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.
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Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
From Spermezeu it runs 330 km to Spermezeu; allow about 6 h 36 of riding. On the way it passes Church of the Holy Archangels, Gâlgău - Casa Popii, Surduc - Deasupra Văii Hrăii and Zalău - Deasupra Șesurilor Tâlhăroasei. The line favours views over speed.
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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Sita - Vârful Sitii is where the day begins. Next is Church of the Holy Archangels.
The wooden church at Rogoz stands in the Lăpuș country, a quieter, lesser-known corner of Maramureș, south of the mountains and away from the main tourist circuits. Built in the seventeenth century and dedicated to the Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel, it is unusual in shape: the roof is asymmetric and overhangs deeply on one side, and the eaves are supported by carved wooden brackets shaped like horse heads, a detail that seems to come straight out of folk tradition. Inside, the walls are painted with scenes from the Bible, including a vivid Last Judgement. It is one of the eight churches in the UNESCO listing of the Wooden Churches of Maramureș.
Read the complete Church of the Holy Archangels write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Church of the Holy Archangels comes up about 41 km into the recorded legs. Next is Gâlgău - Casa Popii.
The Someș river winds through northern Transylvania in a broad valley between rolling hills, and near Gâlgău and Poiana Blenchii, it forms a natural corridor between the Transylvanian plateau and the northwest. In Roman times, this valley marked the northern edge of the province of Dacia, and the frontier ran along the hills above it, with watchtowers and small forts. Casa Popii, the priest's house, near Gâlgău, is one of the sites of that frontier listed by UNESCO in 2024: probably a watchtower position on a ridge overlooking the valley. As with many of these sites, there is little to see above ground, but the views over the valley and the hills explain its purpose.
Read the complete Gâlgău - Casa Popii write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 78 km into the recorded legs you reach Gâlgău - Casa Popii. Next is Surduc - Deasupra Văii Hrăii.
Surduc is a village in the Someș valley in Sălaj county, north-western Romania, where the river cuts a narrow path through hills on its way toward Baia Mare. Above the village, on a ridge overlooking the valley of the Hrăii stream, there are traces of a Roman watchtower, part of the frontier of the province of Dacia. The nearby villages of Tihău and Băbeni, and the town of Jibou, are all close by.
Read the complete Surduc - Deasupra Văii Hrăii write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Surduc - Deasupra Văii Hrăii, about halfway. Next is Zalău - Deasupra Șesurilor Tâlhăroasei.
The Meseș mountains rise to the west of Zalău like a long green wall, and they formed the natural western boundary of Roman Dacia in this region. Along their crest and on the slopes above the plains, the Romans built a line of watchtowers, and the site above the fields with the evocative name of Șesurile Tâlhăroasei, roughly the robbers' flats, near the villages of Treznea and Aghireș, is one of them. It is part of the Dacian frontier on the World Heritage list. Up in the forest the remains are modest, but the position, high on a slope with a view over the valley, shows how the frontier used every advantage of the terrain.
Read the complete Zalău - Deasupra Șesurilor Tâlhăroasei write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Zalău - Deasupra Șesurilor Tâlhăroasei sits at 142 km, about halfway. Next is back through Surduc - Deasupra Văii Hrăii.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Surduc - Deasupra Văii Hrăii write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Surduc - Deasupra Văii Hrăii comes up about 205 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Gâlgău - Casa Popii.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Gâlgău - Casa Popii write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 254 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Gâlgău - Casa Popii. Next is back through Church of the Holy Archangels.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Church of the Holy Archangels write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Church of the Holy Archangels, late in the day. Next is Sita - Vârful Sitii.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Sita - Vârful Sitii write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 330 km.
Sita - Vârful Sitii → Church of the Holy Archangels is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Church of the Holy Archangels → Gâlgău - Casa Popii is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Gâlgău - Casa Popii → Surduc - Deasupra Văii Hrăii is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Surduc - Deasupra Văii Hrăii → Zalău - Deasupra Șesurilor Tâlhăroasei is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Zalău - Deasupra Șesurilor Tâlhăroasei → back through Surduc - Deasupra Văii Hrăii is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Surduc - Deasupra Văii Hrăii → back through Gâlgău - Casa Popii is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Gâlgău - Casa Popii → back through Church of the Holy Archangels is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Church of the Holy Archangels → Sita - Vârful Sitii is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.