Zalău - Deasupra Șesurilor Tâlhăroasei and Perisor - Corobana

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. 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.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Zalău - Deasupra Șesurilor Tâlhăroasei is where the day begins. Next is Ileanda - La Căsoi.

2. 2. Ileanda - La Căsoi

   Ileanda is a village on the Someș, the big river of north-western Transylvania, at a point where the valley narrows between wooded hills on its way from Dej towards Jibou. The railway runs alongside the water, the road keeps company with both, and the hills on either side rise in long slopes of beech, hornbeam and pasture. La Căsoi is a local name for a spot among those hills; you will not find a monument here, just the landscape and whatever the season is doing to it.

   Read the complete Ileanda - La Căsoi write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Ileanda - La Căsoi comes up about 71 km into the recorded legs. Next is Perisor - Corobana.

3. 3. Perisor - Corobana

   Țara Năsăudului, the Land of Năsăud, is a hilly corner of Bistrița-Năsăud county in northern Romania, and it has a strong sense of its own identity. In the eighteenth century the Habsburgs organised the villages here into a military frontier district, with a Romanian border regiment that defended the empire's eastern edge in return for freedom from serfdom. The people of the area were proud of that status, and the schools and institutions founded with the regiment's funds helped create a remarkable tradition of learning. Two of Romania's best-loved writers grew up nearby: the poet George Coșbuc, born in the village that now bears his name, and the novelist Liviu Rebreanu, whose books describe the lives of Transylvanian peasants.

   Read the complete Perisor - Corobana write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 155 km into the recorded legs you reach Perisor - Corobana. Next is back through Ileanda - La Căsoi.

4. 4. back through Ileanda - La Căsoi

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Ileanda - La Căsoi write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Ileanda - La Căsoi, late in the day. Next is Zalău - Deasupra Șesurilor Tâlhăroasei.

5. 5. Zalău - Deasupra Șesurilor Tâlhăroasei

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Zalău - Deasupra Șesurilor Tâlhăroasei write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Zalău - Deasupra Șesurilor Tâlhăroasei. That is the ride.