In weekend a avut loc concursul intitulat Apuseni BIKE CUP, concurs ce a pornit de la ideea de a crea o competiție de MTB în zona Clujului, destinată atât amatorilor cât și celor cu experiență, care să promoveze ciclismul montan și Munții Apuseni. Este un concurs multi-stage Enduro, deschisa oricarui participant si cu un grad de dificultate mediu spre ridicat.
Concursul a fost mai mult decat distractiv si cu siguranta nu vom mai rata editiile viitoare. Va lasam mai jos videoul mai mult decat concludent care surprinde o particica din atmosfera evenimentului. In plus, am avut parte de cateva ture de antrenament, pentru a ne familiariza cu etapele si pentru a ne distra si mai mult 🤭👍🍾
De la pilon in jos nu prea are baza asa ca take care, de schiuri ma refer. Totusi, ninge si saptamana asta si saptamana viitoare deci ar trebui sa fie ok de acum inainte. Spor la dat si ride safe!
Quick tip! atunci cand vantul bate pe sus si stim ca in Ciucas a nins proaspat, putem sa ne orientam spre muntii Grohotis, vis a vis de Ciucas. Sunt cateva spoturi acolo in padure, faine rau, ca cele 2 din acest video. Enjoy and ride safe!
Recently we got to visit Macin mountains and their beautiful trails. Never expect less from this place. If you have a camera with you, even a phone camera, this place will turn you into an awesome photographer. Not a good rider, just an awesome photographer :))). But if you ride these trails a lot, you eventually will become a good rider to 😛
The trails are nit, beautiful and unique in their own way. You have some trails with loose over hard pack where you need to control your speed and brakes very good, you have rocky trails where you don’t want to get a flat or fall, and you have Tasmanian forest like trails … the scenery is very diverse for such a small region, but totally worth the effort. Its quite close to Bucharest (3h drive) and very close to the sea side so you can actually go for a swim after a day of riding ;). Check out Măcin hype, its true! enjoy and ride safe!
This year,Bârcaciu ski touringevent hold place, a bit underground, among friends but it had happen. And it was a great weekend to spend on the mountain with beautiful snow, fresh lines and bluebird days. It was also the birthday of the man in charge, the one and onlySherpa from Carpati, Mihai Petre, and seems the gods favor him that we had this briliant conditions.
I feel that i’m repeating myself but this area has so much to offer in terms of mountain acces, lines, trails, tracks and anything in between (good food and good accommodation😊)
Don’t be shy, check it whenever you have the opportunity. I will not continue buzzing you with the same details, just check the pictures and movies bellow and if you want, the the past articles like Bârcaciu Skitouring VRR Editionor Făgăraș from peak to creek #barcaciu. Enjoy and ride safe!
Sketchiest day so far at Balea Lake. I know that from the cover it doesn’t look that way, but it was. Things can change very fast on the mountain, so expect anything. We had a beautiful start of the day, with a decent descent from the ridge of the mountain to Capra lake, but then, the fog came and it stayed for diner… and breakfast next day too :))).
After that, we tried to become friends but she wont open up to us…😆 hard to make a bond when there’s no communication, you feel like talking to the walls :))). Enough with the funny talk, here are some pictures and 2 movies to judge by yourselves. Also for more riding in Balea Lake, you can check BALEA LAKE POWDER DAYS. Enjoy and ride safe!
This trip becomes a tradition, doing Lespezi peak, aka corporate Everest, each year, slowly becomes a must.
It’s interesting that each year we find out new variations to descent from this peak. This time we did some mountaineering to Podeanu ridge and then made a descent on the left side of Lespezi peach (as you look at it when you re climbing). On the way down we spotted a different approach on this descent and we are gonna leave it for next year ;).
Beside this, the usual stuf, bluebird day, a little of spring skiing but as it took us a while to reach our descent the snow got a bit frozen and some crust was in stored for us.
Overall it was a great adventure and a great day on the mountain along side a great company. Thanks guys and hope we will repeat this each year as long as our legs will hold. Enjoy and ride safe!
This was the first VRR edition of ski touring days at Bârcaciu hut in Făgăraș mountains and it was a blast of a trip. As winters become more and more capricious, we struggle to find ways to enjoy the poor snow that we get. This year looks like you can find winter only above 1400-1500m altitude so you have to put some effort into it. But the effort will be reworded if you are in the right spot and with the right crew.
I’m glad I have these friends to share great memories with, and places like this where I feel right at home.
Bârcaciu refugee is one of those places where I return happily because I know I will have a great time… and a great meal 😆.
The area has a lot to offer in terms of ski touring, bike riding or hiking and this part of Făgăraș mountains gets more snow then the rest of it.
Mihai Petre, the man in charge of the hut made quite some efforts to develop ski touring and biking in the area. The trails are well marked and clean and the hut is in good shape thanks to him and the help he got from GLS Romania :D.
I think we are not done yet and we will take another run this year because winter is still here!
Thanks Mihai and Bârcaciu hut in Făgăraș mountains for the great times!
