Category Archives: 7. Utile

HARGHITA ENDURO 2018

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This year we took part of Harghita Enduro, the seccond stage of Romanian Enduro Cup.

Man what trails they have! tehnical, natural segments, steep, hard! Combine this with some english weather and you get an up grade weekend race :))).

The contest has only 3 specials but they are quite something. In my opinion this is how enduro looks like. I hope in the future another special will appear here but for now we can be glad we have this ones.

The contest is held in Harghita Madaras, mountain group of Transylvanian Carpathians belonging to the Eastern Carpathian Mountain Range. The highest peak is Harghita Madaras Peak, with 1,800 m (source wikipedia).

These mountains are beautiful and wild, if you wander alone on this trails, you have lots of chances to run into a bear or a wolf so be careful 🐶🐺🦄. Or into an awesome single track for that matter :))).

For accommodation you can chose Sugo Pension because is very clean and cozy and has great food! We enjoyed staying here a lot!

Also once here, you must take a hike or a bike up to Madarasi peak, the sacred mountain ;0, the peak it’self is one of the most beautiful ones in RO and the view is breathtaking because you are right in the middle of our Carpathians :D. Here’s an album to show you just how beautiful it is on the peak and trails 😉

But, mainly if you are into enduro, you must come ride here, even in contest weekend. Here you find the track of the 3 specials and bellow we leave you some pics and a movie to get you fired up! Enjoy! 🤘🚵‍♂⛰

MAGURA CODLEI, NICE GEM OF A TRAIL ON SMALL MOUNTAIN

Magura Codlei, nice gem of a trail on small mountain!

This is the track MAGURA CODLEI but don’t take our route up. You can barely call it a trail! Just climb on the descent, you can cycle half of it ;). Enjoy!

Postavaru over 1000m mtb descent

This is not a recent one but its the one descent that keeps the smile on you’re face the longest time :D. Over 1000m descent. For more information about some of the trails here, chek out this article: Postavaru mountain bike Trails, Brasov, Romania. Enjoy and ride safe!

Cabana Suru and Chica pietrelor. Enduro bikepacking trip

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This weekend we remade a track from last year, the one from Suru mountain hut and rocky ridge in Fagaras Mountains. It’s a must do for each year, really is one of the most beautiful and epic ride we took lately.

It’s a 2 days experience and you get to ride 2 awesome trails, one of 7km with 1000m descent and the next of 12km with over 1500m descent, and you get to stay at one cool mountain hut (Suru mountain hut) in the Romanian Carpathians, Fagaras Mountains. It’s just epic, you don’t have to take our word for granted, just watch the videos and the pics bellow and you will convince yourselves :D.

Also check out our last year trip to Suru, here: Cabana Suru si Chica Pietrelor enduro singletracks.

You can download the tracks here: day 1, day 2. Enjoy the bellow material and ride safe!

Cozia mountain enduro mtb descent

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Cozia it’s one little, mean, but beautiful mountain that holds one of the gnarliest descent we’ve encountered. The trail it’s just superb, it starts with a narrow and technical singletrack, then it becomes loose and steep, then you have to carry you’re bike, then you have another technical section with some climbing and at the end you have a speed section with lots of flow.

In total you have another over 1000m descent that we for ones are willing to work our asses around 3-4h to climb the mountain and then send it :))). It’s an nice epic descent that I think we will do each year because its just to good! We don’t try to convince you but we leave you some pictures and also this movie that we’ve made :D.

And here’s the track of the trail 😀. Enjoy and ride safe!

Cozia enduro MTB short edit

A small slice of Cozia, a trail that deserves it’s place in the calendar of bike season. Enjoy and ride safe! 👊🚵‍♂⛰🎥 Soon an longer video and an article. Soundtrack: Strung Out – The Animal and the Machine.

Finale Ligure enduro MTB trip 2018

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This year we swapped the EuroBikeTrip for an EnduroBikeTrip and the destination to conquer was Finale Ligure, Italy.

Known for its white sand beaches and its views, but more important for its infinite trail possibilities, Finale Ligure is located near the Rock of Caprazoppa, a steep limestone mountain on the southwest, and much of the town extends up hill slopes.

We find out about Finale from EWS, the enduro world series and after some quick search and some quality content that is out there, it wasn’t too hard to chose this year Eurobiketrip destination :D.

It’s flat out mtb trails are starting way up high in the mountains above Finale Ligure at around 1200m elevation and descending all the way down to the Ligurian Sea.

