August 3: Transalpina Thrills
What a thrilling adventure! Today’s ride took me from Novaci Romania over the Carpathian Mountains on the Transalpina Pass to Sebes via an electrifying series of switchbacks with stunning views that had me gasping in amazement.
It’s always hard to know what to predict when heading over a substantial mountain pass. But as I left my lodging this morning and began steadily climbing upwards on Romania’s highest road, I was ecstatic to find some of the best views of this summer’s trip.
Off in the distance I could see granitic and metamorphic rock peaks rising into the puffy white clouds with layer upon layer of blue and green foothills and valleys in the foreground. The higher up I ascended the scarcer the vegetation became, with the landscape becoming more of a beautiful brown tundra accented by clumps or hardy evergreen trees.
The road itself included a dizzying number of hairpin turns piled one on top of another, just barely giving me time to straighten out the bike from one curve before leaning into the next one. Because many of the switchbacks were so pronounced, I did not have a clear line of sight, making it necessary sometimes to rely on my navigation to anticipate what was coming next.
With the tree line receding below me, the wind picked up, adding another challenge to the ride. Fortunately, the cars were generally respectful of motorcyclists and typically stayed in their own lane. There seemed to be a generally celebratory mood amongst those of us making the trek, with people stopping to take pictures and motorcyclists waving at each other as they passed.
Passing a set of souvenir booths on one of the flat stretches, I could see a large section of the pass in front of me and the road rising up the steep slope in zig zag pattern that made me think of a pile of olive oil covered spaghetti twirled around a mound of marinara. The sky and valleys in the distance created a veritable rainbow of colors with crisp white clouds, light and darker blue sky, green hills, and brown grass.
At the small alpine town of Obarsia Lotrului when the most significant turns were behind me, I stopped for a celebratory picture at a Transalpina road sign and met several friendly bikers from Poland. We shared some stories about our adventures and posed for a picture together before heading our separate ways. What a great day on the bike!
