Roadmaniacs Day 4, Wednesday: Final Day - Transfagarasan (legally!)

Day's report...  it's coming...  And here it is...

So, we've hatched a Plan A: we will take the same route as I did last night and depending on our feeling and road conditions when we get there, we will decide whether to cross the barrier on our side of the TFH. Or not. The ride there will still be entertaining and if we have to switch to Plan B and come back and ride to the other side of the TFH via the motorway, we'll still have time to do it. We estimate Plan B to be an eight hour day. 

The other downside that this requires us to wake up early and leave at 7h30, so we have time to turn around if needed - and we know how much I love mornings... 

We're on the road at 7h30 on the dot, Steve tapping his fingers impatiently in his mind waiting for us to get ready. I can't believe I even had time for a very short run; I have no idea what's come over me, it must be the adreneline. 

Our schedule is tight if we are achieve our objective of riding as much of the TFH as we can, and so are riding 'at pace'. But after about 15 minutes we see a sign saying the Transfagarasan pass is open! I point and Steve and I both give a thumbs up. That means the time pressure is off and we can ride more leisurely and stop more often for pictures. 

The first stop is the dam that forms an artificial lake of which the TFH skirts along the edges. It's a huge tall structure wedged between two sides of the valley and you could image bungee jumping from the top and not hitting the walls of the dam.

We ride on and Steve's day is made by the sight of a mother bear and her three cubs by the side of the road. Yes! The moment the guys have all been looking forward to. I, of course, saw it all last night, albeit at speed when I was on a mission, but now we stop and soak it up. At a safe distance of course.

We stop for coffee at a hotel, just where last night's barrier was. The anticipation rises. And we set off to enjoy the curves. The best things in life are curvy, and bikers love nice curves...

Before we reach the tree line we see trucks parked in clearings loaded with rows and rows of narrow, horizontal, multicoloured box openings. I also noticed these yesterday and thought that maybe they were racing pigeon start boxes. But no, apparently they are mobile bee hives. The bee keepers drive to an area to let the bees collect the mountain forest pollen for a day before moving to different areas the next day. Great idea. 

We clear the tree line see snow and stop for more pictures periodically. It's definitely cooler now. Reaching the top we go through the tunnel; it's not busy at all.

But on the other side, unlike last night, it is a hive of activity (no bees). We stop briefly but bypass the bustle and seek the iconic view of the road curving down the mountain. We stop a few times but don't quite find it. Looking back up I see a few groups posing for pictures at a higher point than the tunnel exit, so we go back to top to find that spot and discover the hidden bonus of a still partly frozen lake shrouded in mist. It's to the right of the tunnel exit and up a short driveway.

Back down the road and more picture stops. Steve gets flashed by two laughing Romanian women posing with their boyfriends before they jump back in their car and drive off - another kind of bare on the Sans-bra-garasan Highway!

Later more bears, one raiding a refuse bin, and sheep blocking the road. As the flock and shaggy sheep dogs pass our stationary bikes, the young shepherds give the universal 'do a wheelie' sign, a right fist rotated around an imaginary throttle. Not on these bikes, and not with these geriatric riders. Note to self, I must learn how to do a wheelie! 

At some point we lose Christopher, we ride on, but he's not to be found. I ride back, but still no sign. A few flurried messages are eventually answered - he's ridden to the village further on - not quite 'a Mark'*, but close (*see Tajikistan Day 4). We stop for lunch at a delightful Tirolean themed hut at the roadside and it's a surprisingly good cheesy sandwich and pickles. 

By this point we've "done the Transfagarasan" and are starting to think about the logistics of returning the bikes. Because, we set out early and were able to do Plan A we have plenty of time to spare. There's one more castle on the list of places that was a back-up and so we head there. This turns out to be a bit of a letdown, more of a theme park, which is not our thing. In the heat of the day we gather under a tree to regroup and plan, and in the process somebody tries to charge us for parking - bloody parking ninjas, they're everywhere (including in our group... 🤪). Steve gets the hump because Claudia asked us to call her when we were two hours away, but now we're only about 30 minutes from Sibiu. 😱 We arrange for the bikes to be picked up and she's happy to oblige at our chosen time. Nose skin, fully intact, all round. 

Arriving at the hotel, we are hot and bothered. Checking in I don't have a room and the rate had gone up since we left. As we have to wake up at 4am it doesn't seem worth it to pay that for only six hours. A quick search on Booking.com finds a lovely apartment just around the corner - ever the cheapskate, but it was much nicer than the hotel room.