There are endless possibilities to descent (over exaggerating here but you wont be dissapointed), and the terrain is changing with the same speed that you are descending with :D.

In the upper part of the trails, where the shuttle lets you off, you have more grippy trails, with lots of berms and a bit more handmade work put into them. There you have the best of flow and you can carry speed on each corner. As you go down the terrain changes and also the vegetation so you have more rocky terrain, with sharper and more loose ground, a bit more natural and technical.

In less words, you have it all, maybe not much mud but who wants that :))).

And also you get lots of sun in this period so I wont call it the best period for riding those trails but if you want to combine a nice sea and beach vacation with a bit of awesome trail riding, this is the perfect location and time. If you only are interested in riding, you can go there in the off season, it will be cooler and you can do some nice climbs if you want.

We tried first 2 days to do the trails on our own power but the heath killed us so starting with day 3 we took some shuttles up the mountain. We did around 4-5 different trails per day and only in last day we repeat some of the trails we liked most.

We stayed there 6 days and spend another 2 on the road. We traveld by car, a group of four people from Romania to Finale Ligure and back. Its over 4000km trip and a bit hard to do it in one piece without an intermediate stop. Next time if we go back there by car I think we will make a stop in Sloveia to visit some bike trails there.

We initially wanted to go also to Sospel, France, which is 1.5h drive from Finale, and is another trail and enduro bike paradise but after we’ve seen what it’s in Finale, we decided too remain here and ride more trails, and do another dedicated trip to Sospel in the future.

So, the best trails we ridden in the exact order of awesomeness will be:

  1. Extasy & Isallo extasy;
  2. Iginerere;
  3. Toboga trail;
  4. Rollercoaster;
  5. Maria della guardia;
  6. DH men;
  7. Crestino;
  8. Sentiero H;
  9. Nato base;
  10. the others 😀

In terms of expenses, we could say that we spend around 500-550 EUR/person from witch we can detail the following:

  • 600 EUR for gas and car insurance;
  • 535 EUR for accommodation thru AIR BNB in Finale;
  • 150 EUR road taxes;
  • 500 EUR food and bavarage;
  • 120 EUR shuttle services;
  • 80 EUR our insurances.

In terms of riding, we probably ridden around 200 km of trails :D, but that is not even half of the amount of trail you will find there, so if you have second thoughts, we hope this argument killed them :))).

So much for the details and talk, we leave you bellow some evidences, video and photos so you could convince yourself. We will definitely go back there some day! For tracks and trails, just look up Trail forks by region Finale Ligure and you will find everything you need. For shuttle, just ask around Finale, there are lots of shuttle services all having the same prices ;).

Enough said, enjoy!

Ciucas amazing landscapes and awesome enduro singletracks

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Ciucas mountains have some amazing landscapes and awesome enduro single tracks if you haven’t heard about it yet. It’s also on our must do list of each year, and I think this year we will come again here when an event will be held to replace Ciucas Endro contest that was canceled because of the lack of implication of some parties…:(. But for sure we will come to the event because that means good people, nice bikes, beers and trails so you have it all in one place with this beautiful landscape on the background :D.

Ciucas mountains, as we also said in the previous post about Bucegi, they are also very friendly with ski touring and hiking and trail running activities. We did lots of trips here and cross this mountains in every direction but for sure there are more trails just waiting to be discovered here.

Until we come back with a different story abut Ciucas, we live you the pictures and videos bellow to better understand the beauty of these mountains!

Also check out this 2 articles for other riding ideas in Ciucas mountains:D: Grohotis and Ciucas XC to enduro and road trip , CIUCAS ENDURO 2017 TRACK PREVIEW.

Enjoy and ride safe!

Bucegi mountains, Strunga descent singletrack

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2 weekend back we did an awesome ride in Bucegi mountains. It’s a ride that we tried for the first time last year and we like it so much that we included in the must do rides of each year :))).

As you already know by now, or if not you will, Bucegi mountains are a small group of mountains in our Carpathian range of mountains. They are ideal for ski touring and bike trail riding but also for hiking, climbing or trail running. We prefer ski and bike, but, whatever you chose you will have the same beautiful landscape that surrounds you so check out the photos bellow.

