Romanistan, Day 4, Friday: Chain Stops Play

After a rough yesterday I had a good night, so woke early and went for a run. I knew it was a bad idea when the first five minutes were only downward, the return would be tough, and it was. 

Our gear has dried overnight on every available warm surface, making our hotel seem more like a Chinese laundry. Not that our dry clothes made much difference, once riding they were soaking wet again within about ten minutes...

The hotel was at the top of the hill so every direction out was down and Bobo took the most difficult route of course, we like him for that. Straight into the mud on a steep downhill run also laced with rocks and gravel. We appreciated the lack of engine braking and the super slippery surfaces. But everyone kept the right way up, even our resident gooney bird.

The next hour or so was blend of up and down tracks, seemingly more of the same as in previous days. But that was not a bad thing as it was always challenging. Bobo races ahead, Chris or me, following, but he often stops for the others to catch up, and asks why everyone is so slow this morning?

Danny and Steve are not on form and so they're riding slower than usual. Danny's in pain from his chest impact two days ago and Steve can't get in the groove. The rain doesn't help and everyone is struggling to see where they're going and/or keeps getting smacked in the face by low hanging wet branches. Riding these trails is challenging in the dry, trickier in the wet and more so when it's sustained rain and muddy. You have to find the easiest line, avoiding rocks, ruts, deep mud and puddles if you can. But with the trees carrying so much water, what was a 2D challenge becomes three dimensional as you have to navigate under the tree branches as well. Chris has an even more difficult task because his GoPro is mounted to the top of his helmet, so he has to tilt his head to the side under some branches.

Riding upwards again and above the tree line on a mix of grass and muddy tracks on meadowland. The ground is sodden and puddles appear from nowhere in the grass often only seen when you're in them or you see a splash from the rider in front. We reach a highpoint and stop to enjoy the views as whisps of dispersing clouds hang in the valleys. Really rather pleasant and the first proper views we've had. Bobo says the views would normally be even more spectacular in good weather - we keep hearing that; the weather has not been kind to us.

I have a silly low speed off while riding on the grass, but no damage to rider or bike. Back down and we go through a couple of puddles that look ordinary but engulf the whole front wheel, splashing muddy water up over the headlight. When the puddle is this deep there's a real risk of digging the front wheel in and being catapulted over the bars, so you keep your weight at the back of the bike to unload the front wheel and let it climb out more easily and applying power to aid that. Momentum as ever is your friend. Following Bobo too closely I got a face full of mud from his spinning back wheel when he applied power in just that way. 

Not long after this mudmask, I come off in a deep muddy puddle falling sideways when I lose momentum in the mud and there's no support as I put my foot out and in the process end up butt-first in the muddy water. To make matters worse I fall in again even deeper in the water when trying to remount. And if it could not get worse, Ray captures this so called "double dip" on his GoPro! Ray's not had a mention today, but shortly it will be his turn...

Back in the valley floor, following a river, and Danny has an off in the deep mud, somehow hitting something that throws him off course, which triggers his whisky throttle. The front wheel goes skyward and he goes down, planting his face in the mud. His goggles impact his nose leaving him with a gash, that gets patched with a plaster, and dented confidence. 

We get back on track again in a different hollow following a smaller stream that we cross several times splashing through the water each time. Then a BIG water crossing, or it would have been if the river was not running so high, therefore we have to take the narrow bridge option, which is still a challenge.

Moving into the next uphill section Bobo asks if we want to continue as we are, or take the short way to our destination on the road? After some discussion we agree to continue despite the fact that we're all wet and it's going to be another three hours of riding.

So upward we go and it's a challenging muddy (obviously) and rocky climb. I have my third off of the day on a corner taking the inside line while Chris goes outside. Bobo stops near the top, Chris and I with him, then Steve arrives and reports that Ray's chain has snapped. 

