Măgurice is a small măgură, and a măgură in Romanian is a rounded hill, usually isolated, often with a tuft of trees at the top. Ortelec, the village the point belongs to, sits in the western foothills of the Meseș range in Sălaj, about four kilometres from Mirșid, and Dealul Măgurice rises among a series of such low, smooth summits above a landscape of hay meadows and plum orchards. The landscape here was never rugged. It was shaped by water and by centuries of grazing, and the soil is a heavy clay that holds moisture.
That clay explains a good deal about the riding. In dry spells the lanes are firm and pleasant, with little dust, but after rain they become slick and sticky, and a thin film of mud coats the tarmac wherever a tractor has turned in from a field. The bends here come in clusters, short, tight and often blind because of hedges and tall grass, and hills are short but steep. A bike with decent tyres and a rider with patience will do well. Autumn and spring bring the greatest variation, with fog in the morning and sun in the afternoon, and winter often means ice on shaded corners.
Ortelec is a quiet place, and the sound you will most often hear is a cowbell or a distant chainsaw. Houses are painted in pastel colours with tall wooden gates, and elderly women in headscarves sit on benches in the evening watching the road. Greetings matter. A nod or a raised hand is returned, and a rider who stops to ask the way is usually met with curiosity and directions that include landmarks like the old school and the third plum tree. Mirșid, the nearest town, has a few thousand inhabitants, with shops and a bakery.
Fuel is the one shortage. Mirșid has little, and the surest supply is in Zalău, so fill up there before you leave. Bring cash, because smaller shops may not take cards.
On a clear morning in June, with the haymaking just begun and the swallows low over the fields, you will see the country at its most generous.