Meanwhile the bikes have been loaded and I pay for a broken clutch lever - the price of TFH fun last night - a bargain!

Just a work call before dinner - international diplomacy never stops. Dinner at the steakhouse we were very happy with ten days ago, but tonight it didn't impress, especially Mr Angry's ribs without substance, which are duly sent back to the kitchen. 

After dinner we meet up with Charlie and his new group of riders, David, Tommy and Rocco. Rocco is an unusual name, as is his mother's. He's a nice Guy. Steve teaches him the finer points of his experience testing inflatables. Lies, lies and damn statistics! A good evening. 

Retiring for a few hours sleep before waking at 3am. We say our goodbyes and head back to the hotel. There we bid farewell to Danny as the lucky bugger gets a lie-in and a chance to eat his breakfast mushrooms in peace. The end of yet another great trip. 

Deposits are down for the next one, next year. It's going to be a biggy if it works out. Watch this space.

Update: Danny took a trip to A&E when he got back to the UK. The X-ray shows he broke five ribs and a thumb when he hit that tree! The hard man rode the next eight days loaded with ibuprofen.... We're all going shopping for better armour for next year's trip, maybe even including some Kevlar....

Roadmaniacs Day 3, Tuesday: Fangtastic Fun

A packed day. 

Fueling, then a lovely cross country jaunt to Bran Castle to once again make fun of the Instgrammers and scare the school kids with fake vampire teeth - or are they fake?...

We buy tickets for Bran Castle entry but get stuck behind a party of school kids that seem to take ages to shuffle through the castle. Queuing is hard work and we're in gear so getting very hot and bothered. Let it go!.. A little light relief is that I'm wearing vampire teeth for the entire tour and get puzzled looks and occasional smiles. One German kid asks if my teeth are real, yes, I say. His teacher smiles too.

Then it's jolly frolics on the lawn with our fake teeth as we all pose Insta style. What must the locals and visitors thought of our antics. Kids at heart and hopefully forever!

Then on to the Rucor-Bran pass, which is not as high as the famous ones, but is still a nice ride with lots of picture taking opportunities of the views and interesting buildings.

We are taking our time today as it's not a huge distance that we have to cover, 190km or so, and we arrive at the hotel by 17h15.

Tomorrow we plan to ride the Transfargarasan Highway, but as its closed at the top, we need to ride almost back to Sibiu and ride it from the other side where the best views are.

But I have a plan. Tonight I'm going to see how far up the highway I can go before having to turn back. At least then I'll have ridden the maximum I can and not missed the curves on this side of the pass.

I set off at 17h30, refuel (only 7litres added for 200km done today, which seems too little to me, but we have been riding slower than yesterday) and head for the hills. 

The road is mostly good quality and I enjoy the curves making good time. En route I see a bear sitting on the corner almost like it's waiting to be fed. Later I see a female with her two cubs - very cute but very dangerous, I'm not tempted to stop.

The road winds past a dam and a big lake plus a few hotels an tourist facilities. It's really curvy even lower down and the asphalt allows you to enjoy it.

At km 104, the road is barred and signposted it's closed. A few bikers ride through and the following text is a description from one of them....

The road climbs higher quite quickly, you leave the tree line behind and find there's still quite a lot of snow left at the sides of the road. You pass under concrete avalanche covers and the road quality is definitely poorer higher up. There are still a few people in cars, groups of motorcyclists and even cyclists! Yet the road is supposed to be closed.

At the very top there's a 1km tunnel, which is also supposed to be closed but it's lit and you can ride through. 

On the other side you find more snow, a few buildings and the top of the cable car that ends here. Riding further on you are treated to an aerial view of the famous set of curves made famous by the Top Gear team. 

Keep going and you get to ride down them too! But be careful of the loose gravel on some of the corners, that can catch even the most experienced riders and they might lose the end of their clutch lever...

Keep going down and you soon reach a barrier that you can't ride past. So what do you do? You ride back up and enjoy it all again in reverse! 

Those bikers that did that must really have had a great time! I know the biker that rode to the barrier and back, did 175km and was on the road for three and a half hours. I know he had fun, such a shame you can only officially ride to km 104 and no further.

Tomorrow we get to ride up to the other side of the barrier from Sibiu.

