Route: Valencia – Teruel – Alcañiz – Mora d’Ebre – L’Espluga de Francoli – Ripoli – Col d’Ares
A short report from a trip I made last year (2024). Part 1/4
I took a train from home to Valencia, the third largest city in Spain from where I cycled north through Valencia and Castellón provinces to Catalonia where I crossed the Pyrenees into France.
In France I cycled east to west along the Pyrenean foothills. From the French Basque Country I crossed again the Pyrenees back to Spain where I joined after a while the Camino de Santiago route until Burgos from where I followed the ‘Camino Del Cid’ route back to Valencia.
Total length of the route: 2.800 km with just over 30.000 meters of climbing.
Departing from Valencia’s estacion del norte I soon pass the ‘Estadio de Mestalla’, the second oldest stadium in Spain (opened in 1923) and home to Valencia Football Club. You will not believe it, but just after passing the stadium, I had a flat rear tire, not even five kilometer in my ride. This frustrated me so, that I refused to unload all the bags and start a repair in the busy city. I pumped the tire, and continued. (It never lost air again and I continued the whole trip without punctures, so don’t know what happened. I think I still have these Australian slime tubes from 2019 in there, so maybe that fixed it).
I followed the ‘Via Verde Xurra’ towards Sagunto, a coastal town about 20 km north of Valencia. In this place, you can start the ‘Via Verde Ojos Negros’, Spains longest via verde (160 km), bringing you from the Mediterranean coast to the plateau in Teruel province. The via verde is often in reasonable condition, sometimes rough, never really smooth. Still, it’s a very fine way to move to higher grounds, free of traffic surrounded by a beautiful landscape.
There are a lot of tunnels to go through, but if I remember well, all were lit.
Near Teruel, the via verde passes some red hills, a bit like the Australian Outback. I don’t go into town (save that for my return trip), but take a right turn towards the little village Valdecebro. I have climbed from sea level to 1.100 meters by now, slowly, as it’s an old railway line.
I arrive late in town and the village pub is just about to close, but the friendly owner is more than happy to still make me a lunch. He ’s not only working in this bar, but is a truck driver as well.
Good to have had this warm lunch, as there is more climbing ahead, and no more railway line with smooth gradients. The A-226 going north is quiet, but after a short restroom / coke / phone-recharge stop at the local bar in Corbalan, I continue on the old road, which is completely deserted from traffic. Excellent.
Puerto de Cabigordo, 1.600 mtr asl is the first real pass on this trip. The route stays high for a while. The weather deteriorates. I find myself a nice camping spot along a dirt road, reasonably protected from the very strong winds, but as I’m close to the lowest point, I worry a bit about flooding. All night there’s a terrible thunderstorm, with thousands of lightning flashes, but we survive, and all is dry.
Under grey skies, I continue my trip, cycling through the geological parks Aliaga and Maestrazgo. Under blue skies, it will be much nicer than how it was today.
Heading towards the Sierra de Arcos, the roads keeps climbing and descending. No such thing as a flat day of riding in Spain.
I met a British cyclist coming from the north who told me the roads ahead were busy with lots of motor bikers who were having their own race on the local roads. They were all coming together for a race on the circuit of Alcañiz. Also all accommodation was occupied due to that. I diverted my route to smaller tracks and opted to sit out the bad weather in Mas De Las Matas, on the borders of the Rio Guadalope. I had to stay for several days.
One day, the rain was gone, and so were the bikers. Time for me to continue to Alcañiz, passing the Embalse (reservoir) de Calanda and tiny Foz-Calanda.
Alcañiz, is also the starting point of the Via Verde Del Val De Zafan, an excellent route leading from Navarra towards Catalunya, where the quality of the via verde improves a lot.
I pitch my tent just beyond El Pinell de Brai under very heavy, grey clouds. The next day, I ride just 23 km towards Mora Nova, where I stay in a hotel again for 2 nights, sheltering for the bad weather.
I wanted to ride on the dirt roads of the right bank of the Ebre river, but it was blocked due to flooding. So the main road it was towards Garcia from where I followed the smaller T-731 and T-732 roads towards Gratallops and La Vilella Baixa in the Montsant Natural Park. Another beautiful village in the park is Cabaces. Feels like you’re going back in time. I keep following the T-702 road which goes along the Montsant River. I camp just outside the natural park, before joining the bigger C-242 road.
Next day, I had a battery recharge / lunch stop in Sant Guim de Freixenet. Small roads leaded me up a steep track, some pushing required, to Castell de Boixadors. Beyond here, I’m on beautiful dirt roads, avoiding the busy area further down around Manresa.
Beautiful dirt roads, yes, but the day is coming to an end, and the hill is on both sides too steep to find a place to pitch the tent.
After a while, I am back on asphalt, on the Cami de Casteltallat, but still no good spot shows up. It’s either overgrown, not flat, or in sight of a farm. I end up near a water reservoir, clearing some land from small bushes, pitching the tent just before sunset.
Next day, a steep descend over sand / dirt track follows towards Suria, where I finally find a supermarket again. The weather clears out as well, so I can wash some clothes at one of the fountains. I am very happy with my homework, following small rural roads via hamlets like Santa Maria de Merlès, along the river Merlès towards some beautiful waterfalls I find by chance.
It’s only just before Ripol, at the foot of the Pyrenees, I rejoin a bigger road again (C-17), but there’s a ‘Sendero Historico’ which I can follow, away from all traffic, all the way to beautiful Camprodon. I was here already, ten years ago when I rode the Transpirenaica on my mountainbike. It’s in Camprodon I found the most beautiful hotel of this trip, with an excellent breakfast next day, so I could fly up col d’Ares. The pass at 1.515 meter is also the border with France. I take some time to eat my picnic at the top and enjoy the views south to Spain and north to France.
Bike-A-Way 