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.
209 km from Poiana Blenchii to Poiana Blenchii, about 4 h 11 of riding. On the way it passes Negreni - Poiana la Arbore, Tihău - Dealul Cucului, Zalău - Deasupra Șesurilor Tâlhăroasei and back through Tihău - Dealul Cucului. The line favours views over speed.
In northern Transylvania, where the Someș river winds through low hills between Dej and Beclean, the Roman Empire once ran out of land and patience. The province of Dacia, conquered by Trajan in the early second century, had a long and complicated frontier, and in 2024 parts of it were added to the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire. Muncel–Cărămidă is one of those components, a small military site above the valley near Poiana Blenchii, part of a network of watchtowers and forts that guarded the northern edge of the province. The big fort of Porolissum, near Zalău to the west, with its reconstructed gate, gives you a sense of what the bigger garrisons looked like.
Read the complete Muncel - Cărămidă write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Muncel - Cărămidă is where the day begins. Next is Negreni - Poiana la Arbore.
Somewhere in the hills of Sălaj county, between the villages of Lozna, Rus and Letca, a meadow called Poiana la Arbore, the clearing by the tree, marks one of the small Roman sites on the north-western frontier of Dacia. The name alone tells you what to expect: a glade, a ridge, perhaps a lone tree, and the faint traces of a watch post that once looked out over the Someş valley. The Frontiers of the Roman Empire listing in 2024 included many such places, and their value lies in the chain they form rather than in any single ruin.
Read the complete Negreni - Poiana la Arbore write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Negreni - Poiana la Arbore comes up about 40 km into the recorded legs. Next is Tihău - Dealul Cucului.
Dealul Cucului means cuckoo hill, and the name fits the place: a low, wooded rise above the village of Tihău, close to the town of Jibou in the Someș valley of Sălaj county, where in spring the cuckoo's call echoes across the meadows. The point belongs to the network of archaeological sites along the Roman frontier of Dacia in the northwest of the province, near the confluence of the Almaș and Someș rivers, a strategic spot where valleys meet and roads cross. As with many of these sites, there may be little to see on the surface, but the location makes sense once you look at the map.
Read the complete Tihău - Dealul Cucului write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 71 km into the recorded legs you reach Tihău - Dealul Cucului. Next is Zalău - Deasupra Șesurilor Tâlhăroasei.
The Meseș mountains rise to the west of Zalău like a long green wall, and they formed the natural western boundary of Roman Dacia in this region. Along their crest and on the slopes above the plains, the Romans built a line of watchtowers, and the site above the fields with the evocative name of Șesurile Tâlhăroasei, roughly the robbers' flats, near the villages of Treznea and Aghireș, is one of them. It is part of the Dacian frontier on the World Heritage list. Up in the forest the remains are modest, but the position, high on a slope with a view over the valley, shows how the frontier used every advantage of the terrain.
Read the complete Zalău - Deasupra Șesurilor Tâlhăroasei write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Zalău - Deasupra Șesurilor Tâlhăroasei, about halfway. Next is back through Tihău - Dealul Cucului.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Tihău - Dealul Cucului write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Tihău - Dealul Cucului sits at 105 km, about halfway. Next is back through Negreni - Poiana la Arbore.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Negreni - Poiana la Arbore write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Negreni - Poiana la Arbore comes up about 169 km into the recorded legs. Next is Muncel - Cărămidă.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Muncel - Cărămidă write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Muncel - Cărămidă closes the day.
Muncel - Cărămidă → Negreni - Poiana la Arbore is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Negreni - Poiana la Arbore → Tihău - Dealul Cucului is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Tihău - Dealul Cucului → Zalău - Deasupra Șesurilor Tâlhăroasei is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Zalău - Deasupra Șesurilor Tâlhăroasei → back through Tihău - Dealul Cucului is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Tihău - Dealul Cucului → back through Negreni - Poiana la Arbore is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Negreni - Poiana la Arbore → Muncel - Cărămidă is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.