Tag: enduro

Transylvanian Alps open tour, 2019 edition

Here we are in 2019, our third year of organising open tours, and the most popular so far is the Transylvanian Alps program. The idea of traversing on mountain bike five different mountains in the Romanian Carpathian Mountains near Brasov, Central Romania, seems to appeal to a good number of mountain bikers. This time around the participants were all German. Among them a family of three: Mum, Dad, and their 14 years old daughter. Initially, only the parents were to come, but after a few email exchanges we decided that…

Short tour 2019 season opener

April is usually one of the best months for riding our local trails. It might sound surprising, so let me explain. The trails are really quiet: not many hikers, not many bikers, as people are still kept indoors by the not-really-gone winter. The temperatures are close to ideal for biking: not too cold, not too warm. The trails are pretty dry, as the trees and the plants are sucking all the moisture from the ground to fuel to soon-to-come explosion of green. Visibility is quite good inside the forest, without…

Let’s call it Enduro

We've selected the most challenging bits from our traditional programs (Bucegi Circuit, Transylvanian Alps). We've added some extra gnarly trails close to some cable cars. Eliminated the parts where access was simply too difficult. The result is what we consider a nicely balanced, physically demanding but not overwhelming, technically testing but not overkill, pure mountain biking adventure: The Carpat MTB Enduro program. A group of joyful German mountain bikers had the pleasure and the honour of helping us launch this ship to the heavy seas, and in style they did!…

Ride it like you stole it!

We've been riding our Bucegi Circuit for more than five years now, but we keep getting enthusiastic about each juicy single trail descent we are about to head into. And boy, they are many! Each time we make a promise: "Next time I'll stop and take some proper photos and videos of this descent, but for now I will just enjoy it!" We keep on making the same promise, and who knows, maybe, sometime... Till then you'll rather see photos from uphills, sandwich brakes in scenic places, etc. [ngg src="galleries"…

“Les Français font du VTT en Roumanie”

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…

Age is just a number

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…

Bucegi two-days mtb ride

Bucegi Mountains are by far the most bikeable high altitude mountains in Romania. With a high plateau with altitudes around 2000 metres, with the highest point (Omu Peak, 2507 m) reachable by bike, with some cable car options, a high altitude asphalt road and a good variety of huts and hotels, the Bucegi Natural Park can easily accommodate cross country riders and enduro/freeride enthusiasts. The diversity of trails (up the high plateau, but also on the East or West foothills) offers enough options for a full week program (like the…

Carpat MTB Enduro

The Carpat MTB Enduro comes with a carefully selected list of trails to please the most demanding singletrack aficionados. Natural, trekking and hiking trails with whatever mother nature decided to throw into the mix: roots, logs, stones and rock gardens, sharp turns, exposed ridges. Plus some man-made, bike-park kind of runs. You name it, we got it covered. About three times more altitude drop than climbing on bike, meaning we'll use cable cars or motorised vehicles to cover some of the uphill. Still enough climbing on the menu, with some…

Hike a bike, or bike a hike?

We were mountain people before becoming mountain bikers. Being up on the trails is what we are after, and biking is just one of the ways to get up there. We don't mind if some push bike or carry bike comes in our way, when that is the price one must pay to reach some really special trails. Like the one coming down from Malaiesti mountain hut, up in Bucegi Mountains. A treat! It's a difficult trail, for advanced mountain bikers, and it is popular with hikers and trail runners.…

Moving pictures: single trail mtb in Piatra Craiului

We return with a video production after quite a long pause. We hope you'll enjoy it as much as we did while riding the trails of Piatra Craiului, filming and editing the piece. There is a quite simple reason why we lagged behind on the video production front: when you go filming, that's pretty much all you do. The fun factor of the biking is significantly limited, as riding is always interrupted. There is no flow. The backpack is heavier. Getting that big camera out for another shot, attaching the…