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.
A one-way ride of 135 km, Novaci to Sebeş - roughly 3 h 41 in the saddle. On the way it passes Ranca, Urdele Pass and Obarsia Lotrului. The highest point is about 2,150 m. Urdele Pass is open in summer only - check it is open before you set off. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
For about 21 km this is Romania Transalpina, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it — expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast.
The ride follows Romania Transalpina for 15 km.
Check the pass is open before you commit to it.
Novaci is the southern gate of the Transalpina, and for a town of fewer than three thousand people it has a good deal of mountain on its doorstep. It sits in Gorj county, on the southern edge of the Parâng range, where the Oltenian foothills fold up into the high Carpathians, and the air smells of sheep, hay and woodsmoke. Sheep farming has been the livelihood of the district for centuries, and the shepherds still drive their flocks up to the high pastures in summer, living in simple huts and making cheese.
Read the complete Near Novaci write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Novaci is where the day begins. Next is Ranca.
Rânca is a ski village at the foot of the Parâng mountains, built on an alpine meadow that was grazing country for shepherds long before anyone put in a chairlift. It sits at around sixteen hundred metres on the southern side of the Transalpina, the high road that crosses the Southern Carpathians, and from here the road to the pass above takes off in earnest. The village is a scatter of chalets, guesthouses and cafés in the middle of grassy slopes and spruce woods, and in summer the main sounds are cowbells and the odd chainsaw.
Read the complete Ranca write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Rânca comes up about 21 km into the recorded legs. Next is Urdele Pass.
At 2,145 metres, Urdele is the highest paved road pass in Romania, and the Transalpina makes sure you earn it. The final stretch from Rânca runs along the bare crest of the Parâng range, above the tree line, where the landscape is grass, rock and sky. Wind is the main sound, and the clouds seem close enough to touch. There are no trees at all, only mountain pasture dotted with sheepfolds, and on the right day you can see almost the full length of the Carpathian chain.
Read the complete Urdele Pass write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 36 km into the recorded legs you reach Urdele Pass. Nothing on this route is higher. Next is Obarsia Lotrului, mostly downhill.
Obârșia Lotrului means the source of the Lotru, and the name explains the place. The Lotru River rises in these mountains and flows down through a long wooded valley to the Olt, and here at its head the landscape opens into forest, meadow and the glint of lakes. It is a quiet mountain hamlet on the northern side of the Transalpina, with a handful of cabins, guesthouses and a ski area that is lively in winter and gentle in summer, and it makes a good pause after the bare heights of the pass.
Read the complete Obarsia Lotrului write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Obarsia Lotrului, late in the day. Next is Sebes.
Sebeş is where the Transalpina comes down to earth, a town of about twenty-seven thousand people on the Sebeş River in Transylvania, and the northern end of the great mountain road. It belongs to the world of the Transylvanian Saxons, German settlers who were invited here in the twelfth century by the Hungarian kings to defend the frontier and develop the land. They built fortified churches and walled towns, and Sebeş, which they called Mühlbach, grew into one of the seven fortified cities that gave Transylvania its German name, Siebenbürgen.
Read the complete Sebeş write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Finish at Sebes. That is the ride.
Novaci → Ranca is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Rânca → Urdele Pass is 15 km. This is the part worth slowing down for - look through the bends and use the pull-offs.
Urdele Pass → Obarsia Lotrului is 12 km. Brakes and eyes forward; the views are behind the corners, not in them.
Obârșia Lotrului → Sebes is 87 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.