At first Bobo doesn't react as I expect, until Steve repeats his message. When it sinks in you can see his face drop. We go back to Ray and see his bike on its side. Bobo inspects, but this is not a roadside fix (but strange as I usually carry a spare link on my TET trips nearer home). 

Luckily it's all downhill to the road, so Bobo rides Ray's bike freewheeling. I follow him, but as he's focussed on keeping momentum for the few slight uphill sections, he goes like a rocket and I can't keep up. We catch him at the road and he switches to my bike, pushing Ray's bike with his foot while Ray rides it unpowered. We do this for about 15km and Ray says he saw 60km/h on the speedo! Finally we arrive back at the farmhouse, hose down and find places to hang our sopping wet gear. Victor and Bobo arrive with a dryer and Mama Bobo fills her washing machine with offensive clothing. 

The Carpathian mountains must contain lots of mica because all our gear is covered in what looks like glitter, making us look like extras from a 1970s disco movie. 

We have a late lunch of soup and macaroni cheese and the sun makes an appearance. In fact the afternoon turns out to be delightful and it's a real shame we're not riding! Only 66km today.

Dinner follows all too quickly and we are well stuffed by evening. By now the clothes are mostly dry. But I bet some fecker will have moved my boots from the boot dryer prematurely...

And as I type it has started raining again....

 

 

Romanistan Day 3, Thursday: Nice Views If You Can See Them

Breakfast across the road from the hotel in the same restaurant as we had dinner. Once again we had the place to ourselves.

I didn't sleep that well last night, and so I was slow to get used to the bike again and very tentative on the trail when we reached it; the slick clay mud didn't help, I realise that's not a preferred terrain for me. At least it's not raining. 

Before we reached the trail we encountered a few random cows on the road going through a village. That, along with the many unpaved roads in some villages and horse and carts still in regular use, gives me cause to think twice that we're still in the EU. Although, is that necessarily a bad thing; should paved roads everywhere be the norm in a developed country? It's nice to be a little rough around the edges, but I guess those who live there should be the ones to decide.

The trail weaves its way through the forest gradually uphill, my slow start leaving me at the back trying to hang on to Danny's coat tails. Eventually I get into the groove as the trail becomes less mud and more gravelly. This is the kind of terrain I'm more comfortable with and the back end drifts out on a few corners with a little bit of two-stroke braaaap.

We overtake a few cars, which are delicately manoeuvring their way between the ruts and potholes that our bikes take in their stride. In this area there are a few remote farm houses most with their resident pack of farm dogs that bark and chase us because that's what the farm dog union demands of them! There are also a few signs for holiday rental properties and small hotels. It must take an age to drive to them but once you're there you're away from it all - except for the occasional pack of wild bikers that pass by. 

Back on the asphalt and we stop to pose, naughty, on a bridge over the reservoir. Shortly after we stop for lunch at a roadside restaurant that I realise is on the Transalpina Pass. We are riding the whole length of this next week in our brief 'Roadmaniacs' tour when we hire road bikes for four days. The Transfăgărășan Highway is also on our list, but at this point we're still sure it will be open. Fingers crossed.

The restaurant reminds me of some we've been to in more remote parts of the world, outwardly impressive but quite bare inside apart from the tables and chairs.  There we meet a US biker who's been on the road for three years touring Africa and Europe, working in between. Groups of heavily laden bikers ride past outside doing their own tours of the area. 

While we're having lunch it really does start to rain. And it pretty much doesn't stop for the rest of the day. Rain jacket out, we're resigned to having soaked trousers, underwear, boots and gloves when we arrive. No amount of wringing out the water helps. Not ideal conditions and visors are swapped for goggles, goggles for wrap around lens, and eventually some ride the slower sections with naked eyes to see the road ahead more clearly. My wrap around specs work pretty well, as they did in the Sahara.

Back off-road and the cloud is low and visibility is poor so we can't appreciate the views as we climb to around 2000m, traversing tracks on the hillside and across heavily sodden grass meadowland above the tree line. 

