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.
423 km from Kazanlak to Kazanlak, about 8 h 04 of riding. On the way it passes Central Balkan - Stara Reka Reserve, Central Balkan - Boatin Reserve and back through Central Balkan - Stara Reka Reserve. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,050 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available.
In 1944 soldiers digging a shelter on the edge of Kazanlak broke into a small brick chamber and found themselves looking at some of the finest ancient paintings in the Balkans. The Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak, built in the fourth century BC for a ruler of the Thracians, has a narrow corridor leading to a round, beehive-shaped burial chamber, its dome covered with frescoes of a funeral feast: the dead man and his wife seated at a table, servants bringing gifts, horses and chariots racing around the top. The colours and the tenderness of the figures are extraordinary. It was listed by UNESCO in 1979.
Read the complete Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak is where the day begins. Next is Central Balkan - Stara Reka Reserve.
Just above Karlovo, the Stara Reka tumbles out of the Balkan mountains through a steep gorge of beech and rock, and climbing alongside it you leave the town's lowland heat behind within minutes. The reserve that bears the river's name protects the upper part of that valley and forms part of the Central Balkan National Park, one of the largest protected areas in this part of Europe. Its ancient beech forests are included in the UNESCO listing that ties together primeval beech woods across the continent.
Read the complete Central Balkan - Stara Reka Reserve write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Central Balkan - Stara Reka Reserve comes up about 58 km into the recorded legs. Next is Central Balkan - Boatin Reserve.
The Balkan range, the Stara Planina, runs across the middle of Bulgaria from the Serbian border to the Black Sea, and its central section is the wildest, highest and most heavily forested part. The Central Balkan National Park protects this area, and within it, the Boatin Reserve guards a stretch of ancient beech forest on the northern slopes, one of the components of the Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe, a UNESCO site that stretches across many countries.
Read the complete Central Balkan - Boatin Reserve write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 212 km into the recorded legs you reach Central Balkan - Boatin Reserve. Next is back through Central Balkan - Stara Reka Reserve.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Central Balkan - Stara Reka Reserve write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Central Balkan - Stara Reka Reserve, late in the day. Next is Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak. That is the ride.
Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak → Central Balkan - Stara Reka Reserve is 58 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Central Balkan - Stara Reka Reserve → Central Balkan - Boatin Reserve is 154 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Central Balkan - Boatin Reserve → back through Central Balkan - Stara Reka Reserve is 154 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Central Balkan - Stara Reka Reserve → Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak is 58 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.