Why this ride
From Nonaspe it runs 344 km to Nonaspe; allow about 5 h 57 of riding. The stops in between: Els Secans, Abric del mas de Barberà, Punta del Alcañizano and La fenellosa. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Valmayor IV and La fenellosa
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 344 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 57
- 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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Valmayor IV
Where the Ebro, the Segre and the Cinca meet in eastern Aragon, a vast reservoir stretches for dozens of kilometres between bare, ochre hills. The locals call it the Mar de Aragón, the Sea of Aragon, and it was created in the 1960s when the Mequinenza dam flooded the valley. The old town of Mequinenza went under the water too, and its people were moved to a new town built above, a story told in moving detail in the local museums and in the novels of Jesús Moncada, who grew up there.
Read the complete Valmayor IV write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Valmayor IV is where the day begins. Next is Els Secans.
2. Els Secans
The lower Matarraña, in the far east of Aragón, is a drier, emptier country than the green upper valley. Here, the river flows through low hills of sandstone and limestone, with olive groves, almond trees and cereal fields, and the villages stand on hilltops, built of golden stone. Mazaleón is one of them, a small village above the river, with Maella and Calaceite nearby. Els Secans, a name meaning the dry lands, is a shelter with prehistoric paintings in the hills just outside the village.
Read the complete Els Secans write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Els Secans comes up about 40 km into the recorded legs. Next is Abric del mas de Barberà.
3. Abric del mas de Barberà
Alcañiz is the capital of the Bajo Aragón, a region of olive groves, cereal fields and dry hills crossed by the Guadalope river in the south-east of Aragón. The town is crowned by a castle built for the Order of Calatrava, now a parador, and its main square, with a Gothic loggia and the town hall, is one of the finest in the region. The shelter of the Mas de Barberà lies in the hills just outside town, toward Castelserás and Calanda.
Read the complete Abric del mas de Barberà write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 86 km into the recorded legs you reach Abric del mas de Barberà. Next is Punta del Alcañizano.
4. Punta del Alcañizano
Bajo Aragón has the look of a country that works for a living. Olive trees climb the terraces in tidy grey-green rows, almond orchards fill the gaps, and every village seems to own a mill or a cooperative that presses oil under a protected regional name. The Punta del Alcañizano sits in the rolling hills of the Matarraña district, near Valdeltormo and Mazaleón, two villages of a few hundred people each, on the southern edge of Aragón where the land begins to tilt toward Catalonia and the Ebro.
Read the complete Punta del Alcañizano write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Punta del Alcañizano, about halfway. Next is La fenellosa.
5. La fenellosa
People in Aragón like to call the Matarraña their Tuscany, and for once the comparison is not entirely marketing. It is a comarca of honey-coloured stone villages on hilltops, olive groves on terraces, almond trees and vineyards, with the limestone wall of the Ports de Beseit rising behind. La Fenellosa lies in this country, between Valderrobres, Fuentespalda and Mas de Barberans across the Catalan line, in the rough hills where the farmland gives way to the mountains.
Read the complete La fenellosa write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
La fenellosa sits at 144 km, about halfway. Next is back through Punta del Alcañizano.
6. back through Punta del Alcañizano
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Punta del Alcañizano write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Punta del Alcañizano comes up about 220 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Abric del mas de Barberà.
7. back through Abric del mas de Barberà
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Abric del mas de Barberà write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 257 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Abric del mas de Barberà. Next is back through Els Secans.
8. back through Els Secans
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Els Secans write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Els Secans, late in the day. Next is Valmayor IV.
9. Valmayor IV
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Valmayor IV write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 344 km.
Leg by leg
Valmayor IV to Els Secans
Valmayor IV → Els Secans is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Els Secans to Abric del mas de Barberà
Els Secans → Abric del mas de Barberà is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abric del mas de Barberà to Punta del Alcañizano
Abric del mas de Barberà → Punta del Alcañizano is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Punta del Alcañizano to La fenellosa
Punta del Alcañizano → La fenellosa is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
La fenellosa to back through Punta del Alcañizano
La fenellosa → back through Punta del Alcañizano is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Punta del Alcañizano to back through Abric del mas de Barberà
back through Punta del Alcañizano → back through Abric del mas de Barberà is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abric del mas de Barberà to back through Els Secans
back through Abric del mas de Barberà → back through Els Secans is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Els Secans to Valmayor IV
back through Els Secans → Valmayor IV is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.