This is a classic tour for us, each year we do one or tow rides in Ciucas. Why? because its accesibile, usually holds good snow despite of the windy ridge, has good slope with moderate inclination and you can have 2 or 3 decent descent in one day. I recomand a tour in Ciucas for intermediar to advance skiers and the recommendation is to check the weather and in before you go there. You can also look for a guide to take you there, its 1 day job and for sure you will find some good ones here like our friends from Massif Experience. if its heavy snow after a long dry period, better stay bellow the tree line or on mellow slopes. If not, you can try even a descent from the peak. each way you do it, check the conditions on the spot ;).
It’s a good question that I try to answare myself a lot lately. To be honest with you, I haven’t figure it out yet, it depends a lot of what type of rides you like to take usually and what’s the amount of riding you really do. For me it’s a bit clearer that judging from the last tow years perspectiv, owning 1 bike it’s not enough, because I get to ride every weekend in different conditions.
I start enjoying a good enduro contest once a month, or some quick rides in the bike park or on some local trails that we know, but I also enjoy longer day rides with lots of elevation and exploring or even epic rides that exceed 2 days lengths.
In my perspective, yes, you can have a bike that makes a good compromise but if you want the best in each ride, you might consider to have dedicated bikes for different purposes. If you can afford in terms of budget, specs or deposit them, and also if you can find the time to hump, excuse me, ride them all, than here are my choices for the personal bike fleet:
One hard tail for street and urban riding between weekends and skill boost 😉
I for one like a good between weekends evening run on the street or in the local parc that has some short lines just to help you remember the moves and the enduro rig its an overkill for this. Also, owning a hard tail has clarified one thing, A hard tail doesn’t forgives you when you make mistakes but rewards you when you do thing the proper way.
One full suspension trail oriented for those longer harder masochistic days or trips that gets you motivated for a month or more, not only for a day or a week.
I also like a good all mountain ride, that’s how I start riding, on xc hard tail bike only to discover the beast inside when moving to a full suspension. An super enduro bike is overkill for this kind of ride, I tried to take the 16 kg aggressive nukeproof on multi day rides and yes, its rewarding on descents but man, its hard work to reach the peaks on it… lately, its hard work on any bike but let me lie to myself that the bike is to blame :))
One super enduro beast that can handle dh tracks or gnarly enduro trails and give you a run for you’re money.
I also like to have a rig that pushes me to the edge and shows me that she can and I can not and that it’s my nuke of a proof bike at this point.
Yes, it may be a bit over the budget but as i said, it must be a personal choice based on the amount of riding and the habits you have.
This is my opinion based on the present facts but things change very quickly in this dynamic present that we live in… One thought dow, if I was to live near a mountain, probably an electric bike would be included 😉
As geometry changes and electric bikes get more supple, this choices of mine wold have to suffer also but at this point this above are my thoughts.
Bucegi mountains have a lot to offer in terms of hiking, climbing, skiing, biking, and a lot more. Each year we schedule some rides here and is great when we discover new trails that are simply perfect for mountain biking. This time we tried a new one that reward us with flow and view. It’s the trail that descents from Scara peak near Omu to the cross above Malaesti hut and passes Tiganest mountain refugee and Tiganest lakes. It is a trail whit a kind of technical access, almost via ferata :)) but once you put yourself on the bike you are immediately possessed by the trails and the flow it has. the view is epic, and I think this part of Bucegi mountains is the most beautiful one. The sections from the cross to Malaesti hut it’s to steep and not so clean so it’s a hike a bike sections but from Malaesti down, a new trail awaits you, technical at the start but flowy at the bottom. The trails are on trail forks so check them out. The track of our ride its here on Garmin connect. It’s one of those rides that we will probably take each year, along with Tiganest descent or Strunga descent. These 3 are our top 3 trails in Bucegi mountains. Enjoy and ride safe!
After this ride, we know where we will be each year for first of November, no doubt about it 🥰.
Valea Cernei is a delight for the sight in this period, and combined with the beautiful single tracks along the way it makes for an perfect day out. I strongly recomand to go visit this place and Mehedinti county in general, it’s a region in Romania like no other with a lot to offer. #shapingthesouth hashtag must be replaced with #gosuth because slowly it becomes a must ;). Thanks Pufi for the great ride and see you soon! Cheers!
This is another epic that you must check in Mehedint county. Is the second time we send this trail and the feedback is the same, awesome and gnarly trail with beautiful scenery, forest and technical parts. The start of the trail is epic, and you have a clear view over Baile Herculane valley but the end of it is hardcode. Some tight corners on rocky sections and loose ones makes you think twice before trying anything.
This year again I didn’t get to nail all the bits of the trail and as I grow older its hard to say if I’m ever gonna send it from top to bottom. But no worries, this is not all its about, the gang, the mountain and trail itself make it worth the effort, as always…
As usual, we never leave Mehedints county without checking Mehedinti enduro trails build and maintained by our local trail forks ambasador, Alexandru Pufan aka The_pufalot, cheers mate!
Vertical Riding Romania 