Category: advanced
October is the month of short mountain biking tours. The times for the (long) summer holidays, trips and adventures are over, but a few days of bike riding up the mountain trails can still be squeezed in. We have some examples from previous years to prove that: This is mountain biking! October mountain biking bliss Any reason a good reason for mountain biking October is also famous for fabulous weather. And fabulous colours. This year was no different. [ngg src="galleries" ids="128" display="basic_thumbnail"]
There is always a gamble when doing a long mtb tour in September. While your chances to get nice, dry, stable weather with mild temperatures in the mountains around Brasov are probably the highest along the whole year, there's always the issue of those few days when things turn wintery, just to announce the coming cold season. The first snow up to 2000 m plus usually comes in September, sometimes at the beginning of the month, sometimes later, towards October. It fades away in a matter of hours, or in…
We started the 2018 mountain biking season with a high-intensity four-days tour in Postavaru, Piatra Craiului and Bucegi mountains with a group of seven French "VTT-istes" (a.k.a. "mountainbikers") from a Lyon club. We get plenty of mountain biking visitors in Romania generally from the Northern half of Europe, (Germany, UK, Austria, Sweden, Nederlands, etc) and less often from places like Italy, Spain, or France. Things are gradually changing, with more and more people discovering Romania as a worthy holiday destination. We hope that the following photo gallery, coupled with Monique's…
Let's face it, "I am going to Romania for my mtb holidays" is the kind of statement that will raise an eyebrow or two among one's fellow work colleagues, friends or family. People come to our neck of the woods for anything but our notoriety. It's rather the other way around. Precisely because of its lack of appeal Romania gets to be chosen by people who want to stay away from the hordes of tourists that invade the Alps. Or by people searching the adventure of discovering "uncharted" territories. Or by…
"Well, I just doubled the number of sunny days for this summer", Martin said after the first day of glorious weather during our Transylvanian Alps Open tour, September 2017. And five similar days followed, with incredible blue sky, and some fluffy clouds for better contrast. As the other three Swedes in the group, when travelling abroad for the summer holidays Martin is looking for something generally warmer and sunnier than what's usually on the menu at home. Or at least less muddy as the trails Charles and Garry (another two…
We have a long standing partnership with a Dutch mtb agency that sends groups of mountain bikers from The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria for tours in the Romanian mountains. In September 2017 we run the Bucegi Circuit for a mixed group of similar minded people, ganged together by our Dutch partner. "Mixed" because they were Belgians, Dutch and Germans, because the age span stretched from early thirties to early sixties, and because the technical and fitness level was ranging from the avid amateur endurance racer to the occasional mtb rider. "Similar minded"…
This season we tested extensively the papanași* as a genuine Romanian sports nutrition supplement. They worked wonders before, during and after intense mountain biking riding :). (Hey, some may argue the papanași are a very good substitute for sports itself, but we definitely wouldn't go as far). And what better endurance test than the Transylvanian Alps tour? Intensive climbs, technical descents, single trails riding up and down from 800 to 2500 m altitudes, through forests, pastures, deep into the mountain gorges or on the mountain crests. Plenty of carbohydrates, sugars,…
October is an ideal time for short rides. Yes, the times of week-long tours are gone, but blitzkrieg type of tours are there for the taking. Like the two days mountain bike tour we enjoyed with Robin, from Iceland. Piatra Craiului and Bucegi Mountains were still a little bit shell-shocked after a short but intensive snow session up on the high pastures, but on the lower slopes the trails were just brilliant. There are still a couple of weeks till we switch for the winter hours, so get your bike…
Most of the times mountain biking is a man's world. Any stats I stumble upon, be it magazine readers, equipment purchase, website's audience (yes, including this one), they all show that men are an overwhelming majority in anything related to mountain biking. It's true even with topics leg waxing, or what gloves colour would do justice to the newly bought lime-green frame-set (and also accommodate those awesome purple baggy pants). So, a seven persons group of mountain bikers from Germany counting no less than four women was something really out…
In a day and age where the electric mountain bikes are stealing the front pages, a six days trip around and up the Bucegi Mountains with Mark, Rob, Rod and Paul was as refreshing as a gulp of fresh water from a mountain spring. With just one guy below 60 to balance a little bit the average of the group, the four Brits proved time and again that age is just a number. Long climbs on dirt roads, like going from the old city of Brașov up to the local…
