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: planning record, not independently verified geometry.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distances and riding times are planning figures. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
424 km from Karlovo to Karlovo, about 7 h 19 of riding. It goes by way of Central Balkan - Peesh skali Reserve, Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak and back through Central Balkan - Peesh skali Reserve. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 900 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 41 km this is Bulgaria Shipka Pass Road, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Check the pass is open before you commit to it.
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 is where the day begins. Next is Central Balkan - Peesh skali Reserve.
Peesh skali means singing rocks, after the way the wind howls and whistles through the cliffs and crags of this reserve on the slopes of the central Balkan range. It lies on the northern side of the main ridge, not far from Botev, at 2,376 metres the highest peak of the Balkan mountains, and it protects beech and spruce forests, alpine meadows and rocky slopes, part of Central Balkan National Park. Chamois live on the crags, and bears, wolves and golden eagles roam the area. Access to the reserve is restricted, but trails in the surrounding park offer spectacular walks.
Read the complete Central Balkan - Peesh skali Reserve write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Central Balkan - Peesh skali Reserve comes up about 91 km into the recorded legs. Next is Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak.
In 1944 soldiers digging a shelter on the edge of Kazanlak broke into a small brick chamber and found themselves looking at some of the finest ancient paintings in the Balkans. The Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak, built in the fourth century BC for a ruler of the Thracians, has a narrow corridor leading to a round, beehive-shaped burial chamber, its dome covered with frescoes of a funeral feast: the dead man and his wife seated at a table, servants bringing gifts, horses and chariots racing around the top. The colours and the tenderness of the figures are extraordinary. It was listed by UNESCO in 1979.
Read the complete Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 211 km into the recorded legs you reach Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak. Next is back through Central Balkan - Peesh skali Reserve.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Central Balkan - Peesh skali Reserve write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Central Balkan - Peesh skali Reserve, late in the day. Next is 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 at Central Balkan - Stara Reka Reserve. That is the ride.
Central Balkan - Stara Reka Reserve → Central Balkan - Peesh skali Reserve is 91 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Central Balkan - Peesh skali Reserve → Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak is 120 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak → back through Central Balkan - Peesh skali Reserve is 120 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Central Balkan - Peesh skali Reserve → Central Balkan - Stara Reka Reserve is 91 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.