North of the Someș river, in the rolling hills of Transylvania, the Romans built a different kind of frontier. The Limes Porolissensis was a line of forts and watchtowers running along the crest of the Meseș mountains and the hills beyond, which guarded the northern edge of the province of Dacia against the free Dacians and the peoples to the north. The section of the Dacia frontier on the World Heritage list, inscribed in 2024, includes many of these small posts, each set on a hilltop with a view for miles. Dobricel and Rângoița are two of those place names, hills in a countryside of villages, orchards and hay meadows, where a ruined stone tower would stand among sheep.
The hills around Spermezeu are gently folded, wooded with beech and oak and opened up into pastures, with farms scattered on the slopes. Horse carts are still a common sight, haystacks stand in conical piles, and village churches have tall wooden or tin-clad steeples. The air smells of hay and wood smoke.
Riding is quiet and rewarding if you like minor roads. Narrow county roads follow the valleys and climb over ridges, with sudden changes in surface, gravel patches and potholes, so a robust bike and a slow pace help. Livestock, carts and dogs share the road, and village speed limits are strict. In spring, mud and rain can make side roads slippery, and in winter snow comes early on the hills. Navigation by phone can fail, so carry a paper map.
Spermezeu is a village of about two and a half thousand, with a shop and perhaps a bar, and the nearest larger town, Căianu Mic, about eight kilometres off, has fuel and basic shops. Bistrița is the closest big town for supplies. In farm villages you may be offered homemade plum brandy and fresh cheese, and it is polite to accept a small taste. Late spring and early autumn give the best light.