The "Serra des Forn Nou" is a small mountainous formation, elongated from north to south, with the area of Sant Mateu on the left and the spectacular Pla Roig - which stretches from Santa Gertrudis to Sant Miquel - on the right.
In general, the mountains that form it are no more than 300 metres high, but it is more than 4 km long. It takes its name from the Puig des Forn Nou, although it is not the highest of the formation. The highest is Puig de Sa Torreta, at almost 350 metres, which also serves as a separation between the municipalities of Sant Joan and Sant Antoni.
It is therefore a small mountain range... but a tough one, because there are few, or perhaps no more than one way to cross it from east to west or vice versa. The steep slopes and above all the dense vegetation - mainly pine trees and scrubland - make it difficult to find paths or trails to walk along.
The route:
The route starts from Ibiza town and returns to it after 44 km of walking. Probably 3.5 hours will be enough to cover them, with breaks and unforeseen events included.
Most significant sections:
Starting from Ibiza we climb up to San Rafel. The first 18 km are a continuous but very gentle ascent, and will leave us at the foot of the hardest climb of the day. There we will start a path, a short stretch of concrete and another new path that for two kilometres and a bit will make us climb more than 150 metres, with some ramps of 17%. This is obviously a demanding stretch, but with good development it can be climbed well.
From there you have to dismount from the bike and descend two stone walls to find on the left the start of the path that, from km 20, will help you cross the forest in an amazing descent through pine trees (which you can see in this video).
Once on the path, the route goes up and down with the sole purpose of reaching a natural balcony at Pla Roig where we can rest, as it coincides with the midpoint of the route and the end of the most difficult slopes.
From there onwards, the slopes are mostly negative to return to our starting point. However, you will have to make a small effort at kilometre 25 to be able to enjoy, for 3 kilometres more, one of the longest and most spectacular trialeras that I know of.
Content courtesy of Pedro Guasch - rutasporibizaenbici.blogspot.com.es
