From almost anywhere in Shumen you can see it: a massive concrete monument on the plateau above town, a cluster of angular figures and slabs that looks like something left behind by a passing alien civilisation. It is the Founders of the Bulgarian State monument, built in 1981 to mark thirteen hundred years since the founding of the First Bulgarian Empire, and its giant figures of the early khans and tsars, with mosaics inside, are a startling piece of late-communist art. The view from up there, over the town and the plain, is worth the ride on its own.
Shumen sits in a region that was the heart of the early Bulgarian state. Pliska, the first capital, and Veliki Preslav, the second, are both nearby, and the Madara Rider, a carving of a horseman spearing a lion cut into a cliff face in the eighth century, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is about twenty kilometres to the east. In the town itself, the Tombul mosque, built in the eighteenth century, is the largest in Bulgaria, with a big dome and a peaceful courtyard, and the remains of an old fortress sit on the plateau above. Shumen is also known for its beer, Shumensko, brewed here since the late nineteenth century.
Riding in the Shumen area is a pleasure. The plateau above the town is covered in forest, with a road winding up to the monument and the fortress, and some lovely curves. To the south, the road toward Varbitsa and the Balkan range runs through rolling farmland and villages, with long views and gentle bends, before the climb into the mountains begins. To the east, the road to Madara and the coast runs through fields and low hills. The surfaces are generally fine on main roads, but the smaller roads can be rough, and police speed traps are common.
Shumen has every service a rider could need, from fuel and supermarkets to hotels and restaurants. It is a good base for exploring the early Bulgarian capitals and the Madara Rider, and for the ride south over the Balkan range. Summers on the plain are hot, so an early start is a good idea, and the forest on the plateau offers welcome shade in the afternoon.