Căpușu Mic (Kiskapus)

I start this blog to present my bike rides (mostly) in Transylvania. If you are looking for high-end performance cycling or word record achievements, you should be looking somewhere else. This blog is about my weekend fun with my bicycle and friend. Most probably, the rides will not be super long with incredible elevation or hard-core downhills. The goal is to get on the bike and spend some good time with friends.

 I live in Cluj Napoca, in the heart of Transylvania and the surrounding hills and mountains provide a perfect place to explore the remote and desolate roads and villages of the area. If you are looking for less visited roads where you will meet rather local people than other tourists (especially on bikes), you should definitely give it a try.

 The year opening bike ride took place in the area of Căpușu Mic with three friends: András, Levente, and Zsolt. A ~45km track with almost 1000m elevation:

Bike ride

We arrived to Căpușu Mic around 10AM, and the morning was more than chilly. Although, we had complete sunshine, the temperature was well below 10°C. After a few kilometers we could even see the top of the Vlădeasa mountain (1836m) still engulfed in snow. Not a usual bike trip sight but hey, it is April :)

For the first track of the year, we wanted something easier, that is why we have chosen a track that goes on asphalt and avoids the forest (especially because the day before heavy rain made the ground very muddy). The first part of the route contained the most climbs (and the most steep once as well) but the surrounding forest and the sunshine made us forget about the cold and the difficulty of the climb.

Then, after 30 kilometers, things got interesting. To follow the planned trail, we had to take smaller and smaller roads (thanks to Zsolt's super useful tracking watch; without that we could not find the route for sure) and the asphalt was getting narrower and narrower. And suddenly it was totally gone and we ended up in front of a brook.

Having no other choice, we had to cross it (actually two times) and we started to feel that the continuation of the road will not be exactly mudless. That is precisely what happened. The last 15 kilometers took us on a forest road with some puddles so deep that we were afraid of crossing it (after we already crossed the brook).

But having mud even on our sunglasses did not remain unrewarded. The last segment of forest road had some very nice down-hills where we felt the benefit of the mountain bike and the gloves. And not just that but a beautiful view also made us forget how dirty we were.

During the last few kilometers we were pretty tired, since we ate only some chocolate. It was very nice to arrive back to the cars and go home to take some rest and a shower of course. We actually decided that the bikes also deserve some washing so we dropped by a car washer and made them clean.

This is the story of the first ride of 2017, more will come soon. Thanks András for the images :)