Leisure - Bicimetro

0 km.

Carlet station, a neo-Mudéjar style building made of bricks and tiles. Other buildings of interest, dating from the 19th or beginning of the 20th century, are the Teatro El siglo (Century Theatre) and the Mercado Municipal (Municipal Market) whose façade is a beautiful art-deco piece of architecture dominated by the Carlet Republican coat of arms. The rest of the building is a metallic structure.

About 15.000 people live in Carlet. It is situated on the right bank of the Magro river, around 40 metres above sea level in the Ribera Alta region. Its economy is based on the sale and cultivation of apricots, oranges and peaches. Its industry sector has specialized in the manufacturing of construction material, paving and containers for commercialized fruits.

In Carlet the Asunción de Nuestra Señora parish church is worth a visit. The monument has a basilica floor plan and no transept. It has three parallel naves. The aisles are crowned by transepts with no crosspiece, making the one on the right end into a communion chapel. A basket arch vault covers the central nave. It is worth mentioning that there are a series of chapels along the aisles. The church has a rich and complex façade and on the right a tower with two sections. The parish church of San José on Colón street is also important The visible area of the monument, with its 400m2 is remarkable. All of it is masonry work. The bell tower, simple and practical is an attic with a gable roof. Its floor plan is a hexagon inscribed in a square. The Residencia Mixta Nacional de la Tercera Edad (Mixed National Residence for seniors) is also remarkable, as much for its volume, the neatness of its architecture and authenticity of the material as for its pleasant green environment. It is a nice place for a serene walk. Finally, the hermitage San Bernardo. It is made of masonry plastered with cement, among fields full of orange trees. It was built in 1660 and has been restored. It has a rectangular hall and contains a Christ in a simple altarpiece and a gravestone to commemorate the third century of the blessing (1666-1966).

Cross the tracks and take the street opposite the station until we reach a junction. Here we take the street on our left.

0,17 km.

We come to a small square from where three roads emerge. Ignore the first one on your right and go to a small square passing alongside a modern building known as the ‘ Llum residence’.

Afterwards, next to a big holm oak turn into the road diagonally to your right. This is the ‘Camí de la Muntanyeta’ that will lead you to Río Seco. Once you have crossed it, continue right and then turn left at a small pine tree area and follow the south westerly direction that we were taking. This asphalt road will take us among the orange, persimmon and peach groves. You will hardly notice the drop between Carlet and the Júcar-Túri canal.

2,9 km.

We come across Camí de Xàtiva. Take it to the left and soon after turn right to reach the Júcar-Túria canal service road on a small hill. Follow it to your left.

5,4 km.

We are around the ‘Masía el Rocam’ farmstead. There is a good view of the Ribera fruit fields from here.

6,7 km.

On the other bank of the canal, on a downhill slope, we can see a farmyard restored by the Alberic town hall where there is a picnic area: The Rafel farmyard. From here on, the canal flows along a hillside.

8,5 km.

After a sharp bend where we can get a good view of the canal, there is another small bridge on our right. The climb starts here. If we follow this ‘mountain trail’, we will come to an uphill trail among pine trees on the left shortly after passing some houses. Here is where our itinerary really starts to turn more into a hiking path rather than a road. This part of the route is accessible to any type of bicycle. It is only the skill required and the effort needed to enjoy this part of the hill. The second road will be described later on. The track is not very long and but you might have to get off the bicycle at certain points – on the hard part at some points some truly sharp sedimentary rocks emerge - it is worth the effort for the landscape and the change in pace it provides and it is really enjoyable for those who enjoy trail bike riding. If you decide to follow it, you will end up on a forest track where the ‘cyclotourism’ part of our itinerary meets this one.

9,4 km.

If you decided to take the firmer path, ignore the bridge mentioned above and cross the canal over the following one. You will go up the forest lane until a small promontory where you can relax after the short ascent.

10,3 km.

Here on your right is the trail bike path that we described earlier and some metres further diagonally on our left is a downhill turn next to a big pine tree. It is a common road for all those going to the abandoned orchards. You only need to go through the open wrought-iron gates and this leads to a small gully. The road becomes a trail and under thick foliage the bed of the small gully connects to a rural asphalt road which, like the others that we have already come across, also goes from the canal deep into the hill.

10,9 km.

We come to an asphalt road and follow it slightly uphill on the right. We approach a landscape where, increasingly sparse carob fields alternate with orange groves. The lower hill is covered with thickets of esparto where Aleppo pines are dominant.

12,1 km.

At the beginning of a right bend on the road there is a big dirt track on the left. Take it. Follow this lane and ignore the turnoffs on your right. Take the first left.

12,5 km.

Take the left turn that goes up for 100 metres to a promontory where the road bends and another road, which we will ignore, goes straight. Now with more or less small descents we will continue on this path without taking into account any possible turnoffs until reaching the top of a hillock. We will find a firmer path on the other side.

Although it seems strange given the distance of the town, all of the land we have covered up until now and especially the spot we are on belongs to the district of Guadasuar. It is classified as a game preserve; therefore be extremely careful during hunting season. When the hill is at peace we can find some of the hunted creatures: wood pigeons, turtledoves, partridges, rabbits, blackbirds, thrushes and other specimens like different sorts of warbler, oropendola, little owl, red-necked nightjar, the magpie and the pretty and exotic great spotted cuckoo who lays its eggs in the corvidae nests.

14,1 km.

We come to a firmer road. Take it downhill to the left until leaving the hill. 

15,3 km.

The road becomes asphalt.

15,9 km.

We reach the Júcar-Túria canal again and after crossing it, follow it to the right.

16,6 km.

Leave the canal going up a small hill on the left on the ‘camí de Mariano Sanz’. From here in addition to the stone house immersed in the carob field, which goes almost unnoticed, we can contemplate the view of the canal and the hill from where we have come. We start a short but pleasant descent on this narrow asphalt road, so be careful.

17,7 km.

The descent ends when we reach another small, asphalt road that we take to the left.

19,9 km.

Cross the Acequia Real del Júcar (irrigation channel) and turn right to leave it some metres further ahead for a semi-asphalted road among fertile fields on the left. But before crossing the irrigation channel there is an asphalted road, ‘el camí del Mas de Quitorra’ on our right, which would take us two and half kilometres to the meeting point of itinerary nº 14 “Ribera alta del Júcar” in the vicintiy of Alberic.

20,4 km.

Ignore the paved road on the right and follow our road among fields of kaki fruit, oranges and peaches…

21,4 km.

We arrive at Ullal del Riu Verd next to a power station. La marjal (marsh) that time ago used to flood this area has been reduced thanks to man’s actions and to agricultural exploitation until only this small corner remains. This site, Santuari dels Ullals houses a large number of bird species. It was considered in the past as a rubbish dump and authorities literally tried to bury it without success because the strength of its flow was enough to sweep away the earth blocking it to recuperate its natural space. It is protected by the local government because it is the only spot known where a species of water snail in danger of extinction lives. Unfortunately you only have to look at it to see how vandalism and a lack of environmental awareness are present in this place. 

After passing the bridge that separates the power station from the source of the Riu Verd, continue left and a bit further on go underneath a motorway in order to turn right on an asphalt road which takes us to the centre of Massalavés.

Massalavés is a small town in the Ribera Baja with as few as 1.600 inhabitants working in citrus and fruit cultivation. In the centre the San Miguel church from the 16th century, which was built on the foundations of a mosque.

23,4 km.

We leave Massalavés to the east, crossing the N-340 – now with hardly any traffic - and some 200 metres further on we will find the Massalavés train halt on line 1 of Metrovalencia.