CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
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.
A 470 km round trip from Ares del Maestre - roughly 8 h 17 in the saddle. The stops in between: Abric del mas dels Ous, La fenellosa, Caídas del Salbimec and Valmayor IV. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,100 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Villaroges is one of those names that appears on a map of prehistoric sites rather than a road atlas, somewhere in the high country of the Alt Maestrat between Benassal, Culla and Vilafranca. It belongs to the extraordinary concentration of rock art in the mountains of Castellón, where small painted shelters are scattered through the ravines, protected as part of the UNESCO-listed rock art of the Mediterranean Basin. Exactly where the panel lies, and whether it can be visited, is a question for the local tourist office or the museum at Tírig; treat the name as an invitation into one of the emptiest and most beautiful corners of eastern Spain.
Read the complete Villaroges write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Villaroges is where the day begins. Next is Abric del mas dels Ous.
Xert is the kind of village you pass through on the way to somewhere else and then wonder why you did not stop. It lies in the Baix Maestrat in northern Castellón, below a ridge of bare limestone, with the old village climbing the slope and a newer part down by the road. The shelter called the Abric del Mas dels Ous, the shelter of the farmhouse of the eggs, is out in the dry hills nearby, between Xert, Canet lo Roig and Rosell.
Read the complete Abric del mas dels Ous write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Abric del mas dels Ous comes up 38 km in. Next is 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
76 km in you reach La fenellosa. 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, about halfway. Next is 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Valmayor IV sits at 151 km, about halfway. 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 comes up 189 km in. Next is back through La fenellosa.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete La fenellosa write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
227 km in you reach back through La fenellosa. Next is back through Abric del mas dels Ous.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Abric del mas dels Ous write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Abric del mas dels Ous, late in the day. Next is Villaroges.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Villaroges write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 470 km.
Villaroges → Abric del mas dels Ous is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Abric del mas dels Ous → La fenellosa is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
La fenellosa → Caídas del Salbimec is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Caídas del Salbimec → Valmayor IV is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Valmayor IV → back through Caídas del Salbimec is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Caídas del Salbimec → back through La fenellosa is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through La fenellosa → back through Abric del mas dels Ous is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Abric del mas dels Ous → Villaroges is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.