CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
From Baru it runs 443 km to Baru; allow about 9 h 37 of riding. The stops in between: Grădiștea de Munte - Dealul Șesului, Capâlna, Alba Iulia - Apulum / Domus 1 and back through Capâlna. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,300 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 40 km this is Romania Transalpina, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
The Dacians, before the Romans conquered them, built a ring of fortresses in the mountains around their capital Sarmizegetusa Regia, and Banița is one of them, perched on a limestone peak, Piatra Cetii, above the village of the same name. It guarded the southern approach to the Dacian heartland, controlling the route from the Jiu valley, and it was taken by the Romans during Trajan's wars at the beginning of the second century. The Dacian Fortresses of the Orăștie Mountains, including Banița, were inscribed on the UNESCO list in 1999.
Read the complete Banita write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Banița is where the day begins. Next is Grădiștea de Munte - Dealul Șesului.
High in the Orastie mountains, at around twelve hundred metres, a ring of stone terraces climbs out of the beech forest, and it was once the heart of an empire. This is Sarmizegetusa Regia, the capital of the Dacian kingdom, the people who lived in what is now Romania and who fought two bitter wars against the Roman emperor Trajan in 101-102 and 105-106 AD. The site at Gradistea de Munte was a fortress, a religious centre and a town in one, with workshops, houses on artificial terraces, and a sacred precinct with round and rectangular temples marked out by stone bases and by pillars of andesite. Together with five other Dacian fortresses in the same hills, it was inscribed as a World Heritage site in 1999.
Read the complete Grădiștea de Munte - Dealul Șesului write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Grădiștea de Munte - Dealul Șesului comes up about 83 km into the recorded legs. Next is Capâlna.
The Dacians liked their fortresses high, hidden and hard to reach, which is why the Roman legions of Trajan took two bloody wars at the start of the second century to conquer them. Căpâlna stands on a steep wooded hill above the Sebeș valley, a Dacian citadel with stone walls built in the distinctive murus dacicus technique, blocks of cut stone tied together with timber beams, and a tower that served as the last refuge. It is one of the six Dacian fortresses of the Orăștie Mountains listed by UNESCO in 1999, along with the capital Sarmizegetusa Regia, and it is one of the easier ones to reach, with a path climbing through the forest from the valley road.
Read the complete Capâlna write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 181 km into the recorded legs you reach Capâlna. Next is Alba Iulia - Apulum / Domus 1.
Alba Iulia wears its history in layers, and the bottom layer is Roman. The Legio XIII Gemina, the legion that held the heart of Dacia, was based here for over a century and a half, and around its fortress grew Apulum, one of the largest cities of the province. Excavations inside the modern citadel have revealed parts of the legionary fortress, and a Roman house, a domus, with its foundations, rooms and heating system, has been uncovered nearby, showing how the wealthier inhabitants lived. Together with the rest of the Dacian limes, these remains are now on the World Heritage list.
Read the complete Alba Iulia - Apulum / Domus 1 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Alba Iulia - Apulum / Domus 1, about halfway. Next is back through Capâlna.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Capâlna write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Capâlna sits at 137 km, about halfway. Next is back through Grădiștea de Munte - Dealul Șesului.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Grădiștea de Munte - Dealul Șesului write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Grădiștea de Munte - Dealul Șesului comes up about 360 km into the recorded legs. Next is Banita.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Banita write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Banița closes the day.
Banița → Grădiștea de Munte - Dealul Șesului is 83 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Grădiștea de Munte - Dealul Șesului → Capâlna is 98 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Capâlna → Alba Iulia - Apulum / Domus 1 is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Alba Iulia - Apulum / Domus 1 → back through Capâlna is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Capâlna → back through Grădiștea de Munte - Dealul Șesului is 102 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Grădiștea de Munte - Dealul Șesului → Banita is 83 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.