Roadmaniacs Day 2, Monday: Getting Our Kicks From Route 66

The sun is shining brightly and our grocery shopping yesterday means we can have a feast for breakfast. Yogurts, brioche rolls and bananas. Even the coffee machine in the communal kitchen works well.

We roll out of the hotel drive just after 8am. This is going to be the 'long day', around 400km. 6hrs without stops.

The first few tens of km are across flat land and some rolling hills, but we're soon into the mountains again following the E79 or DN66 (Route 66) that cuts through the Carpathian’s Defileul Jiului National Park. The road is narrow squeezed between the river and the ravine walls. This means there are no safe places to stop to take pictures of the lovely scenery. But we find a spot eventually, just below a scree of loose rocks high above that makes us all think of Baz at the Adventure Rider Centre in Spain spraying gravel everywhere. 

But the stop is clearly being used as a makeshift toilet with paper and even remnants of someone's digestive process at the edges. Not nice. 

Steve walks further up the road and finds that's there's a proper parking spot a few hundred metres away. Good views of a waterfall there. Always the way!

We've covered 200+ km now and I start to think about petrol. My bike only has a reserve light but I know the engine's approximate range from my own experience. We should be good for 300km. But I don't know for sure so plan to fill up while we are in a populated area. Then the worry is about whether petrol stations take cards, so we get some cash.

We're in the valley floor between two areas of mountains and enter a town called Petrosani. It must be a from the Nicolae Ceaușescu era, a decaying industrial area of concrete apartment blocks inspired by Soviet Russia. It has two large towers that dominate the skyline. I find these places fascinating, reminding me of how the east end of London used to be and how some parts of Wallonia are today. As we leave the town the concrete structure of an old railway line runs above us.

We stop for fuel. The bikes have each used about the same of fuel which is surprising as the engines are very different. 10.5l for 296km, quite impressive.

Our first point of interest today is the impressive and pretty Corvin's Castle, which we view from a distance for all of ten minutes. We don't have time to go inside, but we get a few pictures.

Corvin's Castle is in the town of Hunedoara and some of the buildings have very unique roof style. The area made its fortune from metal and I wonder whether the roofs has anything to do with that history.

We stop for coffee in the town centre and Danny is swamped by a huge cappuccino.

Then it's a motorway blast, which we all hate, but it's the necessary evil to get efficiently from one area to another. By the end of today we'll all have sore arses! 

We find a lunch stop in a town called Blaj, where I have a massive ’sandwich’ (naaan) filled with tuna. 

Then more rolling hills before reaching Viscri, a preserved medieval village and fortified church from the 15th century. Just off the main highway, the approach road is a busy place, kids, families and horse and carts are out on the road. The people have distinctive features and I think they are a Roma community.  

We buy tickets to go inside the Viscri church and get good views of the village and surroundings after climbing the tower, even though we only have 20 minutes left before it closes. I take a work call on the way down! Out of office is not out of office. In space no-one can hear you... unless you're on a Bluetooth headset in your helmet!

A 20 minute ride away is our hotel near Rupea, situated right next to the E60 highway, so it's a bit noisy, but the traffic almost disappears at night. Just before we reach it, we see a walled structure on top of a hill and stop to take pictures.

We park our bikes like we did the previous evening, with front wheels touching other, and wrap two chains around all four wheels for security. 

I go for a very short run up the hill and into a cow field, but stay away from the bulls as they're making worrying noises.

Breaking all rules we eat dinner in the hotel. The waitress is from Nepal and we chat, but the service is very slow. Two Greek salads we ordered came in a naan bowl. Very innovative and very tasty, but so much food for a starter! I order fried "crap", but fortunately it isn't, even though it's trout not carp. 

414km today. 

Tomorrow we visit Dracula's castle at Bram.

Roadmaniacs, Day 1, Sunday: Transalpina

Today we are collecting road bikes from Sibiu to start a four day road tour.  We say our goodbyes to Charlie and Ray, and the Bobo clan - they've looked after us very well.

We are meeting the rental company at 10am in the Continental Forum hotel where we stayed on arrival. Ripped jeans glamourous granny Claudia from the rental company arrives with a trailer loaded with three BMW bikes, sidekick Alex has ridden the fourth himself. 

Steve and Danny have each chosen a F750GS, while Christopher and I are in the cheap seats atop two G650GS. Apparently the bikes have names, mine and Christopher's are brides of Dracula, Danny's is Phantom and Steve's Queen Bee!

