Tag: Transylvania
Starting with the 2021 season we are offering to our guests a new tour concept: Going for the peaks. Be it for a one-day ride, a weekend tour, a full-week program or a comprehensive ten-days adventure, the aim is to get up every day on a peak in the South-Transylvania Carpathian Mountains, and then bike all the way down to a cold beer, a nice meal and a good sleep. After a few good years of exploratory rides we proudly present a list of about 10 carefully selected peaks that…
With our classic, week-long tours put on hold by the global COVID pandemic, the summer of 2021 was mainly about short, custom made tours. We had a bunch of mountain bikers eager to have a taste of what mtb in the mountains looks like. And a taste they had, realising that mountain biking is (much) more than biking. Physically, technically, mentally. But also a lot of fun, especially for those who accept that enjoyment comes also with plenty of perspiration. We are looking forward to see them up the mountains…
We love mountains at least as much as we like biking. In our book mountain biking should be a lot about mountains: majestic forests, alpine pastures, rocky ridges, and the assorted mountain trails. But the pinnacle of any mountain landscape is the peak. Obviously, not every peak is bikeable. And “bikeable” is like beauty: it’s in the eye (mind, legs, arms) of the beholder. Some peaks can be climbed on a bike. Others require push-bike, sometimes carry-bike. The descents, also. These mtb experiences are not for everyone, but those who…
Autumn offers the most dramatic landscapes, and the October 2019 three days tour with Ofir was no different. If you add the white of the winter's first snow to the myriad of shades of falling trees you get the ingredients of a beautiful, majestic, but also quite eerie world. No better time to relive those days but during the 2020 Covid-19 epidemic - and lock-down. Here's a gallery of images that, in the present-day context, seem terrifyingly close to an end-of-the-world scenario. One thing's for sure: if the end of…
One of the great things about mountain biking is that, with every new ride, you become a different mountain biker. With each new trail you've ridden, with each day spent on bike, you get better at it. You trust more your balance, you hone your skills a little bit more. You look at the same trail a little bit different. You see new lines, new options on sections of trails you thought were't holding no more secrets. Sometimes you do it on your own, sometimes you do it with your…
“Beware of the mountain bikers coming from flat countries”. That was the advice I got quite early in my mtb guiding experience and I keep mentioning it during our tours, as it always brings out a laugh or two. It obviously is one of those general statements that can easily be cancelled out by specific individual examples, of which we’ve seen many during our very own tours. But there is an obvious element of truth in it: you cannot know what mountain biking is unless you bring your bike to…
Our second instalment of the Carpat MTB Enduro program happened in July 2019, featuring a couple from Sweden enjoying a longer family trip to Romania, and three German friends on their routine mountain biking trip abroad. A great week as always, in spite of some rather tricky weather, unusually wet for mid summer, and a few technical and logistical problems with one of the bikes. Nothing that can't be solved with the appropriate clothing and a good set of toolbox - plus equipment to spare. We biked up on Bucegi…
Mountain biking is one of the fastest growing sports around the world, and it is not a mystery why this is happening. It is accessible for pretty much everyone because the minimum requirements are very simple: a bicycle, the ability to ride it, and access to a trail through some off-road scenery. (Sure, this is just a starting point, and once you jump the wagon you can complicate things endlessly.) It can be practised as a very intense workout, or as a fun, adrenaline inducing activity. Or both at the…
A tour that was in the planning for quite some time now finally happened on a perfect weather weekend of October 2019: the trails around Cabana Bârcaciu in Făgăraș, The Carpathian Mountains. We are usual guests at Cabana Bârcaciu, we go there often for our hiking, trekking, ski touring trips (more at www.mountainguide.ro). With bikes it is more difficult, as it is located at some distance from our home trails around Brasov city - which are pretty abundant. And it is strategically located at the end of a 5 km…
Alex is a student in Cluj, just about to finish his medical studies. A keen mountain biker, he thought of a short bike trip in the Romanian mountains for him, his dad Martin and his cousin Christian, trying to discover what gems lay hidden in this corner of Europe. For the first day of their adventure they went to the Sinaia bike park, concentrating on clearing various jumps and gaps. For the next three days they wanted some wild, natural trails, so they called us to design a suitable program.…
