Why this ride
A 331 km round trip from Dumitrița - roughly 6 h 54 in the saddle. The stops in between: Șintereag - Dealul Oului, Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1, Glod - Toaca Glodului 1 and Tihău - Dealul Cucului. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Orheiu Bistriței - Vatra Satului and Tihău - Dealul Cucului
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 331 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 h 54
- 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. Orheiu Bistriței - Vatra Satului
Bistrița is the town where Jonathan Harker spends his last comfortable night before heading into the mountains in Bram Stoker's Dracula, and the village of Orheiu Bistriței lies just eight kilometres to the south-east, in the hills above the valley of the Bistrița river. In Roman times, this was the site of an auxiliary fort on the north-eastern frontier of Dacia, and the remains lie beneath the village itself, which the locals know as the vatra satului, the village hearth. Excavations have revealed the outline of the fort, and finds are displayed in the county museum in Bistrița.
Read the complete Orheiu Bistriței - Vatra Satului write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Orheiu Bistriței - Vatra Satului is where the day begins. Next is Șintereag - Dealul Oului.
2. Șintereag - Dealul Oului
Egg Hill, Dealul Oului, is a gentle rise near the village of Șintereag in Bistrița-Năsăud, and the Romans used it as a watch post on the north-eastern frontier of Dacia. Like the other sites in this area, it is part of the frontier listed by UNESCO in 2024, and like many of them, it is more a place to imagine than to see: a low hill, a few traces in the ground, a wide view over the valley of the Șieu and the hills toward Bistrița. Șintereag, a village of a few thousand, lies close by, with Șieu-Odorhei and Cociu as neighbours.
Read the complete Șintereag - Dealul Oului write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Șintereag - Dealul Oului comes up about 34 km into the recorded legs. Next is Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1.
3. Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1
The northern edge of Roman Dacia was a long line of watchtowers, small forts and earthworks drawn across the hills of what is now northern Transylvania, and Dealul Podului, the bridge hill, near Dumbrăveni, was one of the points along it. Watchtowers here kept an eye on the valleys that led north from the province, toward the lands of the free Dacians and other peoples beyond the frontier, and their remains, now mostly low earthworks in the fields and forest, are part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire listing for Dacia, added by UNESCO in 2024.
Read the complete Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 71 km into the recorded legs you reach Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1. Next is Glod - Toaca Glodului 1.
4. 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, about halfway. Next is Tihău - Dealul Cucului.
5. 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.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Tihău - Dealul Cucului sits at 139 km, about halfway. Next is back through Glod - Toaca Glodului 1.
6. back through 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 through Glod - Toaca Glodului 1 comes up about 213 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1.
7. back through Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 259 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1. Next is back through Șintereag - Dealul Oului.
8. back through Șintereag - Dealul Oului
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Șintereag - Dealul Oului write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Șintereag - Dealul Oului, late in the day. Next is Orheiu Bistriței - Vatra Satului.
9. Orheiu Bistriței - Vatra Satului
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Orheiu Bistriței - Vatra Satului write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 331 km.
Leg by leg
Orheiu Bistriței - Vatra Satului to Șintereag - Dealul Oului
Orheiu Bistriței - Vatra Satului → Șintereag - Dealul Oului is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Șintereag - Dealul Oului to Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1
Șintereag - Dealul Oului → Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1 is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1 to Glod - Toaca Glodului 1
Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1 → Glod - Toaca Glodului 1 is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Glod - Toaca Glodului 1 to Tihău - Dealul Cucului
Glod - Toaca Glodului 1 → Tihău - Dealul Cucului is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Tihău - Dealul Cucului to back through Glod - Toaca Glodului 1
Tihău - Dealul Cucului → back through Glod - Toaca Glodului 1 is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Glod - Toaca Glodului 1 to back through Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1
back through Glod - Toaca Glodului 1 → back through Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1 is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1 to back through Șintereag - Dealul Oului
back through Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1 → back through Șintereag - Dealul Oului is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Șintereag - Dealul Oului to Orheiu Bistriței - Vatra Satului
back through Șintereag - Dealul Oului → Orheiu Bistriței - Vatra Satului is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.