I bore Steve and Claudia with facts about the 750GS having a 270 degree crank, and then explain 'crank' to Claudia (manivelă, if you're interested). We sign the paperwork while Alex unloads the bikes and fits panniers, which takes longer than expected, but we're underway by about 11am. 

We take the route that heads back towards the farmhouse, but pass by its turn-off. It's a main road but not particularly busy so we make good progress. Turning left off the main road we had south west and onto a road that takes us past Jina where we stayed a few days ago at a hotel on top of a hill.  Further on we join the DN67C, aka the Transalpina.

This winds its way through trees you don't really appreciate the fact that you are gradually climbing. We pass the reservoir where we had previously stopped for photos and then we ourselves stop at Cabana Oasa, where we had had lunch. We repeat the experience. 

We've made good time and the roads have been enjoyable. But guess what, it starts raining! Just like it did a few days ago, deja vu!

By the time we've eaten, the rain has eased a little so we don't add a rain layer, a decision that pays off as the rain eventually stops altogether. 

Unlike previous days we see many bikers on the road, it is a Sunday, so there must be many weekend adventurers out despite the dark skies. Each gets a wave or a nod if hands are busy with clutches. Those riding in the same direction as us we see multiple times.

As we near the Transalpina Pass it becomes more touristy with resorts and entrainment facilities in various places. We clear the tree line and the bends become more frequent and tighter. Great fun but at the weekend busy with tourists that we overtake where permitted. The road is narrow but well made.

The remnants of winter snow look very dirty at the roadside, but add to the alpine feel. It's mid-June and there's still snow at 2000m, I guess that's normal. There are clouds in the sky and even below us, but it's clear enough to appreciate the views we've missed in the past week so we stop several times for photos and admire the scenery. We top out at around 2130m - this is apparently the highest paved road in Romania. 

Winding our way down now and hairpin bends are always more challenging downwards, and moreso when the roads are a little damp and some corners littered with flotsam and jetsam from impromptu rivers in the rain. I'm impressed with my little 650cc engine (four-stroke incidentally so there's engine braking!), it's one I'm familiar with as I had an earlier version of the same bulletproof Rotax engine. It's just enough power to be entertaining and chugs along sipping fuel. The handling on road oriented rubber is also reassuring, it feels very flickable on corners, even if it's double the weight of the KTMs we were riding only yesterday.

We have completed the pass and our hotel for the night is not so far away.

Eventually we find it using a combination of technological assistance from satellites provided by some good friends of mine and the age old standby, asking directions! The marked location on Googlemaps seems correct but somehow we couldn't find it on our own.

We check in to the recently built holiday accommodation that is Casa Alex, then shower, get the WiFi password, and change into fresh clothes (I leave you to guess the correct order of those events!)

For dinner we ride about 3km into town but the pizza place we were aiming for was closed. Instead we take the opportunity to buy breakfast for tomorrow at a supermarket, and then go back to a restaurant we passed on the way here where there were some bikes parked outside. The pizza there was surprisingly excellent.

We retire for the evening after 160km on the road. Today was a relatively short riding day but with a late start. Tomorrow will be a long day with an early start.

Romanistan Day 5, Saturday: Old Dogs, New Tricks

Mama Bobo lays out the morning buffet for. It's first class service here and the coffee machine works overtime.

It's not raining, but everything is just a little bit damp as we dress for the ride. Pulling on damp socks, damp armour and helmets gives you that icky feeling, but it has to be done. But once underway you don't notice.

Once again a brief blast along an asphalt road then up into the hills. After some nice flowing logging road trails, we eventually reach a tricky incline that we climbed a few days ago, but it doesn't seem as daunting as when we first did it. We've navigated more difficult paths since then and reset the bar on what's possible - that's why we come on such trips.

At the top of the climb Bobo finds a clearing on a slight slope. He teaches us the technique of doing a U-turn by spinning the rear wheel, both off and on the bike. On my first attempt nothing much happens except the engine gunning uncontrollably and the bike and me both ending up sideways on the ground, me still holding the handlebars and waving my legs in the air like a cochineal beetle.

We all practice but none really perfect it consistently, even if we have moments of satisfaction.

Then we learn to compress the suspension and use the rebound to bounce ourselves to standing on the seats, which also lifts the bikes slightly. The theory is that, applied at the right time, such compression and rebound can help us to get the bikes over obstacles. We bounce well, but it doesn't quite translate into clearing the 10cm diameter log with the grace of a gazelle. We try, but again, it's not quite perfected - something to try on a R1250GS while riding the Barnoldswick bypass perhaps?

