bco. de la Plana II is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Bco. de la Plana II to back through mas de Torres
Bco. de la Plana II → back through mas de Torres is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through mas de Torres to Val de mamet I
back through mas de Torres → Val de mamet I is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.