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.
A 389 km round trip from Roșia Montană - roughly 10 h 13 in the saddle. On the way it passes Cigmău - Germisara / Cetatea / Dealul Urie, Vârful lui Pătru and back through Cigmău - Germisara / Cetatea / Dealul Urie. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,600 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available.
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 is where the day begins. Next is Cigmău - Germisara / Cetatea / Dealul Urie.
Warm water has drawn people to this corner of the Mureș valley for at least two thousand years. Below the hill of Dealul Urie, near the spa town of Geoagiu-Băi, the Romans built Germisara, a fort on the hill at Cigmău and a bath settlement around the hot springs a few kilometres away, and soldiers and settlers from across the empire came to soak their aches in the thermal pools. Excavations in one of the old spring basins brought up a remarkable hoard of votive offerings, including small gold plaques dedicated to the healing gods and the nymphs, thrown into the water by grateful bathers. The ruins of the fort on Dealul Urie are low and grassy, but the setting, above a broad river plain with mountains on both sides, makes the climb worthwhile.
Read the complete Cigmău - Germisara / Cetatea / Dealul Urie write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Cigmău - Germisara / Cetatea / Dealul Urie comes up about 77 km into the recorded legs. Next is Vârful lui Pătru.
Roman soldiers rarely chose to live above two thousand metres, but on Vârful lui Pătru, a broad grassy summit of the Șureanu mountains in southern Transylvania, they did. A small fortification on the top, part of the network that watched over the passes after Trajan conquered Dacia, is often described as one of the highest Roman military posts anywhere, and it now belongs to the World Heritage listing of the Dacian frontier. Imagine a winter up here in a wool cloak, with the wind coming straight off the Carpathians, and the posting suddenly sounds like a punishment.
Read the complete Vârful lui Pătru write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 194 km into the recorded legs you reach Vârful lui Pătru. Next is back through Cigmău - Germisara / Cetatea / Dealul Urie.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cigmău - Germisara / Cetatea / Dealul Urie write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Cigmău - Germisara / Cetatea / Dealul Urie, late in the day. Next is Roșia Montană Mining Landscape.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Roșia Montană Mining Landscape write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Roșia Montană Mining Landscape. That is the ride.
Roșia Montană Mining Landscape → Cigmău - Germisara / Cetatea / Dealul Urie is 77 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cigmău - Germisara / Cetatea / Dealul Urie → Vârful lui Pătru is 117 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Vârful lui Pătru → back through Cigmău - Germisara / Cetatea / Dealul Urie is 118 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cigmău - Germisara / Cetatea / Dealul Urie → Roșia Montană Mining Landscape is 77 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.