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Home Travel StoriesTo The Southern Tip Of Europe

Back On The Road And Heading South Again

Ride Date 22 Sep 2025

By Andy Gray

Day 10: To Albarracin 326 miles.

First day moving again and it was a long and nippy ride. Despite being awake early, I didn’t manage to leave the campsite until 10am. As I said last year, I’m sure it’s a bit like the Hotel California.
 
On the map photo, Barcelona is at the top of the coast and Valencia at the bottom. I started in the Pyrenees (pepper pot) and ended up in Albarracin (salt pot). If you zoom, there is a faint pink link that is my route.
 
Started off in 12C which was rather chilly in my vented jacket but I hoped it would warm up as I headed south. 

As usual the goal of the day was to stay on small roads as much as possible and I may have overdone that one! I started off badly by presuming I knew where I was going. Got to Graus where I’d been doing my shopping the last few days and realised I’d headed west instead of south! It was a blessing - I was meant to go over the same mountain I rode yesterday which wouldn’t have been too much fun on a fully loaded bike.
 
Once past Benabarre, I followed a twisty line to go SW. This was across farming areas and the road surface combined with the twisties meant it was slow progress. Followed the A-131 for 35km with Rio Cinca on my left and an odd rocky ridge on my right. This joined the Segre which then joined the mighty River Ebro at Mequinenza. 

This is home to very big catfish and carp, several companies running fishing trips there. As I crossed the bridge to take some photos I spotted a set of 10 rods with the group of anglers hiding from the sun under the bridge itself. Not that it was that warm, still only 16C.
 
Now I joined the N-211 heading SW with glimpses of the huge reservoir that was made by building a dam just above Mequinenza. This stretches for 40-50km.  Skirted Caspe and the land flattened out for a bit which the strong crosswind made interesting. Most of the morning had been hilly. 

The road went through the large town of Alcaniz and I stopped at an Alcampo supermarket to get some drinks and food. In the car park were three Ducati World Superbike trucks who were either on their way to or from the nearby MotorLand Aragon race circuit.
 
Further down the road was the right turn for one of the goals of the day. The A-1702 has been designated as The Silent Route, no idea why the name when it is aimed at noisy motorcyclists!! I was expecting this to be good and was it. It’s only about 47km long but it packs some serious punches. Up, down, round and round with a great road surface. There are a couple of view points, the first being a large leather looking motorcycle glove. Actually made of fibreglass. 

Despite it getting late in the day, there was a side trip to see some tunnels and overhanging rocks. This ended up being a lot further than I anticipated - 28 mile round trip over two mountains on not great roads. The end of the route leaves you in the middle of nowhere at 1600m where it was around 12C. I now had to head west to Teruel, the only problem being the A-226 was a spectacular mountain road going over three peaks all above 1600m. Oh and it was closed at one point for roadworks so I had to take a diversion again.
 
By the time I reached Teruel (19C!), it was 18:30 and I still had to get to the campsite at Albarracin, typically in the mountains! Another cabin tonight as I’m tired and it’s going to be cold up here.

An old school paper map with a salt and pepper pot to show where Andy started and finished
A vast wide flat river with towns on the banks and hills in the distance, blue skies
Mighty River Ebro.
On the banks of the big river are 10 unattended poles out into the river
Catfish fishing. 
Atop a steep dry slop we see the remnants of a castle baking in the sun
Mequinenza castle.
The big river getting bigger between more arid mountainsides and hardy bush
The start of the dammed section.
Broad wide fields, dry and arid, distant low bumps in the landscape, bright clear skies
Flat bit near Caspe.
A lorry and trailer in red with the ducati logo and various sponsors emblazend over the trailer
The other side of the Ducati truck and trailer
A distinctive board declaring the start of the silent route against the arid landscape
Start of The Silent Route. 
Andy stands by a massive leather glove giving a V sign
Beautiful scenery of mountains and fluffly clouds in Spain
Detour to the tunnels.
Sand coloured rocks overhang closely a narrow road underneath them
Rocks form an arch over the narrow lane, steep and jagged
Underwhelming!
The rocks are cut through the hillside to allow the narrow lane to pass through
And old stout big powerstation in the middle of nowhere in the huge hills
Best bit was the old powerstation.
A mountain goat with long horns in a curved triangle forms the large logo on the silent route
The tips of the mountains beside the road are pointy and sharp and very steep indeed
A road curves sharply though valst huge mountain scenery with bushes and dry land and rocks
Lots of this in the hills.
A pole with "Silent Route" at the top and other pointers to many famous mountain passes
A road leads into the town, behind we can make out a castle against the fading light
Albarracin.

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A long Ride to Gien Big miles already on Andy's first day on the road. He's just getting settled into the ride and making his way south through France.
Smiling In The Rain It's a soggy wet day through France for Andy, but that won't dampen his spirits. He stumbles upon 2CVs and climbing walls, straight roads and twisties.
Into The Pyrenees With improving weather Andy is still heading south. It's all terribly positive, even the diversions are opportunities to explore. The Pyrenees continue to impress.
An Easy Day Around The Pyrenees Andy is taking it easy today. Just a casual bimble around The Pyrenees, across mountains and valleys, you know, the sort of easy ride we all do on a lazy day. Ever more delightful images too.
Stuck In The Cols - Painful! Andy is enjoying all the mountain passes on the French side of The Pyrenees - until he's "Route Barre" from getting back to the campsite. He's got the sniffles too.
Poor Poorly Andy The sun is shining, the air is warm, the surroundings are lovely. Andy is rather under the weather himself, it's not the best couple of days.
Andy's Local Ride Feeling a little better Andy's having an easy day exploring The Pyrenees. Scenery aplenty while dodging some rain.
Back On The Road And Heading South Again Having mostly recovered Andy's back on the road making big miles through ever more stunning scenery. A few notes then pictures aplenty that'll make you wish you were there.

Reader's Comments

nab301 said :-
That looked like a great day Andy, the silent route and the "Leather glove" look amazing.
Nigel
16/12/2025 16:18:57 UTC
Bogger said :-
Well done Andy. Note to self, I must take better pictures.

Bogger
16/12/2025 18:55:23 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Some great pics Andy, looks like a lovely place. Re directions: I had a little compass in the cockpit fairing of my Tiger which I often found useful. Many years ago, returning from Greece, I had the choice of bypassing Turin on an autostrada which I didn't fancy having been scared witless a few days earlier on one. So I went through the centre of the city. Fortunately traffic was light as it was a Sunday, and just be keeping the sun over my left shoulder as much as possible I could keep a fairly straight westerly course. It proved quite uneventful in the end.
17/12/2025 15:59:02 UTC

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