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: planning record, not independently verified geometry.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distances and riding times are planning figures. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
From Petrila it runs 522 km to Petrila; allow about 8 h 59 of riding. It goes by way of Grădiștea de Munte - Sarmizegetusa Regia, Capâlna, Alba Iulia - Apulum / Domus 1 and back through Capâlna. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,600 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. The line favours views over speed.
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 38 km this is Romania Transalpina, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
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.
Vârful lui Pătru is where the day begins. Next is Grădiștea de Munte - Sarmizegetusa Regia.
Sarmizegetusa Regia was the capital of the Dacian kings, built high in the Orăștie mountains in the first century BC and the first century AD, and it is one of the most atmospheric ruins in Europe. A fortress of stone blocks, a sacred precinct of circular and rectangular temples, and terraces for houses and workshops were laid out on a series of platforms among beech forest, at an altitude of around 1,200 metres. The sanctuary is the star, with rings of stone bases and wooden posts, and a large circular platform of andesite stones that may have worked as a calendar or a place for ritual. Cut stones and finely made tiles show Greek and Roman influence.
Read the complete Grădiștea de Munte - Sarmizegetusa Regia write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Grădiștea de Munte - Sarmizegetusa Regia comes up about 62 km into the recorded legs. Next is Capâlna.
The Dacians liked their fortresses high, hidden and hard to reach, which is why the Roman legions of Trajan took two bloody wars at the start of the second century to conquer them. Căpâlna stands on a steep wooded hill above the Sebeș valley, a Dacian citadel with stone walls built in the distinctive murus dacicus technique, blocks of cut stone tied together with timber beams, and a tower that served as the last refuge. It is one of the six Dacian fortresses of the Orăștie Mountains listed by UNESCO in 1999, along with the capital Sarmizegetusa Regia, and it is one of the easier ones to reach, with a path climbing through the forest from the valley road.
Read the complete Capâlna write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 167 km into the recorded legs you reach Capâlna. Next is Alba Iulia - Apulum / Domus 1.
Alba Iulia wears its history in layers, and the bottom layer is Roman. The Legio XIII Gemina, the legion that held the heart of Dacia, was based here for over a century and a half, and around its fortress grew Apulum, one of the largest cities of the province. Excavations inside the modern citadel have revealed parts of the legionary fortress, and a Roman house, a domus, with its foundations, rooms and heating system, has been uncovered nearby, showing how the wealthier inhabitants lived. Together with the rest of the Dacian limes, these remains are now on the World Heritage list.
Read the complete Alba Iulia - Apulum / Domus 1 write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Alba Iulia - Apulum / Domus 1, about halfway. Next is back through Capâlna.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Capâlna write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Capâlna sits at 347 km, about halfway. Next is back through Grădiștea de Munte - Sarmizegetusa Regia.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Grădiștea de Munte - Sarmizegetusa Regia write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Grădiștea de Munte - Sarmizegetusa Regia comes up about 462 km into the recorded legs. Next is Vârful lui Pătru.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Vârful lui Pătru write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Vârful lui Pătru closes the day.
Vârful lui Pătru → Grădiștea de Munte - Sarmizegetusa Regia is 62 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Grădiștea de Munte - Sarmizegetusa Regia → Capâlna is 105 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Capâlna → Alba Iulia - Apulum / Domus 1 is 95 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Alba Iulia - Apulum / Domus 1 → back through Capâlna is 95 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Capâlna → back through Grădiștea de Munte - Sarmizegetusa Regia is 105 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Grădiștea de Munte - Sarmizegetusa Regia → Vârful lui Pătru is 62 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.