Negreni - Dealul Hoancelor and Sântioana - Vârful Mortila

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Negreni - Dealul Hoancelor

   A ridge called Dealul Hoancelor does not make it onto many maps, and the place is better understood from the landscape around it. This is the country of the Someș river in the north of Transylvania, between the Meseș mountains in the west and the hills of the Transylvanian plain to the east, and the valleys are broad, green and thickly farmed. The nearest places on our list are tiny villages, Lozna and Letca, and the closest town, Jibou, is about twenty kilometres away.

   Read the complete Negreni - Dealul Hoancelor write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Negreni - Dealul Hoancelor is where the day begins. Next is Dobricel - Vârful Lazului.

2. 2. Dobricel - Vârful Lazului

   Spermezeu is the kind of place a road atlas barely notices: a commune of scattered villages in the hills of Bistrița-Năsăud, in northern Transylvania, between the upper Someș valley and the Țibleș mountains. The site of Dobricel, on the hilltop known as Vârful Lazului, is one of the many archaeological places recorded in the area, a high point above the valleys where traces of earlier inhabitants have been noted. There is not much to see without an archaeologist's eye, but the hilltop and the country around it are a good excuse for a ride through a region few foreigners ever visit.

   Read the complete Dobricel - Vârful Lazului write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Dobricel - Vârful Lazului comes up about 80 km into the recorded legs. Next is Sântioana - Vârful Mortila.

3. 3. Sântioana - Vârful Mortila

   Sântioana sits in rolling country on the edge of the Transylvanian Plain, in Bistrița-Năsăud county, a gentle landscape of low hills, fields, orchards and scattered woods. The hilltop of Vârful Mortila, above the village, is one of the many archaeological places recorded in this part of Transylvania, a high point that would have made a natural lookout or settlement site for earlier peoples. There is little to see on the surface, but the view from the top gives a fine sense of the landscape, with the Transylvanian hills rolling away in every direction and the mountains rising on the horizon.

   Read the complete Sântioana - Vârful Mortila write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 153 km into the recorded legs you reach Sântioana - Vârful Mortila. Next is back through Dobricel - Vârful Lazului.

4. 4. back through Dobricel - Vârful Lazului

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Dobricel - Vârful Lazului write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Dobricel - Vârful Lazului, late in the day. Next is Negreni - Dealul Hoancelor.

5. 5. Negreni - Dealul Hoancelor

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Negreni - Dealul Hoancelor write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Negreni - Dealul Hoancelor. That is the ride.