Why this ride
A 186 km round trip from Bistriţa - roughly 4 h 04 in the saddle. It goes by way of Șintereag - Dealul Oului, Dobricel - Vârful Lazului, Salva - Dealul Dumbravă and back through Dobricel - Vârful Lazului.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Budacu de Jos - Dealul Cetății 1 and Salva - Dealul Dumbravă
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 186 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 04
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Budacu de Jos - Dealul Cetății 1
Bram Stoker sent Jonathan Harker to Bistritz, and the town of Bistrița, just a few kilometres from here, has never quite escaped the vampire. In the novel, Harker spends a night at the Golden Krone hotel before setting off towards the Borgo Pass and Count Dracula's castle, and today the town has a hotel of that name and the pass a hotel built to look like a castle. The real history is more interesting. Bistrița was one of the seven Saxon cities that gave Transylvania its German name, Siebenbürgen, a rich trading town with a big Gothic church, arcaded merchants' houses and a ring of walls, much of which has been lost.
Read the complete Budacu de Jos - Dealul Cetății 1 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Budacu de Jos - Dealul Cetății 1 is where the day begins. Next is Șintereag - Dealul Oului.
2. Șintereag - Dealul Oului
Egg Hill, Dealul Oului, is a gentle rise near the village of Șintereag in Bistrița-Năsăud, and the Romans used it as a watch post on the north-eastern frontier of Dacia. Like the other sites in this area, it is part of the frontier listed by UNESCO in 2024, and like many of them, it is more a place to imagine than to see: a low hill, a few traces in the ground, a wide view over the valley of the Șieu and the hills toward Bistrița. Șintereag, a village of a few thousand, lies close by, with Șieu-Odorhei and Cociu as neighbours.
Read the complete Șintereag - Dealul Oului write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Șintereag - Dealul Oului comes up about 27 km into the recorded legs. Next is Dobricel - Vârful Lazului.
3. Dobricel - Vârful Lazului
Spermezeu is the kind of place a road atlas barely notices: a commune of scattered villages in the hills of Bistrița-Năsăud, in northern Transylvania, between the upper Someș valley and the Țibleș mountains. The site of Dobricel, on the hilltop known as Vârful Lazului, is one of the many archaeological places recorded in the area, a high point above the valleys where traces of earlier inhabitants have been noted. There is not much to see without an archaeologist's eye, but the hilltop and the country around it are a good excuse for a ride through a region few foreigners ever visit.
Read the complete Dobricel - Vârful Lazului write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 61 km into the recorded legs you reach Dobricel - Vârful Lazului. Next is Salva - Dealul Dumbravă.
4. Salva - Dealul Dumbravă
The Someșul Mare valley around Năsăud was a frontier long before the Habsburgs made it one again. The Romans built watchtowers on the hills here to guard the northern edge of Dacia, and Salva - Dealul Dumbravă, the hill of the oak grove near the village of Salva, is one of the sites included in the UNESCO listing of the Dacian frontier in 2024. Sixteen centuries later, the Habsburg empire turned the region into a military border district, and the Năsăud border regiment, made up of local Romanian peasants, guarded the Carpathian passes in return for privileges and education.
Read the complete Salva - Dealul Dumbravă write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Salva - Dealul Dumbravă, about halfway. Next is back through Dobricel - Vârful Lazului.
5. back through Dobricel - Vârful Lazului
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Dobricel - Vârful Lazului write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Dobricel - Vârful Lazului sits at 105 km, about halfway. Next is back through Șintereag - Dealul Oului.
6. back through Șintereag - Dealul Oului
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Șintereag - Dealul Oului write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Șintereag - Dealul Oului comes up about 160 km into the recorded legs. Next is Budacu de Jos - Dealul Cetății 1.
7. Budacu de Jos - Dealul Cetății 1
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Budacu de Jos - Dealul Cetății 1 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Budacu de Jos - Dealul Cetății 1 closes the day.
Leg by leg
Budacu de Jos - Dealul Cetății 1 to Șintereag - Dealul Oului
Budacu de Jos - Dealul Cetății 1 → Șintereag - Dealul Oului is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Șintereag - Dealul Oului to Dobricel - Vârful Lazului
Șintereag - Dealul Oului → Dobricel - Vârful Lazului is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Dobricel - Vârful Lazului to Salva - Dealul Dumbravă
Dobricel - Vârful Lazului → Salva - Dealul Dumbravă is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Salva - Dealul Dumbravă to back through Dobricel - Vârful Lazului
Salva - Dealul Dumbravă → back through Dobricel - Vârful Lazului is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Dobricel - Vârful Lazului to back through Șintereag - Dealul Oului
back through Dobricel - Vârful Lazului → back through Șintereag - Dealul Oului is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Șintereag - Dealul Oului to Budacu de Jos - Dealul Cetății 1
back through Șintereag - Dealul Oului → Budacu de Jos - Dealul Cetății 1 is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.