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.
429 km from Petrila to Petrila, about 9 h 08 of riding. It goes by way of Banita, Grădiștea de Munte - Dealul Șesului, Capâlna and back through Grădiștea de Munte - Dealul Șesului. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,450 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available.
The Retezat range rises to the south, its granite peaks carrying snow into early summer, and the whole area belongs to Hunedoara county, a land of old mining, Dacian history and shepherds who still move flocks through the hills.
Read the complete Comărnicel II write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Comărnicel II is where the day begins. Next is Banita.
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 comes up about 31 km into the recorded legs. 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.
about 114 km into the recorded legs you reach Grădiștea de Munte - Dealul Șesului. 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.
Capâlna, 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 sits at 121 km, about halfway. Next is back through 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.
back through Banita comes up about 397 km into the recorded legs. Next is Comărnicel II.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Comărnicel II write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Comărnicel II closes the day.
Comărnicel II → Banita is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
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 → 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 → back through Banita is 83 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Banita → Comărnicel II is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.