CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
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Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
From Plovdiv it runs 501 km to Plovdiv; allow about 12 h 34 of riding. It goes by way of Central Balkan - Stara Reka Reserve, Central Balkan - Dzhendema Reserve, Central Balkan - Steneto Reserve and Central Balkan - Sokolna Reserve. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 900 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
Plovdiv has been lived in for about six thousand years, which makes it one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Europe, and it wears the age lightly. The city sits on the plain of the Maritsa river in the middle of southern Bulgaria, built around a cluster of rocky hills that rise out of the flat ground like islands. Locals talk about the seven hills, though one was quarried away long ago. Philip of Macedon took it in the fourth century BC and gave it the name Philippopolis, and the Romans later made it an important city on the road from Belgrade to Constantinople.
Read the complete Plovdiv write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Plovdiv is where the day begins. Next is Central Balkan - Stara Reka Reserve.
Just above Karlovo, the Stara Reka tumbles out of the Balkan mountains through a steep gorge of beech and rock, and climbing alongside it you leave the town's lowland heat behind within minutes. The reserve that bears the river's name protects the upper part of that valley and forms part of the Central Balkan National Park, one of the largest protected areas in this part of Europe. Its ancient beech forests are included in the UNESCO listing that ties together primeval beech woods across the continent.
Read the complete Central Balkan - Stara Reka Reserve write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Central Balkan - Stara Reka Reserve comes up 45 km in. Next is Central Balkan - Dzhendema Reserve.
Above the little town of Kalofer, the southern wall of the Balkan range rises almost vertically, cut by deep gorges with waterfalls and covered in old beech and fir forest, and up there lies the Dzhendema reserve, one of the strict nature reserves within Central Balkan National Park. The name is said to come from a Turkish word for hell, a fair description of its steep, wild terrain. Above the reserve, Botev Peak, the highest summit of the Balkan mountains at 2,376 metres, stands at the heart of the park. Bears, wolves, chamois and wild goats roam these slopes, and the old beech forests of the park are part of the transnational World Heritage site of the Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of Europe.
Read the complete Central Balkan - Dzhendema Reserve write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
90 km in you reach Central Balkan - Dzhendema Reserve. Next is Central Balkan - Steneto Reserve.
Steneto is a deep, wild valley on the northern slopes of the Balkan range in central Bulgaria, enclosed by cliffs and covered in ancient beech forest, and it is one of the strict reserves of Central Balkan National Park, part of the Primeval Beech Forests World Heritage listing. Access is restricted, and nature is left to itself: old trees fall and rot, and the forest is home to bears, wolves, wild boar and a rich variety of birds, including several species of woodpecker and owl. The Cherni Osam river flows through the valley, and its clear waters are home to trout.
Read the complete Central Balkan - Steneto Reserve write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Central Balkan - Steneto Reserve, about halfway. Next is Central Balkan - Sokolna Reserve.
The Central Balkan National Park covers the high spine of the Stara Planina, the Balkan Mountains, which divide northern Bulgaria from the Thracian plain. Sokolna is one of the strict reserves within the park, on the steep southern slopes above Kalofer and Pavel Banya, where beech forests climb towards bare ridges and peaks. Its old beech woods are part of the World Heritage site of ancient beech forests, and the area is rich in wildlife, from bears and wolves to chamois and birds of prey.
Read the complete Central Balkan - Sokolna Reserve write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Central Balkan - Sokolna Reserve sits at 180 km, about halfway. Next is back through Central Balkan - Steneto Reserve.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Central Balkan - Steneto Reserve write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Central Balkan - Steneto Reserve comes up 225 km in. Next is back through Central Balkan - Dzhendema Reserve.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Central Balkan - Dzhendema Reserve write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
270 km in you reach back through Central Balkan - Dzhendema Reserve. Next is back through Central Balkan - Stara Reka Reserve.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Central Balkan - Stara Reka Reserve write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Central Balkan - Stara Reka Reserve, late in the day. Next is Plovdiv.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Plovdiv write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 501 km.
Plovdiv → Central Balkan - Stara Reka Reserve is 61 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Central Balkan - Stara Reka Reserve → Central Balkan - Dzhendema Reserve is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Central Balkan - Dzhendema Reserve → Central Balkan - Steneto Reserve is 71 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Central Balkan - Steneto Reserve → Central Balkan - Sokolna Reserve is 92 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Central Balkan - Sokolna Reserve → back through Central Balkan - Steneto Reserve is 95 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Central Balkan - Steneto Reserve → back through Central Balkan - Dzhendema Reserve is 71 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Central Balkan - Dzhendema Reserve → back through Central Balkan - Stara Reka Reserve is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Central Balkan - Stara Reka Reserve → Plovdiv is 62 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.