Apparently Bobo said we should not get too close to the track edges as there are steep falls to the sides, we had no clue it was there as we could see nothing! 

We find the last remnants of snow at the side of the track and Bobo rides each of our bikes up and into the packed snow, spinning the back wheels to bury them to hold the bikes upright. We pose by the bikes for a picture, but I felt a bit of a fraud. 

Just like Ray, then we come down, but unlike Ray we do it under control. More up down in and out of the trees mud and gravel, a nice mix. Still it rains but it can't get any worse. Bobo gets a little disoriented and we take a few dead-end turns. On one we get quite far down having gone through a gate but have to turn around as the narrow path look like it's going to get too difficult. Everything changes in the rain, what might work in the dry becomes almost impossible in the wet and impassable when mud dominates. 

Ray lets his bike have a little rest.

Eventually we got the road again and take the opportunity to fill up the petrol tanks. I get left behind as my bike develops a problem with the kill switch and won't start, Charlie takes it apart but that doesn't fix it. Bobo returns and disconnects the switch which gets me going again. 

The last section sees us climbing from the valley along a wet wiggly asphalt road covered in muddy gravel run-off from all the rain. More fun as the rear end drifted out on several corners.  Almost there but Bobo turns off the road again unexpectedly, more muddy gravel tracks and low hanging wet branches to smack you in the face. Many of us have tuned out of off-road mode at this point so it's hard going, but we power through. Finally we arrive at the hotel after passing though some wide gates that seem to be holding the clouds in place. The hotel is at the top of a hill and has a pool outside in which you can sit and survey the surroundings; we try, but the weather blunts the experience. 

The lads are served boar in the hotel dinning room overlooked by the head of a huge boar on the wall. I'm sharing with Danny. He warns me about possible snoring, I riposte similarly. But a sight I shall not unsee is Ray's pink toothbrush holder... kinky 😱

Romanistan Day 2, Wednesday: Looking Positive

The vegetation is still, and there are black streaks running from the base of each grass blade.... What, could this be the rumoured Romanian sun breaking through? Yes! It’s hard to imagine how more water could be squeezed from the atmosphere after yesterday's rain.

The gear is still wet, mehhh, can't have everything, it will soon dry once we're underway, hopefully. 

Starting to write today's blog entry this again at 23h30, I’m annoyed because my phone somehow lost my creation that I had been constructing all day, so this from memory not notes, the order of events may be wrong.

First we have to blast along the road then onto a trail; blast because almost anything on these two-strokes includes an injection of adrenaline. Starts off as a heavily rutted once asphalted road, out of a populated area and turns into a logging road through the forest, once we pass a dam and reservoir. After some tricky muddy sections interspersed with exposed rocks, Bobo asks if we want to take a hard route to a good view. Do ducks swim? This leads to a steep muddy trail, chaos and the most challenging riding we’ve done.  

Bobo, Chris and Steve set off, me following behind. Steve gets stuck, I pass.  I get stuck spinning my rear wheel, block Steve, who has managed to get free and no doubt creates a queue behind him.  The riding gods, Bobo and Chris have zapped ahead, but finally I too reach the top after having rocked the bike back and forwards to find traction, passing Bobo back on the way down to help out. But it wasn't an elegant accent, imagine me hanging on for dear life as the bike pulls me along. I park and walk down to record the entertainment.

Steve almost reaches me, but gets stuck again, and throws me the most dejected look of resignation.  He’s there for a few minutes spinning the wheel to get free, while Ray sails past with a determined ‘get the feck out of the way!’ look on his face.  The progress soon terminates as he stops just in front of me with a pained expression on his face. He manages to restart but stops just past me, spinning his wheel and eventually toppling over. Then it’s Danny, making steady progress who chugs by, but suddenly from behind Charlie's on a roll trying not to lose momentum and he whizzes past. Danny stops above Ray and then he too topples over. We gather ourselves and eventually all make it to the top where we take off our helmets, sweating profusely.