We are trail hunters, as we like to call ourself :)), so we wanted to make 3 beautiful descent this day. We started in Sinaia, taking the cabin to 2000m altitude near Furnica peak. From there we descended to Padina on a beautiful technical trail. From Padina we have like 1h pushbike to Strunga cole from were we have a long, beautiful and fun descent to Simon village. It’s one of the most beautiful single tracks in Bucegi, a must do in each year. We will go back there in autumn, hopefully with a drone to catch more of its awesomeness :D.

From Simon we took the road to Bran and then straight to the mountains to reach Long Ridge, a trail that will take us to Busteni city, on the other part of the mountain. It’s an nice retreat with an beautiful raw single track that few know of its existence :D.

Check out the clip ant the pictures bellow to see why we use so much the words beautiful and awesome :D. For track just ask us in email, we have many tracks and we want to give you all the details. Also for more detailed videos and track check out this article from last year: STRUNGA AND MUCHIA LUNGA DESCENT 2017. Enjoy and ride safe!

 

Bucegi White Valley, last ski day of the season

White Valley is one of the most iconic steep valleys in Bucegi mountains and a pleasure to ski it in spring conditions. Otherwise its pretty dangerous to be here on a full power winter and better to be with someone that knows the terrain pretty well and also do all precautionary test before heading into the valley.

White valley was the first step valley that we skied and it seams the last for this winter. We started the season with it and ended with it and it was beautiful. Always a pleasure to do some back country skiing in Bucegi Mountains because they are so beautiful and they have so much to offer in terms of ski, bike, hike and many related activities. And the landscape is just superb!

We leave you with some pictures and movie about our experience on White Valley and we hope that next ski season will be as good as this one! Cheers!

Rodopa trail, Veliko Tarnovo

This is Rodopa Trail and flow its her middle name :))). One of the funduro trails from Veliko. For more info about the trails there please check this article. Enjoy and ride safe! @ Veliko Tarnovo

Veliko Tarnovo enduro MTB trails, Bulgaria

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Last weekend we’ve been to Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria to ride again the trails there, but this time was different. Why?! because we get to ride with the locals :D. And you know is best to ride with the locals, we can confirm this saying :))).

Veliko Tarnovo (Bulgarian: Велико Търново, “Great Tarnovo”) is a city in north central Bulgaria and the administrative centre of Veliko Tarnovo Province.

Often referred to as the “City of the Tsars“, Veliko Tarnovo is located on the Yantra River and is famously known as the historical capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire, attracting many tourists with its unique architecture. The old part of the city is situated on the three hills Tsarevets, Trapezitsa, and Sveta Gora, rising amidst the meanders of the Yantra (Source: Wikipedia).

Ok, so we’re gonna stop here because we have the important part and that is “situated on the three hills Tsarevets, Trapezitsa, and Sveta Gora”… 3 hills…downhills :)))

So we meet at Veliko Turnovo with the crew from Turnduro and Old Mountain MTB Holiday an did some laps on the trails there and it was sick. The guys really did put some work into some of the trails and you could see it right away and also they have some natural trails or sections that are just beautiful.

So, at this time we can name 4 of the trails, Rodopa, Garga, Ksilifor and Off camber trail. You can find some tracks with our rides here: Track from day 1, Track form day 2.

All of them have from 1.2 km to 2 km and lets say around 200m elevation. Ok, they are not to long and not to steep but its not downhill we’re talking abut and its not Enduro either, its FUNDURO :))). Yes the term is borrowed but we like it and its perfect to describe the trails there, and the guys we’ve been riding with there, Nedko, Petar, Constantine, Ivan and Portokal, cheers mates!

Besides the above 4 named trails there are others, we know 2 more but after discussing with Nedko and the guys we realize that you can stay there for a few days and have a great time and discover new trails, but the key is to ride with the locals :)).

We liked it so much that we think tomorrow we’re gonna go back there and shred those trails.

For more information about the trails you can also check out freerider.ro article at this link, or our article from the first visit there witch includes more videos with the trails.

Until next time, ride safe @ Veliko Tarnovo! Enjoy!

A SMALL SLICE OF ROMANIAN BULZ @ Ciocanu MTB Trails, Romania

A SMALL SLICE OF ROMANIAN BULZ @ Ciocanu MTB Trails, Romania

This is a short video edit and some pictures from this weekend, shredding the trails @ Ciocanu MTB Trails, Bughea de jos, Arges.
Beautiful sunny day, with dry lose trails. Perfect for skidding around in every corner. You can find 2 of the tracks here, and here :D. Enjoy and ride safe!

