This route circles the Bistrița river by the villages of Ortoaia, Rusca and Gheorghițeni. The Bistrița has had, and still has, a big influence on the locals’ way of life. People on the two banks call each other “the ones across the water”, and those on the left bank often use the word “kingdom” for the villages on the right bank. This is because the Bistrița was the border with Bucovina in the time of the Habsburg Empire. The river was also once an important route for the timber cut across the whole Dorna area, which was floated down the water as far as Galați. Rafting timber was a very dangerous and respected trade, and the hardest stretch was right in the Bistrița valley, at Zugreni. That is because Zugreni is the entrance to the Bistrița Gorges, where the river narrows, gains speed and runs between rocky banks.
Back to our bike route: it is almost entirely on asphalt, which makes it very accessible. The harder part comes towards the end, where you get a taste of life for a local “from across the water”, crossing a footbridge over the Bistrița.
Photo: reddit.com
- Difficulty: easy
- Maximum altitude: 810 m
- Length: 9.7 km
