Chris Solo Central Europe, Tue Jun 20, 2023

Severin→Sibiu via Transalpina Pass (day9)

Ride Log

Time	Minutes	km	kph avg	Comment
7:20am	65.5	64 km	59
8:25am	8.9	map
8:34am	24.6	19 km	47
8:59am	5.1	map
9:04am	7.9	6 km	44
9:12am	2.1	turning onto the dirt road
9:14am	4.2	1 km	20
10:18am	5.6	at the blocked dam road
9:24am	4.8	2 km	20
9:28am	5.0	at the road that goes under the lake
9:33am	22.6	8 km	20
9:56am	3.4	logger guys
9:59am	17.9	8 km	26
10:17am	7.8	cross-roads and signs for various destinations
10:25am	12.7	5 km	24
10:38am	10.2	I'm pooped stop, drink some water, etc
10:48am	0.8	0 km	23
10:49am	2.9	steep rocky road stop
10:52am	53.6	37 km	41
11:45am	1.9	map
11:47am	10.8	8 km	43
11:58am	14.6	Lidl groceries stop
12:13pm	1.7	1 km	48
12:14pm	3.8	map
12:18pm	15.9	12 km	46
12:34pm	1.6	map
12:36pm	60.0	66 km	66
1:36pm	25.1	lunch break
2:01pm	20.0	18 km	55
2:21pm	3.4	map
2:24pm	36.8	32 km	52
3:01pm	26.8	"Rom Burgers" then on to Transalpina
3:28pm	20.9	24 km	70
3:49pm	1.7	map
3:50pm	15.2	17 km	68
4:06pm	4.8	map
4:10pm	1.9	2 km	60
4:12pm	3.0	map
4:15pm	41.9	32 km	46
4:57pm	11.3	Poiana Sibiului
5:09pm	21.9	16 km	44
5:30pm	4.5	map

10h47m	7h46m moving	395 km	50.9 kph	72% moving, 180 minutes of breaks

Severin to Sibiu via Transalpina 9h19m, 428km


Time change, now GMT+3
Coffee at the hotel, they made me a Latte Machiato
Got gas on my way out of town, quick stop, paid cash.
Chased by dogs several times.  Most dogs are calm, but some bark and give chase.
Saw carts pulled by horses.
Crusifix with skull and crossbones, seen that several times, took a picture once.
Nice road, wide, smooth, fast.  Great views.  Looks a lot like California
Google maps turns me off onto a dirt road.  Looks like the paved road ends.
The dirt road isn't too bad at first.  Looks like it goes up and across the dam to bypass a closed section of the paved road.  Cool.
But no, the dam top is gated off.  Maybe up to the end of the lake.
Two big trucks coming the other way make me think this is a brief bypass.
Drive to the end, big puddles, but the road goes into the lake.  Shit!
Keep going or go back.  Surely this rejoins the paved road soon.  Keep going.
Meet some logging guys. They want to drink alcohol with me.  I show them my phone and get help.  He tells me which way to go and it seems like I should see pavement soon.
Road gets worse and worse.  Looks like maybe 50+ km still to go.  How far have I come so far?  Seems like a lot.
Walked around town and had dinner with Daniel.
T House

Leaving pavement for a while

This area, southeast of highway 66, is shown in this youtube video called "One of the most beautiful roads we explored in Romania: motorcycle adventure travel" on the Romanians On The Road channel. Here's another great video about riding in Romania.

Getting directions from a logging crew

The going gets rough

Out of the woods

Lunch break before turning onto Transalpina towards Sibiu

This is where I met Daniel. He was riding a Ducati Monster and I remarked that he had an excellent bike for these roads.
Turns out Daniel lives in Sibiu, the town where I'm staying tonight. He invited me to stay at his place, but since I already had a room reserved, I declined. But I did take him up on the offer to meet him for dinner tonight.