Cycling in Romania

Cycling has become quite popular in Romania. There are a couple good shops in any big town; there are more young people cycling than ever; a mountain bike magazine is being published monthly; lately there are a lot of races and competitions.

Needless to say how much I miss my bike. Baby Oryx just made it over the border from the US to Canada, still not yet in Vancouver almost 4 months after handing it over to the shipping company in Cape Town :-(

Apart from the bookstores and mountain gear stores I have also visited all the bike shops in Brasov. I nearly bought a bike. It was orange but too expensive for my current pocketsize. My frustration just grew steadily. And so I could not resist a very tempting project: a bike tour in and around the Caliman mountains.

Lacking a support vehicle and panniers we had to improvise. And so with a minimum of stuff we cycled for 4 days almost 300km. The distances after an endeavour like TDA may seem negligible, but overall the tour was not that trivial. The dirt roads were worth of Ethiopia and some paved roads not unlike the bad ones in Zambia. And the pouring rain reminded me of Malawi and the day we left Chitimba Beach.
With a little over 9kg on my back (including Pepe and my camera), the tour was quite strenious at times and reminded me of TDA. Yep, the pack was much heavier than in Africa.
The plan was to leave the car in Toplitza, ride up and down the mountain (South to North) and then ride for a stretch westwards through beautiful countryside before traversing the mountain again North to South and back to our starting point. As an alternative on the way back we could just ride around the mountain in a larger loop. On top of that we wanted to do a couple of hikes. We carried rain clothes and minimal warm and change clothes, snacks for the day and water, sleeping bags and cameras.

Day 1. After about 2km on paved road we turned right onto the dirt road and gained 1340 m in elevation over some 22km. What started as an even almost flat road became steeper, bumpier and rockier the higher we got and was quite bad on the last section. It was in the end more like a deactivated logging road traversing meadows, then pine forests and eventually zigzag-ing up the grassy slopes to the Retzitzis meteorological station and the hut at around 2020m.

It was a hot day and we had to carry not just our sleeping bags but also food for dinner and breakfast next morning. Up here there was no place to eat. But the sweeping views were - though not spectacular - beautiful and peaceful. I couldn't stop thinking that I would love to go back in winter on snowshoes or skis. The gentle slopes and open areas must be fairy tale like covered in snow. The pack was heavy and it was very hot but the water we fetched in different spots from little creeks or wells was extremely cold and refreshing.

In the afternoon we did a short hike on the plateau. There were lots of juniper trees and rhododendron. It was too late to go for the 6hours hike we had intended. But the plateau walk was relaxing and the views at sunset simply beautiful.

Overall less than 30km riding with the continuous climb making up for the short mileage.

Day 2. Bright and hot again. The descent on the other side of the mountain was on a dirt road that was worse than many dirt roads I rode on in Africa. About 400m from the hut I had a first snake bite. Less than 200m further I had a second one. Fortunately we had enough patches. It wasn't looking good. We had to slow down and go over the sharp rocks with more caution. After a few kilometers and a few hundred meters lower finally the dirt road became a bad paved road that kept improving.

We passed a sulphur exploitation which - in spite of the chromatic appeal - is an ecological disaster the way it has chopped and butchered the mountain and littered the area with abandoned machinery and buildings.
Approximately 1000m below the top plateau we stopped and "parked" our bikes at a guesthouse. Our plan was to go for a hike to the 12 Apostles - some rocky formations on a nearby ridge - about 750m elevation gain.

The hike was lovely: it took us over meadows and pastures up hills and steep slopes with great views of the main valley and mountains. The meadows were sprinkled with hay stacks and there were some cows grazing around. After traversing the pine forest we emerged on the top ridge carpeted with blueberry bushes full of ripe fruit. Yummy! We just picked hands full and ate them on the spot. We enjoyed lunch sitting on the rocks and took some pictures before returning to the village and our bikes some 5 hours later. After enjoying some cold drinks and ice cream we got back on our bikes and continued as planned towards Vatra Dornei.

