The hills east of Bistrita are the northern edge of the Transylvanian plateau, and Ciceu-Poieni lies in their folds. The label, Strunga Gavojdenilor, points to a saddle or gap on the ridge, and the word strunga means a narrow passage where sheep were once driven between pastures. Bistrita, the nearest large town, was a Saxon city, founded by German settlers invited by the Hungarian kings in the Middle Ages, and its medieval centre still shows the trace of that past.
The land is a patchwork of meadows, orchards and small woods, with long ridges and shallow valleys. The villages here are strung along streams, with wooden gates and tall haystacks and church steeples at the centre. Ciceu has an old fortress above the Somes valley, which once belonged to Moldavian princes and is now a ruin. The Moldavian ruler Stephen the Great held it in the fifteenth century, an odd reach into Transylvania.
Riding in this part of Romania is a gentle pleasure. The roads are not fast, and the scenery changes constantly, with hay meadows in June, fields of ripe grain in July and a rich haze in September. Tarmac is variable, and you may meet slow tractors, shepherds with flocks and the occasional stray dog. Mobile reception is patchy in the valleys. Take a paper map or an offline one, and allow time.
Negrilesti, a village of about fifteen hundred people, is the closest settlement, and Breaza is similar. Both have small shops, but not necessarily fuel. For petrol, head for Bistrita or Beclean, where stations are on the main roads. Food in the villages is simple and filling: bean soup, polenta with cheese and sour cream, grilled sausages and doughnut-like pastries called papanasi, served with jam.
Late September and early October are lovely, with warm days, cool nights and the smell of woodsmoke. Fog fills the valleys in the early morning and lifts by ten. Summer thunderstorms can be fierce and fast.