Why this ride
A 179 km round trip from Roșiorii de Vede - roughly 3 h 54 in the saddle. It goes by way of Gresia - La Biserică, Crâmpoia - Reduta Tătarilor, Afrimești - Urluieni and Izbășești - Valea Albă.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Roșiorii de Vede - Valea Urlui and Izbășești - Valea Albă
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 179 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 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. Roșiorii de Vede - Valea Urlui
Southern Romania is as flat as a table, and the Teleorman plain, through which the river Vedea flows towards the Danube, is wheat and sunflower country as far as the eye can see. The Romans pushed their frontier across this plain in the second century, building a long earthen rampart known as the Limes Transalutanus, east of the Olt river, with a ditch and a line of forts and towers behind it. Near Roșiorii de Vede, at Valea Urlui, one of these sites is part of the Roman frontier of Dacia listed by UNESCO. The rampart can still be traced in places as a low bank running through the fields, and on the ground you need a good eye, or a guide, to spot it. From the air it is much clearer.
Read the complete Roșiorii de Vede - Valea Urlui write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Roșiorii de Vede - Valea Urlui is where the day begins. Next is Gresia - La Biserică.
2. Gresia - La Biserică
The Wallachian plain in southern Romania is about as flat as Europe gets: a vast expanse of wheat, maize and sunflower fields stretching to the horizon, broken only by lines of acacia trees, irrigation channels and villages strung along the road. Teleorman county, where Gresia lies, is in the heart of it. Two thousand years ago, this was frontier land. The Romans built a long earthwork rampart with forts and towers running north to south east of the river Olt, known as the Limes Transalutanus, to protect their province of Dacia. Gresia and the sites around it, including Roșiorii de Vede, Crâmpoia and Izbășești, lie along its line. Little survives above ground, and the remains need a trained eye or an archaeologist's map to spot, but the idea of a Roman frontier running through these fields adds depth to a landscape that can seem empty.
Read the complete Gresia - La Biserică write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Gresia - La Biserică comes up about 17 km into the recorded legs. Next is Crâmpoia - Reduta Tătarilor.
3. Crâmpoia - Reduta Tătarilor
Out on the flat Romanian plain east of the Olt river, the village of Crâmpoia sits among endless fields of wheat, maize and sunflowers, and its name has a place in Roman history. A Roman earthen fort near the village stood on the Limes Transalutanus, the frontier line that the Romans built east of the Olt in the early third century, running from the Danube northward toward the Carpathians, a long earthen rampart with forts and watchtowers. The local name Reduta Tătarilor, the Tatars' redoubt, reflects a common habit in Romania of attributing old earthworks to the Tatars or other invaders, long after the Romans were forgotten. The site is part of the UNESCO-listed frontier of Dacia.
Read the complete Crâmpoia - Reduta Tătarilor write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 40 km into the recorded legs you reach Crâmpoia - Reduta Tătarilor. Next is Afrimești - Urluieni.
4. Afrimești - Urluieni
Flat. That is the first impression of this part of southern Romania, in Argeș county, where the land stretches away towards the Danube in wide fields of maize and sunflowers, broken only by lines of trees and small villages. But across this plain, in the second century AD, the Romans built a frontier: the Limes Transalutanus, a line of earthworks and forts running north to south east of the Olt river, protecting the province of Dacia. At Urluieni, near the village of Afrimești, stood one of its forts.
Read the complete Afrimești - Urluieni write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Afrimești - Urluieni, about halfway. Next is Izbășești - Valea Albă.
5. Izbășești - Valea Albă
Between Pitești and Slatina, in the south of Romania, the land falls away from the Carpathian foothills towards the great Danube plain in a series of long, low ridges cut by streams. It is farming country, with fields of maize and sunflowers, orchards, vineyards and small villages strung along the valleys. Izbășești and the valley called Valea Albă, the White Valley, lie in this landscape near the small town of Stolnici, and the site recorded here is one of the many archaeological traces in the area, though there is probably little to see on the ground.
Read the complete Izbășești - Valea Albă write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Izbășești - Valea Albă sits at 90 km, about halfway. Next is back through Afrimești - Urluieni.
6. back through Afrimești - Urluieni
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Afrimești - Urluieni write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Afrimești - Urluieni comes up about 108 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Crâmpoia - Reduta Tătarilor.
7. back through Crâmpoia - Reduta Tătarilor
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Crâmpoia - Reduta Tătarilor write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 140 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Crâmpoia - Reduta Tătarilor. Next is back through Gresia - La Biserică.
8. back through Gresia - La Biserică
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Gresia - La Biserică write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Gresia - La Biserică, late in the day. Next is Roșiorii de Vede - Valea Urlui.
9. Roșiorii de Vede - Valea Urlui
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Roșiorii de Vede - Valea Urlui 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 179 km.
Leg by leg
Roșiorii de Vede - Valea Urlui to Gresia - La Biserică
Roșiorii de Vede - Valea Urlui → Gresia - La Biserică is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Gresia - La Biserică to Crâmpoia - Reduta Tătarilor
Gresia - La Biserică → Crâmpoia - Reduta Tătarilor is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Crâmpoia - Reduta Tătarilor to Afrimești - Urluieni
Crâmpoia - Reduta Tătarilor → Afrimești - Urluieni is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Afrimești - Urluieni to Izbășești - Valea Albă
Afrimești - Urluieni → Izbășești - Valea Albă is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Izbășești - Valea Albă to back through Afrimești - Urluieni
Izbășești - Valea Albă → back through Afrimești - Urluieni is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Afrimești - Urluieni to back through Crâmpoia - Reduta Tătarilor
back through Afrimești - Urluieni → back through Crâmpoia - Reduta Tătarilor is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Crâmpoia - Reduta Tătarilor to back through Gresia - La Biserică
back through Crâmpoia - Reduta Tătarilor → back through Gresia - La Biserică is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Gresia - La Biserică to Roșiorii de Vede - Valea Urlui
back through Gresia - La Biserică → Roșiorii de Vede - Valea Urlui is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.