Southern Romania is as flat as a table, and the Teleorman plain, through which the river Vedea flows towards the Danube, is wheat and sunflower country as far as the eye can see. The Romans pushed their frontier across this plain in the second century, building a long earthen rampart known as the Limes Transalutanus, east of the Olt river, with a ditch and a line of forts and towers behind it. Near Roșiorii de Vede, at Valea Urlui, one of these sites is part of the Roman frontier of Dacia listed by UNESCO. The rampart can still be traced in places as a low bank running through the fields, and on the ground you need a good eye, or a guide, to spot it. From the air it is much clearer.
Roșiorii de Vede is an ordinary market town, an important railway junction, with a few old houses, churches and a busy central square. The region is poor and agricultural, and the villages are long lines of houses with gardens behind, wells in front and old men sitting on benches by the gate. In summer the heat on the plain is intense, often well above thirty degrees, and the light is almost white. In winter, the wind from the east, the crivăț, sweeps across the plain and can bring snowdrifts that block the roads.
As a ride, this is not a place for corners. The roads are long and straight, lined with trees in places, with fields on either side and villages every few kilometres. Surfaces vary widely, from new asphalt on main roads to badly patched village streets, and horse carts, tractors and stray dogs are part of the traffic. Use this stretch to cover distance, enjoy the big skies and the sunsets over the fields, and save the twisties for the Carpathians to the north or the Danube cliffs to the west.
Roșiorii de Vede, about eight kilometres away, has fuel, supermarkets and simple restaurants, and the villages along the way have small shops. In summer, stalls by the road sell watermelons from the sandy soils near the Danube, which are sweet and cheap. Drink plenty of water, ride early or late to avoid the midday heat, and watch for farm vehicles pulling out of field tracks.