Zalău - La Nord de Pârâul Măgurii and Perișor - Vârful Colnicului

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Zalău - La Nord de Pârâul Măgurii

   Zalău is the county seat of Sălaj, a city of around sixty thousand people sitting in a shallow valley where the Meseș hills fold down toward the Transylvanian plain. The stop sits just north of the Măgurii stream, on the edge of the town, which means you arrive through suburbs and allotments rather than through any grand gateway. That suits the county. Sălaj is not a place of famous passes; it is a place of rolling ridges, orchards, hay meadows and small roads that wander from one village to the next without much of a plan.

   Read the complete Zalău - La Nord de Pârâul Măgurii write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Zalău - La Nord de Pârâul Măgurii is where the day begins. Next is Glod - Toaca Glodului 2.

2. 2. Glod - Toaca Glodului 2

   East of Jibou the Someș river squeezes through a narrower valley, and around Ileanda the hills close in, wooded and steep, with villages tucked wherever there is room for a few houses and gardens. Glod is a tiny settlement in these hills, and Toaca Glodului is the local name of a height above it; toaca, by the way, is the wooden board struck to call monks to prayer, and hills with that name often have a commanding view. Like many points with this naming pattern in Sălaj, it is listed with the Roman frontier of Dacia, where watchtowers and small forts guarded the approaches to the province. On the ground you should expect little more than traces in a field or woodland, so come for the setting.

   Read the complete Glod - Toaca Glodului 2 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Glod - Toaca Glodului 2 comes up about 79 km into the recorded legs. Next is Perișor - Vârful Colnicului.

3. 3. Perișor - Vârful Colnicului

   The upper valley of the Zagra stream, in the hills of Bistrița-Năsăud county in northern Transylvania, is the sort of place that has produced poets. The village of Hordou, now named Coșbuc, birthplace of the poet George Coșbuc, lies not far away, near Năsăud, and Liviu Rebreanu, one of Romania's great novelists, was born in Târlișua, a little to the west. The hills around Perișor and Zagra, with the summit called Vârful Colnicului, are a landscape of meadows, beech woods and scattered farms that seems to have stepped out of their books.

   Read the complete Perișor - Vârful Colnicului write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 152 km into the recorded legs you reach Perișor - Vârful Colnicului. Next is back through Glod - Toaca Glodului 2.

4. 4. back through Glod - Toaca Glodului 2

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Glod - Toaca Glodului 2 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Glod - Toaca Glodului 2, late in the day. Next is Zalău - La Nord de Pârâul Măgurii.

5. 5. Zalău - La Nord de Pârâul Măgurii

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Zalău - La Nord de Pârâul Măgurii write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Zalău - La Nord de Pârâul Măgurii. That is the ride.