Why this ride
167 km from Livezile to Livezile, about 3 h 41 of riding. It goes by way of Sărățel - Cetate 1, Lunca - La Bolovani, Brâncovenești - Castel and back through Lunca - La Bolovani.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Livezile - Poderei and Brâncovenești - Castel
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 167 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 41
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Livezile - Poderei
Leave Bistriţa eastwards on the DN17 and within minutes you are in Livezile, a long village strung out along the valley of the Bistriţa river where the Transylvanian hills start to bunch up towards the Eastern Carpathians. Poderei is the name of a hillside here where the Romans kept watch over the northern edge of their province of Dacia, and the site is one of the many small components of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire listed in Romania in 2024. There is nothing to visit in the sense of ruins; what you get is the hill, the view up the valley and the knowledge that legionaries stared at the same ridges.
Read the complete Livezile - Poderei write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Livezile - Poderei is where the day begins. Next is Sărățel - Cetate 1.
2. Sărățel - Cetate 1
The name Sărățel means the little salty place, and this corner of Bistrița-Năsăud has salt underground: springs of brine rise here and there in the hills, and for centuries people used them for cooking, curing meat and treating animals. Salt was one of the reasons the Romans wanted Dacia, along with gold, and on a hill near the village they placed a fort, Cetate, meaning the citadel, at the north-eastern corner of their province. Behind it lay the valley of the Șieu and the road towards the interior; in front, the hills where the free Dacians lived. The site is now part of the Roman frontier of Dacia on the World Heritage list, though, like most of these places, it is visible mainly as an outline of banks and ditches.
Read the complete Sărățel - Cetate 1 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Sărățel - Cetate 1 comes up about 20 km into the recorded legs. Next is Lunca - La Bolovani.
3. Lunca - La Bolovani
La Bolovani means at the boulders, which tells you most of what a local would have said about this spot on the hills near the village of Lunca, between Monor and Șieuț on the eastern edge of the Transylvanian basin. Archaeologists know it as one of the sites along the Roman frontier of Dacia, a small watch post on a ridge commanding views east towards the Călimani and Gurghiu mountains, beyond which lay lands Rome never controlled. In 2024 it joined the World Heritage listing of the Dacian limes, though in the field you will find a quiet hill, sheep and very few signs.
Read the complete Lunca - La Bolovani write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 51 km into the recorded legs you reach Lunca - La Bolovani. Next is Brâncovenești - Castel.
4. Brâncovenești - Castel
Upstream from Reghin, where the Mureș leaves the mountains and widens into the Transylvanian hill country, the village of Brâncovenești stands beside a castle with round corner towers and a long, plain facade overlooking the river. Known in Hungarian as Marosvécs, it was rebuilt several times over the centuries, and in the twentieth century it belonged to the Kemény family. Between the two world wars, Baron János Kemény opened its doors to a circle of Hungarian writers from Transylvania, the Helikon group, who met here every summer to read, debate and plan their literary work. Those gatherings made a remote country house one of the liveliest literary addresses in the region for almost two decades.
Read the complete Brâncovenești - Castel write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Brâncovenești - Castel, about halfway. Next is back through Lunca - La Bolovani.
5. back through Lunca - La Bolovani
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Lunca - La Bolovani write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Lunca - La Bolovani sits at 109 km, about halfway. Next is back through Sărățel - Cetate 1.
6. back through Sărățel - Cetate 1
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Sărățel - Cetate 1 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Sărățel - Cetate 1 comes up about 147 km into the recorded legs. Next is Livezile - Poderei.
7. Livezile - Poderei
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Livezile - Poderei write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Livezile - Poderei closes the day.
Leg by leg
Livezile - Poderei to Sărățel - Cetate 1
Livezile - Poderei → Sărățel - Cetate 1 is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Sărățel - Cetate 1 to Lunca - La Bolovani
Sărățel - Cetate 1 → Lunca - La Bolovani is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Lunca - La Bolovani to Brâncovenești - Castel
Lunca - La Bolovani → Brâncovenești - Castel is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Brâncovenești - Castel to back through Lunca - La Bolovani
Brâncovenești - Castel → back through Lunca - La Bolovani is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Lunca - La Bolovani to back through Sărățel - Cetate 1
back through Lunca - La Bolovani → back through Sărățel - Cetate 1 is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Sărățel - Cetate 1 to Livezile - Poderei
back through Sărățel - Cetate 1 → Livezile - Poderei is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.