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 Fuentespalda it runs 469 km to Fuentespalda; allow about 8 h 22 of riding. On the way it passes Caídas del Salbimec, Abric del mas de Barberà, Los Estrechos I and Abside. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
The Matarraña, in the far east of Teruel province, is often called the Tuscany of Aragon, and for once the comparison holds. Stone villages crown hilltops above olive groves and vineyards, rivers run clear through limestone gorges, and the light in the evening is honey-coloured. Valmayor is a ravine in the hills here, between Valderrobres, Fuentespalda and the Catalan border, and its shelters hold prehistoric paintings, part of the UNESCO-listed Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin. As elsewhere, they are protected, and visits are best arranged through local tourist offices.
Read the complete Valmayor V write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Valmayor V is where the day begins. Next is Caídas del Salbimec.
The Matarraña, or Matarranya as most locals call it, is the corner of Aragón that feels Catalan, Valencian and Aragonese at once, and it has quietly become one of the most rewarding regions in Spain to explore on two wheels. The shelter known as Caídas del Salbimec lies in the hills between Valdeltormo, Mazaleón and Calaceite, one of the many prehistoric art sites along the eastern edge of the peninsula that are protected together by UNESCO. The paintings are modest, and access may involve a rough track and a walk, but the setting is typical of the region: a sandstone outcrop above olive groves and almond terraces, with the river cutting below.
Read the complete Caídas del Salbimec write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Caídas del Salbimec comes up about 43 km into the recorded legs. Next is 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 86 km into the recorded legs you reach Abric del mas de Barberà. Next is Los Estrechos I.
Los Estrechos means the narrows, and the name fits the country around Albalate del Arzobispo, in the Bajo Aragón, where the Martín river squeezes through limestone gorges on its way to the Ebro. The landscape is dry and open, a mixture of olive groves, almond terraces and low scrub, with sudden canyons and cliffs. The Martín valley is protected as a cultural park, because it holds a remarkable series of rock shelters with Levantine and Schematic paintings, some of which belong to the Mediterranean-arc group that UNESCO listed in 1998.
Read the complete Los Estrechos I write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Los Estrechos I, about halfway. Next is Abside.
Zaragoza is a city of brick. In the centuries after the Christian conquest of 1118, the Muslim craftsmen who remained and their descendants, the Mudéjars, built churches and towers across Aragon using brick, glazed tile and decorative patterns of geometric inlay, and the result is a style found nowhere else. In Zaragoza the brick apses and towers of the old churches, with their blind arcades and zigzag courses, are the best examples, and the Mudéjar architecture of Aragon is a World Heritage listing, first awarded in 1986 and extended in 2001. The apse at this stop is a piece of that heritage.
Read the complete Abside write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Abside sits at 207 km, about halfway. Next is back through Los Estrechos I.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Los Estrechos I write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Los Estrechos I comes up about 324 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Abric del mas de Barberà.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Abric del mas de Barberà write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 381 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Abric del mas de Barberà. Next is back through Caídas del Salbimec.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Caídas del Salbimec write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Caídas del Salbimec, late in the day. Next is Valmayor V.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Valmayor V write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 469 km.
Valmayor V → Caídas del Salbimec is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Caídas del Salbimec → Abric del mas de Barberà is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abric del mas de Barberà → Los Estrechos I is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Los Estrechos I → Abside is 97 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Abside → back through Los Estrechos I is 90 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Los Estrechos I → back through Abric del mas de Barberà is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abric del mas de Barberà → back through Caídas del Salbimec is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Caídas del Salbimec → Valmayor V is 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.