CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. 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.
415 km from Petrila to Petrila, about 10 h 31 of riding. On the way it passes Banita, Târsa - Platoul Târsa, Cigmău - Germisara / Cetatea / Dealul Urie and back through Târsa - Platoul Târsa. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,450 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
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 30 km in. Next is Târsa - Platoul Târsa.
Târsa sits on a high plateau in the Șureanu mountains, in the same ring of hills that sheltered the Dacian kingdom's heart. The platoul, the plateau, is open grassland and forest edge at roughly a thousand metres or higher, the sort of place where shepherds still bring flocks in summer and the wind carries the sound of bells.
Read the complete Târsa - Platoul Târsa write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
60 km in you reach Târsa - Platoul Târsa. Next is Cigmău - Germisara / Cetatea / Dealul Urie.
Warm water has drawn people to this corner of the Mureș valley for at least two thousand years. Below the hill of Dealul Urie, near the spa town of Geoagiu-Băi, the Romans built Germisara, a fort on the hill at Cigmău and a bath settlement around the hot springs a few kilometres away, and soldiers and settlers from across the empire came to soak their aches in the thermal pools. Excavations in one of the old spring basins brought up a remarkable hoard of votive offerings, including small gold plaques dedicated to the healing gods and the nymphs, thrown into the water by grateful bathers. The ruins of the fort on Dealul Urie are low and grassy, but the setting, above a broad river plain with mountains on both sides, makes the climb worthwhile.
Read the complete Cigmău - Germisara / Cetatea / Dealul Urie write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Cigmău - Germisara / Cetatea / Dealul Urie, about halfway. Next is back through Târsa - Platoul Târsa.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Târsa - Platoul Târsa write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Târsa - Platoul Târsa sits at 119 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 149 km in. 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 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Banița → Târsa - Platoul Târsa is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Târsa - Platoul Târsa → Cigmău - Germisara / Cetatea / Dealul Urie is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cigmău - Germisara / Cetatea / Dealul Urie → back through Târsa - Platoul Târsa is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Târsa - Platoul Târsa → back through Banita is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Banita → Comărnicel II is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.