Snacks, lunch and more muddy, rocky trails. 

Bobo stops to let Steve go ahead to film, but ends up helping Steve traverse a narrow, very slippery, wooden path with deep puddles either side, Danny gets boot full of muddy water. Paddling the bike here is a sensible option.

We crest a hill overlooking a town and an old castle.  After a few pictures it’s a steep downhill section, which I enjoy balancing the front and rear brakes as they teeter on the verge of locking up and throwing you to the ground. On our two-strokes there's not much controllable engine braking to assist and prevent the rear wheel locking up, making it seem much harder. Following me, Ray demonstrates how not to do it, gains too much speed and goes airborne in style and grace until he lands with all the elegance of a fledgling gooney bird, ending up in a (shit) heap at the bottom. This is why we wear protective gear and it works, except for the ego, which is suffers a severe bruising!

Through the forest again, with challenging stream crossings and a short steep inclines. 

The last section before the road is a narrow overgrown path where you can’t see further than the front wheel. Then it’s a sweeping road section before reaching the hotel 

Dinner was an excellent goulash washed down with plenty of laughs.

The day has stayed dry, despite being in the clouds for some periods. 95km 382-1477m. Tomorrow longer but with more views as we traverse ridgeways.

Romanistan Day 1, Tuesday: The Show Goes On - Rain Does Not Stop Play

We start the day with a picture. Charlie has this idea for a black and white photo with us in manly Victorian poses. I oblige (and with added handlebar moustache added with pen) but the others just smile - such amateurs!

Another Bobo bro has joined us for today, he'll be riding sweep with Charlie. A former class winner of Romania's famous Romaniacs off-road event, he's riding his wife's pink bike. I want one. 

Our first proper day of riding and it's 10km of lumpy road riding through villages and a small town on heavily knobbled tyres, in the rain, before we reach the trail into the hills. Top speed in sixth gear is just about 100km/h but 65 is more comfortable and 80 bearable without earplugs. The bikes are so responsive that you feel they would go much faster if the gearing allowed it. 

We head on to the trail and upwards. The rain is on and off as we wind our way through the trees across meadows in and out of the clouds. Large sheep dogs bark madly at us and chase the bikes as we ride past. We've been advised not to try to out run them as it encourages them to run and sometimes they try to dart in front of the bikes - that ended badly on a previous ride.

Stopping for coffee and there are potentially lovely views into the valley and beyond, except it's hidden by cloud clinging to the hills. The rain looks like it's easing off so I remove my outer rain jacket. The tracks are rocky wet tracks interspersed with muddy ruts and I'm feeling more comfortable riding the bucking bronco that is my 300cc two-stroke beast. 

Stopping for lunch and by now the rain has returned as a drizzle, in fact it hasn't really stopped all day, but now it's definitely making me wet. Entering the restaurant and the rain really starts hammering down. We timed lunch well.

Looking at the forecast for the week and it is rain, rain and rain, interspersed with thunder storms. The temperature has also dropped to the point that condensation forms when we breath out. Setting off again and the rain jackets come out, it helps a bit, but soon we're all pretty much wet through. More mud, and rocky tracks and I'm in my stride following Bobo the leader; when we stop, he says I've really improved. On starting again and the first thing I do is fall off into the bushes right in front of everyone! Cameras out, of course. 

A short while later Danny attempts to chop a tree down, but the tree wins. A particularly nasty muddy stretch sees him a little winded by the collision and the tree bark scraped. Slight bike damage as a panel has snapped, but otherwise the bike is fine. It takes a while for him to get his confidence back but he's soon keeping up with the rest of us. Ray's also had a couple of offs, but there's only hearsay as the record. The puddles are particularly huge here and we splash, spray and squelch our way through the ever wetter forest. 

