Glod - Toaca Glodului 1 and Church of Saint Nicholas

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Glod - Toaca Glodului 1

   Between Dej and Jibou the Someș river squeezes through a narrow, winding valley, with the railway, the road and the river taking turns to cross each other. On the hills above, near the village of Glod and the larger villages of Rus and Ileanda, the Romans kept a watch on the north-western edge of Dacia, and Toaca Glodului is one of their watchtower positions, among the components of UNESCO's Dacian frontier listing. Toaca is the name of the wooden board struck in Romanian monasteries to call the monks to prayer, and the hill may owe its name to its shape or to some long-forgotten story.

   Read the complete Glod - Toaca Glodului 1 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Glod - Toaca Glodului 1 is where the day begins. Next is Perișor - Vârful Zgăului.

2. 2. Perișor - Vârful Zgăului

   Perișor lies in the hills north of Năsăud, in the county of Bistrița-Năsăud, and Vârful Zgăului is the hilltop to which the label points. Zagra and Spermezeu are the nearest villages, while the great wall of the Rodna Mountains stands to the east, the highest part of the northern Eastern Carpathians, with peaks over two thousand metres and glacial lakes among the crags. The Rodna range is a national park and a biosphere reserve, home to chamois, marmots, brown bears and a rich alpine flora. On a clear day the sharp, pale line of the ridge can be seen from many of the hills around.

   Read the complete Perișor - Vârful Zgăului write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Perișor - Vârful Zgăului comes up about 74 km into the recorded legs. Next is Church of Saint Nicholas.

3. 3. Church of Saint Nicholas

   Budești is one of the old villages of the Cosău valley in Maramureș, the far northern corner of Romania, where traditional life has survived longer than almost anywhere else in Europe. Its wooden church of St Nicholas, built in the seventeenth century, is a masterpiece of the local carpentry tradition: a dark timber body with a tall, steep shingled roof and a slender spire that seems to pierce the sky. Inside, the walls are covered with painted scenes from the Bible, and among the church's treasures is a coat of chain mail said to have belonged to Pintea the Brave, a legendary outlaw hero of the region. The church is one of eight in the UNESCO listing of the Wooden Churches of Maramureș.

   Read the complete Church of Saint Nicholas write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 178 km into the recorded legs you reach Church of Saint Nicholas. Next is back through Perișor - Vârful Zgăului.

4. 4. back through Perișor - Vârful Zgăului

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Perișor - Vârful Zgăului write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Perișor - Vârful Zgăului, late in the day. Next is Glod - Toaca Glodului 1.

5. 5. Glod - Toaca Glodului 1

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Glod - Toaca Glodului 1 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Glod - Toaca Glodului 1. That is the ride.