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 Săsciori it runs 431 km to Săsciori; allow about 7 h 25 of riding. The stops in between: Alba Iulia - Apulum / Domus 1, Geoagiu / Drumul Romanilor, Vețel - Micia / Grădiște and Sarmizegetusa - Colonia Ulpia Traiana Augu. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,300 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 37 km this is Romania Transalpina, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
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.
Capâlna is where the day begins. 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 comes up about 37 km into the recorded legs. Next is Geoagiu / Drumul Romanilor.
The Romans loved hot water, and at Geoagiu-Băi, in the hills above the Mureș valley, they found it: thermal springs that fed baths at the settlement of Germisara, where soldiers and officials came to bathe and dedicated altars to the nymphs and gods of the waters. The Roman pools carved into the travertine are still visible, and the modern spa uses the same springs. Drumul Romanilor, the Romans' road, recalls the routes that linked the forts and towns of Dacia, and the area is part of the World Heritage listing of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire, Dacia.
Read the complete Geoagiu / Drumul Romanilor write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 83 km into the recorded legs you reach Geoagiu / Drumul Romanilor. Next is Vețel - Micia / Grădiște.
The Mureș flows west across Transylvania towards Hungary, and near the village of Vețel, just west of Deva, the Romans built one of the most important forts in their province of Dacia. Micia guarded the river and the road along the valley, the main route between Transylvania and the Pannonian plain, and around the fort grew a large civil settlement with baths, temples and an amphitheatre. Excavations have revealed much of it, though part of the site lies under a power station built in the twentieth century.
Read the complete Vețel - Micia / Grădiște write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Vețel - Micia / Grădiște, about halfway. Next is Sarmizegetusa - Colonia Ulpia Traiana Augu.
After conquering Dacia in AD 106, the emperor Trajan founded a new capital for the province in the Hațeg basin, and named it Colonia Ulpia Traiana Augusta Dacica Sarmizegetusa, borrowing the name of the Dacian royal capital in the Orăștie mountains to the north-east. The city grew into a prosperous centre, with a forum, temples, baths, and an amphitheatre that could seat thousands, and its ruins, partly excavated, lie in fields beside the modern village of Sarmizegetusa. The site has a museum, and you can walk around the forum and the amphitheatre, imagining the gladiatorial games that once filled it.
Read the complete Sarmizegetusa - Colonia Ulpia Traiana Augu write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Sarmizegetusa - Colonia Ulpia Traiana Augu sits at 183 km, about halfway. Next is back through Vețel - Micia / Grădiște.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Vețel - Micia / Grădiște write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Vețel - Micia / Grădiște comes up about 292 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Geoagiu / Drumul Romanilor.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Geoagiu / Drumul Romanilor write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 348 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Geoagiu / Drumul Romanilor. Next is back through Alba Iulia - Apulum / Domus 1.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Alba Iulia - Apulum / Domus 1 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Alba Iulia - Apulum / Domus 1, late in the day. Next is 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.
The route ends here after 431 km.
Capâlna → Alba Iulia - Apulum / Domus 1 is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Alba Iulia - Apulum / Domus 1 → Geoagiu / Drumul Romanilor is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Geoagiu / Drumul Romanilor → Vețel - Micia / Grădiște is 56 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Vețel - Micia / Grădiște → Sarmizegetusa - Colonia Ulpia Traiana Augu is 78 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Sarmizegetusa - Colonia Ulpia Traiana Augu → back through Vețel - Micia / Grădiște is 75 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Vețel - Micia / Grădiște → back through Geoagiu / Drumul Romanilor is 56 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Geoagiu / Drumul Romanilor → back through Alba Iulia - Apulum / Domus 1 is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Alba Iulia - Apulum / Domus 1 → Capâlna is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.