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.
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Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
559 km from Ileanda to Ileanda, about 11 h 08 of riding. It goes by way of Tihău - Grădiște, Trezenea - Gura Teghișului, Poieni - Râmbușoi and Roșia Montană Mining Landscape. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,150 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
East of Jibou the Someș river squeezes through a narrower valley, and around Ileanda the hills close in, wooded and steep, with villages tucked wherever there is room for a few houses and gardens. Glod is a tiny settlement in these hills, and Toaca Glodului is the local name of a height above it; toaca, by the way, is the wooden board struck to call monks to prayer, and hills with that name often have a commanding view. Like many points with this naming pattern in Sălaj, it is listed with the Roman frontier of Dacia, where watchtowers and small forts guarded the approaches to the province. On the ground you should expect little more than traces in a field or woodland, so come for the setting.
Read the complete Glod - Toaca Glodului 2 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Glod - Toaca Glodului 2 is where the day begins. Next is Tihău - Grădiște.
The Someș river makes its way through the hills of north-western Romania between Cluj and Baia Mare, and near the small town of Jibou, in Sălaj county, it passes through a narrow valley guarded on its slopes by the remains of a Roman fort. The site, known locally as Grădiște, which simply means old fort, lies above the village of Tihău, close to Surduc and Gâlgău Almașului.
Read the complete Tihău - Grădiște write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Tihău - Grădiște comes up about 45 km into the recorded legs. Next is Trezenea - Gura Teghișului.
The Meseș mountains are a low, forested ridge in northwestern Transylvania, and for the Romans they formed a natural wall at the edge of the province of Dacia. Along the ridge, they built a chain of forts, watchtowers and earthworks, and the big fort of Porolissum, near Zalău, was the key to it all, guarding a pass through the mountains used by traders and travellers. In 2024, much of this frontier was listed by UNESCO as part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire – Dacia, and the site between Treznea and Gura Teghișului is one of its components. On the ground, there is little more than a line of ditches, banks and the foundations of towers, hidden in the forest.
Read the complete Trezenea - Gura Teghișului write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 80 km into the recorded legs you reach Trezenea - Gura Teghișului. Next is Poieni - Râmbușoi.
West of Cluj, the valley of the Crișul Repede cuts through the hills toward the Hungarian plain, and the main road between Transylvania and the west follows it. The village of Poieni and the hill of Râmbușoi lie in this valley, between Huedin and Ciucea, with the forested slopes of the Vlădeasa massif, part of the Apuseni mountains, rising to the south. In Roman times, the frontier of Dacia ran through the hills to the north, along the Meseș mountains, and this corridor was a natural route to watch; hilltop positions in the area formed part of the defensive network, and the larger fort at Bologa guarded the valley nearby.
Read the complete Poieni - Râmbușoi write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Poieni - Râmbușoi, about halfway. Next is Roșia Montană Mining Landscape.
Gold has been mined at Roșia Montană, in the Apuseni mountains of western Romania, for over two thousand years. The Romans, who called the place Alburnus Maior, dug an extensive network of galleries into the mountains to extract the gold, and some of these galleries survive, along with wax tablets found in the mines, recording contracts and daily life. In 2021, after years of controversy, the mining landscape of Roșia Montană was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Read the complete Roșia Montană Mining Landscape write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Roșia Montană Mining Landscape sits at 197 km, about halfway. Next is back through Poieni - Râmbușoi.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Poieni - Râmbușoi write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Poieni - Râmbușoi comes up about 404 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Trezenea - Gura Teghișului.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Trezenea - Gura Teghișului write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 474 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Trezenea - Gura Teghișului. Next is back through Tihău - Grădiște.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Tihău - Grădiște write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Tihău - Grădiște, late in the day. Next is Glod - Toaca Glodului 2.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Glod - Toaca Glodului 2 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 559 km.
Glod - Toaca Glodului 2 → Tihău - Grădiște is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Tihău - Grădiște → Trezenea - Gura Teghișului is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Trezenea - Gura Teghișului → Poieni - Râmbușoi is 70 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Poieni - Râmbușoi → Roșia Montană Mining Landscape is 127 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Roșia Montană Mining Landscape → back through Poieni - Râmbușoi is 127 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Poieni - Râmbușoi → back through Trezenea - Gura Teghișului is 70 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Trezenea - Gura Teghișului → back through Tihău - Grădiște is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Tihău - Grădiște → Glod - Toaca Glodului 2 is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.