Brezoi is where two rivers meet and the mountains lean in. The Lotru comes down from the high ridges of the Parang and Lotru ranges, the Olt arrives from the north through its famous gorge, and below the confluence the valley opens just enough for a town of about seven thousand people to settle. Cozia and Lotrisor sit on either side of this junction, and the great pyramid of the Cozia massif stands over the road to the east, a dark wall of beech and spruce that glows copper in October.
Cozia is the name most Romanians know, because of the monastery on the riverbank a few kilometres downstream. It was founded in 1388 by Mircea the Elder, the Wallachian prince, who is buried inside, and its proportions and carved stone are among the finest of the medieval Wallachian style. Tourists crowd the car park in summer, but the courtyard has a cool, slightly austere calm. The monks sell honey, icons and small jars of jam, and the Olt, quick and green, runs just below the walls. The Romans also valued this corridor and kept watchtowers along the river on the line of the Limes Alutanus, which is where the Cozia and Lotrisor label comes from, but you will need a guide or a good map to find them.
The riding here is rewarding. Heading up the Lotru valley, the road climbs past a large reservoir and eventually joins the Transalpina, the high mountain road that crosses the Parang range, though its upper sections are closed by snow for much of the year and usually open only in summer. The lower valley is a pleasure, with long, flowing curves, forest shade and the sound of water. The main road along the Olt, the DN7, is a different animal: the busy route to Sibiu, shared with trucks, and sometimes slow.
Brezoi has fuel, a supermarket and a handful of cafes and restaurants, and Calimanesti and Caciulata, a few minutes down the valley, are old spa towns with bakeries and terraces. Try the grilled trout, which is usually excellent, and a bowl of ciorba, the local sour soup. Come in late spring or early autumn to avoid the crowds.