Barcaciu skitouring camp VIII edition

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When March comes, we know is time for Barcaciu ski touring event! This year it come in the last weekend of March, on an not so skier friendly weather… but how cares, like we say, make haven of what you got, so that’s what we did :D.

We ware pretty happy just before the weekend because some fresh snow was in the forecast, but by the time of the event, the sudden warm up of the weather screw up the conditions and we had a consistent layer of heavy melting snow that made our skis not want to turn when we did :))).

But that didn’t ruin our skiing, at least the snow didn’t but the wind… trying to ski at almost 100km/h winds its something you must try :)))).

But, even that didn’t stop us and we almost made it to Puha Valley :D… but it was beautiful. The hut, the food, the friends and the whole picture of the event make it that way. We had a great time and new experiences like all the years before.

Barcaciu mountain hut is situated at 1550m altitude, in the west part of Fagaras mountains. It’s the second mountain hut in Fagaras, starting from west, and a very casual and welcoming one. Mihai and his parents make it like that, oh, and the food, so great :))).

From the hut you can reach, very easily Scara peak, or Serbota peak and you can ski some pretty nice lines from there right in Puha valley and then all the way down to the trail that goes from Barcaciu hut to Negoiu hut. It’s a beautiful descent that offers lots of lines and is easily accessible if the snow conditions allows it!

Ski touring at Barcaciu is an event held by Mihai in order to develop the ski touring practice in the area. There are marks pointing to the hut and above and you can always count on Mihai to give you some advice about the routes and the conditions there, the guy knows the area like the back of his hand!

The event usually is held during 2 or 3 days and includes a bed over night, food and guiding thru the area as the weather allows it. His main purposes is, as I said, to develop the ski touring in the area and the costs merely covers the goods and the trouble needed for the event.

As these been said, please feel free to check out Barcaciu Mountain Hut whenever you want, summer or winter, it’s always there waiting for you to discover all skiing and biking routs 🙂 . Oh, have we mentioned biking? check this trip out to 😉 you might enjoy it: Fagaras enduro and freeraid tracks.

Bellow we leave you some foto/video material to better get a feel of Barcaciu ski touring event and here are the links for some of the routes we take day 1, day 2. Enjoy!

 

Iezer mountains backcountry skiing

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Last weekend we have been to Iezer mountains on our annual ski touring trip there. I think this is the 4th year that we made it here, and it is my 4th year of ski touring :)))… man, time flies so fast…

Each year was similar but somehow different. In terms of snow conditions, this year was a lot more snow and we had some pow in the first descent on the upper part near the ridge of the mountain. Being so hot all of a sudden, I don’t think it was 100% safe to try new lines or spots, so we stayed chill and shred the classic descent from the ridge directly to Iezer refuge. Maybe next year we will try a descent from the peak, that will be cool ;D. I remember last year I was feeling brave and took a climb just beneath the peak. My luck was that fog come and “ruin” my descent :))))

This year the ski party was made by me, Tiberiu, Nicu and Bogdan A. We started touring just directly from Voina Hut, that was a premier because none of the previous years had snow right from the parking lot… What a luck, otherwise we should have walked that stupid forest road until the shepherd’s hut in the alpin area where the forest stops.

It’s a long climb/walk to Crucea Ateneului, around 10 miles or so with at least 1250m elevation. We had great weather, sunny and no wind.

Once we descanted, we had some nice pow at the beginning and some crud later on.

The refuge is looking good, by our standards :D. The guys from mountain patrol are really trying to make it better each year.

We made 3 descents in the first day and then stayed in the refuge, talking and making ourselves some tee and some soup. Nicu had some digging to do in order to get some water. The guys from mountain patrol indicate us the spot to dig for water, thanks guys! It was a nice evening and we took some good night sleep. The sky was full of stars that night and the refuge was pretty warm because of the sunny day we had :D.

We slept like tired skiers :))).

Next day the sun didn’t show his face just until we almost made it back to our cars. We also took 3 descents and then a last one in the fog. At the end of the final descent the sun showed up but the snow was bad, pulling on our knees a bit to hard… it was like we had our skins on our skis :))). In the forest, we just found more heavy snow and sweet our asses off until we reached our car. We stayed to eat something at Voina and then drove our way back home.

The track from the first day you find it here. The retreat was on the same path as the ascent. We leave you some pics and an edit. Enjoy!