Why this ride
From Nimigea de Sus it runs 279 km to Nimigea de Sus; allow about 6 h 29 of riding. The stops in between: Sita - Vârful Sitii, Dumbrăveni, Chiuiești - Dealul Podului and Negrilești - Dealul Muncelului.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Salva - Roata lui Todoran and Negrilești - Dealul Muncelului
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 279 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 h 29
- 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. Salva - Roata lui Todoran
Salva is a railway village. Trains for the Maramureș line split off here from the route along the Someșul Mare, and the place has a slightly busy, crossroads feel for a commune of a little over four thousand people. The site called Roata lui Todoran, Todoran's wheel, sits right by the village in the Năsăud country of Bistrița-Năsăud, a region that marked the northern edge of Roman Dacia and later formed part of a Habsburg border regiment. Few places in Transylvania have been a frontier for quite so long.
Read the complete Salva - Roata lui Todoran write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Salva - Roata lui Todoran is where the day begins. Next is Sita - Vârful Sitii.
2. Sita - Vârful Sitii
On a hilltop near the village of Spermezeu, in the Someș hills of Bistrița-Năsăud county in northern Romania, a small watchtower once stood guard over the northern edge of the Roman Empire. When the emperor Trajan conquered Dacia in the early second century, the Romans built a frontier around their new province, the Dacian limes, a chain of forts, watchtowers and earthworks running along the Carpathians and through the hills. Vârful Sitii, the summit of Sita, was one of the observation points, chosen because from here soldiers could watch the valleys to the north and send signals to the forts behind them.
Read the complete Sita - Vârful Sitii write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Sita - Vârful Sitii comes up about 30 km into the recorded legs. Next is Dumbrăveni.
3. Dumbrăveni
Dumbrăveni sits in the quiet hill country above the Someş Mare, where the river curves west towards Dej and the land folds into low ridges, orchards and small woods of oak and hornbeam. Like several places on these rides, it marks a point on the old northern edge of Roman Dacia, one of the scattered watchtower and earthwork sites listed in 2024 as part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire. Expect a hill and a view rather than masonry, and enjoy the feeling of being somewhere few travellers bother to stop.
Read the complete Dumbrăveni write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 69 km into the recorded legs you reach Dumbrăveni. Next is Chiuiești - Dealul Podului.
4. Chiuiești - Dealul Podului
The hills above the Someș valley northeast of Dej roll away in long green waves, and the commune of Chiuiești sprawls across them in a scatter of hamlets, each tucked into its own fold of land. Dealul Podului, the Hill of the Bridge, is one of the ridges where traces of a Roman watchtower have been found, part of the chain of observation points that guarded the northern frontier of Dacia. The frontier was not a wall but a network of forts, towers and roads, and the Romans placed their towers where they could see far across the valleys and signal to one another. The site is one of the components of the World Heritage site of the Dacian frontier, although on the ground you will see little more than the shape of the hill and perhaps a low mound.
Read the complete Chiuiești - Dealul Podului write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Chiuiești - Dealul Podului, about halfway. Next is Negrilești - Dealul Muncelului.
5. Negrilești - Dealul Muncelului
Bram Stoker never came to Transylvania, but he sent Jonathan Harker through Bistrița, and the town still enjoys the connection. Dealul Muncelului, a hill above the village of Negrilești, sits west of Bistrița in the Someș valley, and from here the road east leads through the Saxon town to the Tihuța pass, the Borgo Pass of the novel, where Count Dracula's carriage is supposed to have met his English visitor. It is a fine excuse for a ride, even if the vampire is fiction and the real history more interesting.
Read the complete Negrilești - Dealul Muncelului write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Negrilești - Dealul Muncelului sits at 71 km, about halfway. Next is back through Chiuiești - Dealul Podului.
6. back through Chiuiești - Dealul Podului
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Chiuiești - Dealul Podului write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Chiuiești - Dealul Podului comes up about 172 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Dumbrăveni.
7. back through Dumbrăveni
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Dumbrăveni write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 209 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Dumbrăveni. Next is back through Sita - Vârful Sitii.
8. back through Sita - Vârful Sitii
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Sita - Vârful Sitii write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Sita - Vârful Sitii, late in the day. Next is Salva - Roata lui Todoran.
9. Salva - Roata lui Todoran
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Salva - Roata lui Todoran 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 279 km.
Leg by leg
Salva - Roata lui Todoran to Sita - Vârful Sitii
Salva - Roata lui Todoran → Sita - Vârful Sitii is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Sita - Vârful Sitii to Dumbrăveni
Sita - Vârful Sitii → Dumbrăveni is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Dumbrăveni to Chiuiești - Dealul Podului
Dumbrăveni → Chiuiești - Dealul Podului is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Chiuiești - Dealul Podului to Negrilești - Dealul Muncelului
Chiuiești - Dealul Podului → Negrilești - Dealul Muncelului is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Negrilești - Dealul Muncelului to back through Chiuiești - Dealul Podului
Negrilești - Dealul Muncelului → back through Chiuiești - Dealul Podului is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Chiuiești - Dealul Podului to back through Dumbrăveni
back through Chiuiești - Dealul Podului → back through Dumbrăveni is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Dumbrăveni to back through Sita - Vârful Sitii
back through Dumbrăveni → back through Sita - Vârful Sitii is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Sita - Vârful Sitii to Salva - Roata lui Todoran
back through Sita - Vârful Sitii → Salva - Roata lui Todoran is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.