Gilău - Dealul Cetății and Ighiu - Dealul Măgulici
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
287 km
Riding-time estimate
4 h 40
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.
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.
287 km from Gilău to Gilău, about 4 h 40 of riding. The stops in between: Turda - Potaissa / Dealul Cetății, Războieni - Cetate - Grajduri CAP, Ighiu - Dealul Măgulici and back through Războieni - Cetate - Grajduri CAP. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 950 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Gilău - Dealul Cetății
Gilau sits where the flat plain of the Somesul Mic river meets the first hills of the Apuseni mountains, about fifteen kilometres west of Cluj-Napoca, in Transylvania, and the hill called Dealul Cetatii, which simply means Fortress Hill, rises almost on the edge of the town, about a kilometre away. The town has nearly eight thousand people, and from the road you can see the high, forested ridges of the Apuseni to the west.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Gilău - Dealul Cetății is where the day begins. Next is Turda - Potaissa / Dealul Cetății.
2. Turda - Potaissa / Dealul Cetății
Turda sits on salt. Under the town, the Salina Turda, an old salt mine, has been converted into an extraordinary underground amusement park, with a Ferris wheel, a lake with rowing boats and a mini-golf course more than a hundred metres below the surface, inside vast chambers carved out over centuries. Above ground, on the hill called Dealul Cetății, the Romans built the camp of the Fifth Macedonian Legion, which moved here in the late second century to guard the heart of the province of Dacia. The legionary fortress of Potaissa, with its walls, gates and headquarters building, has been excavated, and it counts as one component of UNESCO's inscription of the Dacian frontier.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Turda - Potaissa / Dealul Cetății comes up 44 km in. Next is Războieni - Cetate - Grajduri CAP.
3. Războieni - Cetate - Grajduri CAP
In the Mureș valley near Ocna Mureș, the village of Războieni-Cetate takes the second half of its name, cetate, fortress, from the Roman fort that once stood here, guarding the road and the river in central Dacia. The fort was a base for a cavalry unit, and its remains, close to the farm buildings of the communist era collective, the CAP, whose stables give the site its odd label, are part of the World Heritage listing of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire, Dacia. Little is visible above ground, but the outline of the fort can be traced in the fields.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
89 km in you reach Războieni - Cetate - Grajduri CAP. Next is Ighiu - Dealul Măgulici.
4. Ighiu - Dealul Măgulici
There is a hill above Ighiu called Măgulici, and from its slopes you look straight across the Mureș valley toward Alba Iulia, the old Roman Apulum. That view is the whole point. Apulum was the base of the Thirteenth Legion and the largest Roman centre in Dacia, and the hills around it were dotted with watch posts and small sites that kept an eye on the roads in and out. The frontier lists name a site on Dealul Măgulici, and while there is little to see on the ground beyond the lie of the land, standing there makes the Roman geography readable.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Gilău - Dealul Cetății closes the day.
Leg by leg
Gilău - Dealul Cetății to Turda - Potaissa / Dealul Cetății
Gilău - Dealul Cetății → Turda - Potaissa / Dealul Cetății is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Turda - Potaissa / Dealul Cetății to Războieni - Cetate - Grajduri CAP
Turda - Potaissa / Dealul Cetății → Războieni - Cetate - Grajduri CAP is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Războieni - Cetate - Grajduri CAP to Ighiu - Dealul Măgulici
Războieni - Cetate - Grajduri CAP → Ighiu - Dealul Măgulici is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Ighiu - Dealul Măgulici to back through Războieni - Cetate - Grajduri CAP
Ighiu - Dealul Măgulici → back through Războieni - Cetate - Grajduri CAP is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Războieni - Cetate - Grajduri CAP to back through Turda - Potaissa / Dealul Cetății
back through Războieni - Cetate - Grajduri CAP → back through Turda - Potaissa / Dealul Cetății is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Turda - Potaissa / Dealul Cetății to Gilău - Dealul Cetății
back through Turda - Potaissa / Dealul Cetății → Gilău - Dealul Cetății is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.