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.
A 92 km round trip from Poiana Blenchii - roughly 2 h 08 in the saddle. The stops in between: Cășeiu - Cetățele / Samvm Cășeiu -Samum, Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 2 and back through Cășeiu - Cetățele / Samvm Cășeiu -Samum. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
The Someș river winds through northern Transylvania in a broad valley between rolling hills, and near Gâlgău and Poiana Blenchii, it forms a natural corridor between the Transylvanian plateau and the northwest. In Roman times, this valley marked the northern edge of the province of Dacia, and the frontier ran along the hills above it, with watchtowers and small forts. Casa Popii, the priest's house, near Gâlgău, is one of the sites of that frontier listed by UNESCO in 2024: probably a watchtower position on a ridge overlooking the valley. As with many of these sites, there is little to see above ground, but the views over the valley and the hills explain its purpose.
Read the complete Gâlgău - Casa Popii write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Gâlgău - Casa Popii is where the day begins. Next is Cășeiu - Cetățele / Samvm Cășeiu -Samum -.
On a terrace above the river Someș, near the village of Cășeiu, a few kilometres from Dej in northern Transylvania, the Romans built a fort they called Samum. It guarded the northern edge of their province of Dacia, which they conquered in the early second century after two hard wars against the Dacian king Decebalus. The fort controlled the valley and the routes into the province, and today its outline can still be traced in the fields, with low walls and earthworks where archaeologists have uncovered gates, towers and barracks. In 2024 the Dacian frontier was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list as part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire.
Read the complete Cășeiu - Cetățele / Samvm Cășeiu -Samum - write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Cășeiu - Cetățele / Samvm Cășeiu -Samum - comes up about 20 km into the recorded legs. Next is 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.
Read the complete Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 2 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 47 km into the recorded legs you reach Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 2. Next is back through Cășeiu - Cetățele / Samvm Cășeiu -Samum -.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cășeiu - Cetățele / Samvm Cășeiu -Samum - write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Cășeiu - Cetățele / Samvm Cășeiu -Samum -, late in the day. Next is Gâlgău - Casa Popii.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Gâlgău - Casa Popii write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Gâlgău - Casa Popii. That is the ride.
Gâlgău - Casa Popii → Cășeiu - Cetățele / Samvm Cășeiu -Samum - is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cășeiu - Cetățele / Samvm Cășeiu -Samum - → Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 2 is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 2 → back through Cășeiu - Cetățele / Samvm Cășeiu -Samum - is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cășeiu - Cetățele / Samvm Cășeiu -Samum - → Gâlgău - Casa Popii is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.