Tag: mtb
During a weekend when everyone was focusing on the Sibiu marathon, I went mountain biking on the Simon hills, near Bran. My touring partners: Steve and Robbie - who, after fours years of living and cycling in Romania, decided to take things one step further in the difficulty department. So, from taking the cable car up the mountain in Sinaia, they were now dealing with the ups and downs of Poiana Gutanu, underneath the Bucegi Mountains, and the ridge situated on the south east of Simon. During our trip we…
Nice weather for biking around Piatra Craiului. Sunny enough, without it being too warm. In the shade it was a bit nippy though. I took the opportunity to test my new 5D mark II camera, which I’ve been coveting for a while, but could not afford. Some unfortunate incidents forced me to afford it and here are the results: As you might have already guessed, it’s hand held filming. There are no color corrections or uplifting music. Everything is how the camera captured it, with the original sound – including…
Who would have thought that in the middle of July we would get rained on six days out of six! We had one day of nice weather, and that was on a Saturday, when we had to take a break, because our group was from Israel. Other then that, we were under constant rain. During the first days some serious showers, followed by steady rain the following days. At least it was warm. The photos can be misleading, because they were taken solely on the first two days of our…
The ride up to Crint, near Sibiu, is a classic, we’ve been doing it for four or five years now – ever since my parents bought a small patch of land in the area, and we slowly started making a summer holiday place out of it. So, whenever there’s a free weekend, we go to the village of Fantanele for some peace and quiet, to admire the beauty of the place and its manifold mountain biking options. From Fantanele you can reach Paltinis through Gura Raului on the now famous…
Someone rightly suggested that the name of the Medias Medieval Marathon should be changed to Mudieval. Except for snow, there was something for everyone: mud, sun, heavy winds, scary clouds, torrential rain and hailstone... Our friend and fellow mountain biker, Mihai Constantenec, tells his story of that day of extremes: I finally manage to squeeze in somewhere in the back of the start line. Oh well... it wouldn’t be the first time. And here we go, I start overtaking many of the guys, but when I reach the mud, there…
At the end of a ski touring trip organized by Iulian Cozma in Bucegi in 2009, Mario promised he would soon return to the Carpathians. He kept his word - together with four other friends from Switzerland and Italy, they packed their mountain bikes, hopped on a plane and came to Romania for five days of mountain biking. Iulian arranged their entire stay in Romania (accommodation, transport etc.) and I was left with the fun part of the whole thing – planning the rides and doing the guiding. We got…
The slope descends rapidly among sharp stones and sand, while the road narrows into a trail that falls to the right. Ok then... which way do I go? High up on my bike, I try to evaluate the trajectory which is to keep me vertical, while the only thought running through my head is to let the front wheel run, unless I want to test the resistance of my helmet. Truth be told, I ride rather slowly (too slow, as some might say), and a fall would only damage my…
