Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 2 and Church of the Holy Parasceve
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
260 km
Riding-time estimate
6 h 26
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
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.
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Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
260 km from Ciceu-Giurgeşti to Ciceu-Giurgeşti, about 6 h 26 of riding. It goes by way of Sita - Vârful Sitii, Groșii Țibleșului - Preluci, Church of the Holy Parasceve and back through Groșii Țibleșului - Preluci. The line favours views over speed.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 2
Above the valley of the Someș Mare in Bistrița-Năsăud county, the hill called Dealul Podului carries the faint remains of a Roman watch post, one of a string of small installations that kept an eye on the northern edge of the province of Dacia. Like many points on this frontier, inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2024, it is less a monument than a viewpoint with a story, a place where soldiers once scanned the horizon for movement in the free lands to the north. Today the horizon holds forested ridges, orchards and villages strung along the river.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 2 is where the day begins. Next is Sita - Vârful Sitii.
2. Sita - Vârful Sitii
On a hilltop near the village of Spermezeu, in the Someș hills of Bistrița-Năsăud county in northern Romania, a small watchtower once stood guard over the northern edge of the Roman Empire. When the emperor Trajan conquered Dacia in the early second century, the Romans built a frontier around their new province, the Dacian limes, a chain of forts, watchtowers and earthworks running along the Carpathians and through the hills. Vârful Sitii, the summit of Sita, was one of the observation points, chosen because from here soldiers could watch the valleys to the north and send signals to the forts behind them.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Sita - Vârful Sitii comes up 28 km in. Next is Groșii Țibleșului - Preluci.
3. Groșii Țibleșului - Preluci
The Țibleș massif rises like a dark green wall between Maramureș and the Bistrița country of northern Romania, an old volcanic range topped by the Țibleș peak at around eighteen hundred metres. On its southern flanks, above the village of Groșii Țibleșului, lie the forests of Preluci, part of the Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe that UNESCO has protected as one sprawling, multi-country site. These are woods left largely to themselves, where old beeches grow huge, fall, rot and feed the next generation without a forester in sight.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
56 km in you reach Groșii Țibleșului - Preluci. Next is Church of the Holy Parasceve.
4. Church of the Holy Parasceve
Maramureș is one of the few corners of Europe where wood is still the language of the sacred, and the church of Saint Parascheva at Poienile Izei is a good place to learn it. It stands on a small rise above the Izei valley, a dark timber church with a steep, double-tiered shingled roof and a slender spire, built in the early seventeenth century and moved to its present spot later. Inside, the walls and ceiling carry painted scenes from the eighteenth century, and the one that always gets quoted is a vivid Last Judgment in which sinners get remarkably specific punishments.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 2 closes the day.
Leg by leg
Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 2 to Sita - Vârful Sitii
Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 2 → Sita - Vârful Sitii is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Sita - Vârful Sitii to Groșii Țibleșului - Preluci
Sita - Vârful Sitii → Groșii Țibleșului - Preluci is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Groșii Țibleșului - Preluci to Church of the Holy Parasceve
Groșii Țibleșului - Preluci → Church of the Holy Parasceve is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Church of the Holy Parasceve to back through Groșii Țibleșului - Preluci
Church of the Holy Parasceve → back through Groșii Țibleșului - Preluci is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Groșii Țibleșului - Preluci to back through Sita - Vârful Sitii
back through Groșii Țibleșului - Preluci → back through Sita - Vârful Sitii is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Sita - Vârful Sitii to Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 2
back through Sita - Vârful Sitii → Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 2 is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.