The conditions don't improve but we're still all having a blast as we gain confidence over the rocks, through the mud and even when we're being smacked in the face by sodden, low hanging branches. The scenery is mostly hidden by the clouds, but I get the impression that it's magnificent under its grey blanket. 

We arrive back at the farmhouse and Charlie and Bobo congratulate us on riding well. We are all totally soaked, even Gore-tex boots are wet inside. We hang our gear from every available hook and the clothes airing frame is soon festooned with socks and riding tops. 

I go for a run doing the same loop I did yesterday morning, while the others consult their phones to exchange photos and catch up on the day's news. My watch says we covered about 95km and rode between 475 and 1415m altitude.

The hot tub is ready again so we take a dip, but the water is so hot, that cold needs to be added and stirred well before we can get in.

Dinner, stories and bed. But not before we play musical chairs with our socks and boots, Danny cheating as usual. 

Tomorrow we are not returning to the farmhouse so we need to pack a bag for transit. We'll be on the trail for three days and we all hope the weather improves, but prepare for the worst. We're all so glad we brought sunblock! No doubt we'll also be squeezing ourselves into wet riding gear in the morning, never pleasant. 

Miserable Tuesday

Looking out the window, all is still. Except, odd blades of grass and leaves twitch occasionally. That tell tale sign of the atmosphere releasing its moisture contained within - yes it's still bloody raining!

As if my mood could not get any worse, I receive news that a Swiss colleague who had been leading the European preparations for an important radio conference later this year has died. He was 49 and had two young kids. Very shocking and very sad. Originally from Belarus, Sasha had a unique sense of humour and was a very popular Chair of the CPG meeting. RIP Sasha. A miserable start to the day. 

Romanistan Day 0 and a Half, Monday: Two-stroke Taster, a Shake Up, Not a Shake Down.

What better way to start the day than a run up and down the gravel roads in Romania... How about breakfast in bed?... Or watching sunrise over the gently lapping tropical waves and a swim? But a run it was, 3km or so, the last km up the hill to the farmhouse, which was hard work. 

Introduced myself to Mama Bobo with my best Romanian and then coffee and breakfast of eggs and freshly cut vegetables. Very healthy.  Apparently, Danny enjoyed the mushrooms again at the hotel this morning, despite Steve stealing all of them from Danny's plate before he had a chance to eat them or even noticed that they were missing! 🤷🏻

We meet up with the rest of the crew in Sibiu and head off to the KTM shop to have a look at the biking gear. The rain has become more persistent so a new pair of waterproof gloves was had for my delicate pinkies. 

Then back to the farmhouse for some lunch of soup and babaganoush after which Charlie suggests we go out for a familiarisation ride on the bikes. It was still raining at this point.

Bobo our guide and bike maintenance guy gives us a briefing on the characteristics of a two stroke engined bike as we have mostly ridden four-strokes. Two stroke bikes are much lighter but have little or no engine braking, so you have to use the brakes more.  They are noisy, very responsive and, just like Charlie described, flighty and just a little bit scary.

Then out with the bikes on road, still raining (I left Belgium for this?), and rather than being familiarisation it was more a baptism of fire. A brief blast along the aspalt road and then straight up on to a gravel trail which soon turned into a clay mudfest. I was the first casualty as unbelievably for me, I was too gentle on the throttle so didn't have enough momentum to get through the ruts, I kept feeling the front wheel washing out so slowed right down - a recipe for disaster and over I went!  Sticky clay mud everywhere and it was hard work getting going again. I felt like a complete novice. Not a good start.

I finally made it through the last of the test circuit but rather than giving us familiarisation we're now all even more apprehensive about riding two strokes, none of us enjoyed that. Bobo apologised and said he hadn't expected so much mud. 

The bikes are sprayed clean and become  the source of a river of mud that flows across the yard. 

Dinner and a hot tub awaits us.