Tag: strunga

The epic part in mtb is the mountain

No matter how you look at it, a maximal altitude of 300 m makes Lithuania a flat country. A type of terrain that is suitable for cross-country mountain biking, with relatively short and frequent ups and downs. No place for long, consistent, technical uphills or downhills. Nothing "epic", speaking in mountain biking terms. Was Tadas, from Vilnius, aware of what he was asking when inquring about an expert level mtb tour in the Carpathian mountains surrounding Brașov city? Most likely not. But the group seemed quite determined, a bunch of…

MTB in Romania, the French connection

It doesn't happen very often to have French guests in Romania, be it for hiking or mountain biking. We might share a common cultural background (the Latin heritage, the strong French cultural influences in last two centuries) but France seems to be a little too far away from Romania when travelling is the issue. We get significantly more calls from Germany, Austria, The Netherlands, UK, Sweden than from France. Therefor we were pleasantly surprised when Jean sent us an email from Toulouse, inquiring about an advanced level mtb tour in…

Searching for the perfect trails

You know you've been blessed when... you live in a place like Brașov, a mountain biking paradise with great scenery, great mountains and plenty of trails, you have the chance to go biking with a group of Swedes which are both great company and a source of inspiration, you get ideal photo opportunities with bikers showing (off) their amazing skills, you are called to organize a seven-days mtb trip for these guys for the third year in a row. For all these reasons (and more) we do feel blessed. The…

The Sweeds biking in Romania, the video story

Some video footage from the six days all-mountain biking trip we organized for our Swedish friends in back in July 2013. Micke did extensive filming with his GoPro camera, and because of the chesty strap and the full-suspension bike he was using the footage is pleasantly stable. The sound is natural, and that goes nicely with our style on this website, we appreciate it! Especially the heart beats, it really makes you feel the intensity of the whole experience. Enjoy! Day one in Postavaru: Day two in Ciucaș: Day three…

The Swedes riding the Transylvanian Alps

Sigge and his Swedish friends are old friends now, we've been riding together the trails around Braşov for two summers now, as you can see in these older stories (here, here and here). For the summer of 2013 we designed an all-mountain six-days tour with some enduro flavorings. The basic frame of the program was the Transylvanian Alps tour (details here). The (in)famous Postavaru trails were on the menu, together with less popular but equally exciting trails in Ciucas Mountains, or in Grohotis-Baiului. Bucegi mountains were the icing on the…

Bucegi Circuit, July 2013

[singlepic id=970 w=500 h=333 float=left]A late report of a tour we organized this summer, with Mihai C. as a guide. He took a group of bikers from The Nederlands and Germany to a seven days tour around Bucegi Mountains. They rocked the trails of Postavaru, they passed by mountain huts (Poiana Secuilor, Poiana Izvoarelor, Padina, Omu), they photographed the Sfinx up the Bucegi mountains and downhill-ed on the West side to finish the tour in style with a day of riding in Piatra Craiului National Park. Here is the photo…

Powder at Padina, Bucegi

Last year we had poor snow at the end of March, so for 2013 we decided to go to our freeride session with "Les boys" much earlier, at the beginning of February. It was the right decision, we enjoyed some superbe fresh snow. We drove to Padina on Friday evening, in order to be there Saturday morning ready to hit the slopes and maximize the fun. The weather wasn't really encouraging in the morning, with pour visibility. But sun broke through at the right moment, just as we were getting…

Up in Bucegi Mountains, Omu Peak

They live in Denmark for more than twenty years, but still speak Romanian with a genuine accent. They left Constanţa on the Black Sea shore when they were kids to live with their families close to the wet and chilly North Sea. How were George and Răzvan able to get into mountain biking in Denmark, a country with the highest point barely reaching 171 metres, that's beyond me. Still, they contacted me to help them cycle up in Bucegi Mountains, all the way to Omu Peak - 2504m. They did…

Şaua Strunga descent: this is how it’s done

A 11 min video edit from a Bucegi all-mountain session this summer, with Sigge and Micke. We climbed from Padina to Strunga Pass, then all the way down to Bran village. The camera (Go Pro Hero2) was mounted on Sigge's bike during the tough descents (no, there is no fast forward effect) and on mine on softer terrain. Natural sound, as usual, if you want a soundtrack just choose something appropriate from your playlist. Sigge and Micke they both use full-suspension bikes, 150mm travel (rear and front). Pretty heavy bikes…

High up the Bucegi Mountains

Bucegi Plateau, Omu Peak, Drumul Granicerilor, Padina, Strunga Ridge and then a descent to Simon. For a long time I have been planning this trip and I had lost all hope of doing it this year, since we had a mostly cold and rainy summer. But the weather was on our side this time, and a good thing that was too. The first ever story we published more then a year ago on this blog was also about a ride through Bucegi. That time we started the ride in Sinaia,…