Gravel to the highest of Penedes

This is the longest Route in the Collection and the one with the greatest slope, remaining just a few meters from the highest point of the Penedès, Puig de Solanes (913 metres). Gone is the flat and its undulating terrain due to the passage of rivers and torrents, here the climbs are longer and more sustained, and the landscape is totally different: pre-coastal mountains that rise quickly and are only interrupted by narrow gorges that fluvial erosion has been modeling in the calcareous rock. It is a wilder Penedès, less densely populated, with fountains, sanctuaries and castles, and of course, vineyards.

Starting from the Vilafranca del Penedès train station, the route quickly leaves the urban center to the south, crossing the Foix River under the Bleda tower and quickly advancing along local roads and paths to the Sa Roca Monumental complex, in Sant Martí. Sarroca. After visiting it and contemplating the beautiful view of the plain and the Montserrat mountain from "Sa Roca", you return along the same path to continue advancing to Torrelles de Foix.

In Torrelles you will not get to enter the town, but you will take a paved road to the left, starting a long climb of 12 kilometres, first on paved road and then on a track to the Creu de Sapera pass (646 metres). This climb has some breaks, and near the top of the track it has some slides with loose rock that will require you to pay attention to driving.

The descent to Pontons is done along a perfectly paved path, until you reach the road, which you will follow briefly to the town. In Pontons there is a bar very popular with cyclists, and also a fountain in front of the town hall, highly recommended for the freshness and good taste of the water that flows. From Pontons, the path climbs again, first along a track and then along a paved path, to the highest point of the Route. After the first dirt ramps, harder, the difference in level becomes smoother. In total there are 5 kilometers with an average slope of 4.7%, quite manageable.

After crowning, you will return to the road for just 2 kilometers, to take a track to the left. Do not get lost, because the detour is in the middle of a curve to the right of the road. This descent track is quite wide and in good condition, but the descent is long and steep, so be careful. Before arriving at the Can Baltà farmhouse, you will pass through a picnic area, with shade and stone tables, although without a fountain. The track continues downhill until you reach les Cases Noves de Can Pardo, where you will find a fountain, and from there continue by road for 3 kilometers to Sant Joan de Mediona, a larger town where there are, in addition to fountains, bars and restaurants.

A narrow paved road will take you from Sant Joan de Mediona to the Castell de Mediona, a fortification with more than a thousand years of history that presides over a narrow gorge through which the Mediona river runs and the path that used to connect Sant Quintí de Mediona with Sant Joan of Mediona. The exterior of the castle can be visited (visits to the interior can also be arranged), taking the detour from the path for a hundred meters. The paved road continues after crossing an urbanization, until Sant Quintí, which you will cross through the interior of its historic urban area.

The exit from Sant Quintí is through the area known as the Raval, full of small neighborhood gardens, next to the Mediona stream, which you will cross on a metal and wood bridge that gives access to the Ca l'Oliver mill, a complex of houses, some half in ruins, and the building of an important mill, in a good state of conservation. Following the path and after a short ascent, the route returns to the road to reach Sant Pere de Riudebitlles, where you will take a track again in the direction of the Miravinya la Cadira viewpoint, from where you can contemplate both the Valls d'Anoia, looking at towards the Montserrat mountain, like the Penedès plain.

The return to Vilafranca will first take a path to reach the C-15 service road and, from there, you will not leave the small local and regional roads until you practically reach the capital of the region and the beginning of the route, crossing towns such as Guardiola de Font-rubí, the neighborhood of La Rovira Roja, Vilobí del Penedès and Pacs.