The countryside was beautiful with nice villages and just farming land around. We had not made arrangements for the night and decided not to stop in town. Being Friday afternoon it was also hard to find available rooms. But we were enjoying this so much that we couldn't care less. When it got dark we just put on headlamps and I put on my reflective jacket and we continued. There were a few hills but nothing major. It was pitchdark and late after 9pm when we found a place to overnight after flipping a coin to decide whether to keep going or stop at a pricey guesthouse.
Overall we had done almost 70km on the bike and a 5 hours hike. Not bad.

Day 3. This was the hottest day. Staying on a major road we climbed up the Tihutza pass gaining over 600m elevation before descending on the other side. There were sections with construction work going on and we definitely moved faster than many cars did. The houses in this area were decorated with woodcarvings, sometimes not just on the window frames and shutters but on the whole facade.
It is a very picturesque area with rolling hills and pastures bordered by forest, all towered by mountains in the distance.

We wanted to go to the Colibitza lake and so we did: another 6.5km uphill on a dirt road in scorching heat. My pack felt heavier and heavier. However, on the other side we were rewarded with the views of the lake and a tasty meal on a nice patio. The heat was unbearable, the water too tempting and so we cooled off in the lake. That was extremely refreshing.

Our initial plan was to overnight here and return to the car in Toplitza the next day over the mountain following logging road up and down the top. Fortunately, during one of our stops (a coke stop in a pretty little town) I heard people talking about the weather forecast. The next day it was going to rain. Actually the forecast was for thunderstorms and extremely heavy rains. Under these circumstances our initial plan sucked. We could not be on a dirt road of uncertain condition and high up in the mountains in bad weather. Therefore, we decided to stick to the main road, go down to Bistritza and return to Toplitza over a longer but weatherwise safer route. And so we did.

We rode to Bistritza and past and ended in some god-forgotten villages. We had to stop and ask for directions from time to time. Dusk caught us going uphill on a sandy road but then it went downhill and down a large valley. We kept going up and down in the dark. But I did not want to stop and put on the headlamp. But there was nobody around at night except for us. It felt crazy and more challenging to ride the dirt road in the dark. It was also quite risky. I could not see anything ahead other than the road slightly lighter than the rest, the fields and bushes on the side. We had no overnight arrangements again and also not much of an idea where and how far we were going to get tonight. Above us the stars were twinkling but the moon was nowhere to be seen. I felt wonderfully free and happy.

Again we were lucky. In the village of Sieutz where we arrived around 9:30pm and stopped at a junction to check the map and put on headlamps I dared ask locals about any possibilities to overnight. They were very nice and helpful. We ended up sleeping on the carpeted floor in their living room.
Today we had done more than 120km.

Day 4. It rained overnight. In the morning the air was fresh and there were dark clouds in the sky. We started early without breakfast. We stopped further in a village and had some snacks in front of a little grocery shop. The sky behind was dark and stormy, we were trying to just stay ahead of the storm. Before hitting the main road again we rode some more on dirt roads over beautiful hills and through a few villages. We could see the sky lit in the distance by the lightnings and we could hear the rumbling thunders. The storm was getting closer and closer and we were pushing to stay ahead.

Soon after we reached the main road the rain started. The road was following the course of the Mures river, a beautiful picturesque valley and a scenic drive otherwise. But the trees and hills were now hidden in the clouds. It rained very heavily at times reducing visibility to a few meters only. We were soon soaked and getting splashed continuously by the passing cars. We cycled through the thunderstorm with the lightnings hitting so close that the thunders sounded like deafening gunshots. But it was fun and I could not help but remember the similar downpours in Africa. When we finally arrived at the car it was almost 3pm and we were quite tired and still drenched after 60km in the rain. Looking back it felt incredible to have been up the mountain a couple of days ago. And we were happy to not have followed the initial route. It would have been at least miserable to be caught up in the mountains in this weather.

We had done around 100km today and almost 300km in total.


This was a great adventure: it included a bit of everything without any prearrangements and much certainties. I loved that and wish I had more of these. Considering my current lack of shape ( I admit walking the bike a few times, not to mention my turtle speed uphill and the many stops :-), the fact that I wasn't used to the borrowed bike and the heavy backpack it also felt like an achievement. It had also been a lot of fun to see the look people gave us. Obviously some thought of us being nutcases. Knowing that I'm not the only nutcase around is very reassuring though :-)