The rain has held off and this exertion is hard work, helmets off during the gaps between on bike action and the steam rises from red hot heads. 

Romaniac Bobo demonstrates his gazelle technique on an ancient angled slab lying next to a long overgrown ruin of a concrete structure. He leaps up the slab and lands confidently on the concrete base at about head height before circling to do it all over again. At one point he leads me over to show me the technique as if it's our next challenge. I'm almost ready to do it, but no, after a few more circuits of the micro-log challenge, I decide I'm not ready... The boys breath a sigh of relief.

He shows us a few other useful skills for clearing obstacles, but is sensible enough not to suggest we try any. After riding the trails over the last few days we've started to think we are more competent off-road riders, but this just shows us that in reality we are still almost complete off-road novices. 

Then, lesson over, we're back on the trail and entering a meadow we finally get some long range views and see Sibiu in the far distance in the valley floor. Although the cloud had moved in by the time this picture was taken.

There's a flock of sheep nearby and a rag-tag group of dogs, old and young, chase Bobo barking madly. They seem very earnest about driving us interlopers away, but their aggression melts when the bikes are stopped and they look away sheepishly. As soon as the bikes are started again they resume their barking as if to say, 'see, we scared you away'.

We traverse along the grass slope being careful not to break traction on the slippy surface, it's always surprising the grip these tyres are capable of finding, but a careless throttle is punished with no mercy. 

A bit further on we enter a wooded area and it becomes very narrow and strewn with old branches. For whatever reason Bobo chooses to turn around and go back the same way. This causes carnage as nearly all the bikes end up on their sides mine included and I'm stopped from rolling down the hill by a tree. Fallen branches from the same tree prevent me from riding back up to the path as the back wheel spins uselessly on the slippery silver birch bark when I try to get moving. I was only slightly comforted by the fact that Bobo also had the same problem moving my bike, but applied his other skills to extricate my machine.

The way back seems more challenging and I lose my balance on the approach to a muddy curve and in doing so end up on the slightly downhill path heading into the trees rather than the pathway out, which complicates my exit. Danny and Steve manage without difficulty by taking a slightly higher route that avoids the dragons in my way. 

Sometimes it seems luck plays a big part in our success or not. At another very muddy moment Ray and Danny get stuck by taking the wrong route and/or not applying the gas at the right time or not enough. Ray and Steve pull Danny out.  I ask Bobo if it's painful watching us beginners flounder at such moments, he laughs.

We're not far from base now, but it's still a relatively difficult muddy track down to the village. It seems to go on forever and how is there so much mud? The Inuit famously have many words for different types of snow, I'm sure enduro riders must have words for the many different types of mud. This type was clay-like and slippery like "snot mixed with diesel" but we're better able to manage these conditions now.

Then before we know it we're straight back in the village again, no asphalt needed. The enduro trails really are in the backyard of the farmhouse. 

As we arrive back in the farmhouse it starts raining and we hear thunder in the distance. For once we've avoided it!

The bikes are hosed down and cleaned properly. This gives the organisers a chance to assess the damage we've done. 

In practice the KTM, GasGas and Husqvarna bikes are pretty robust. They are essentially the same KTM based 300cc two-stroke bikes with a few subtle differences. They are about 100kg each, about half the weight of bikes I normally ride and have long travel suspension and the high power to weight ratio needed to climb steep slopes and generally tear around the forests here - perfect for the conditions. Quite impressed, but they do take a lot of maintenance. 

A BBQ for dinner and our hosts treat us to fine Romanian fare and locally caught trout. Charlie congratulates for surviving the hard riding made harder by the rain.  After dinner we chat, swap stories and discuss what songs to accompany our many video; not surprisingly rain is the theme... Have You Ever Seen the Rain, I Can't Stand the Rain, It's Raining on Prom Night, Set Fire to the Rain, Shadows in the Rain,.. you get the #Drift.

Only 37km today. Tomorrow we are due to collect road bikes to do a four day road tour of the Carpathians, which will include the Transalpina Pass, the Transfagasaran Highway (if open), Bram Castle (of Dracula fame), and several picturesque castles. It's quite an ambitious itinery and I hope the four of us (Ray is heading back early - safe landing, Ray!..) are able to keep up with the schedule.