After a very successful climb to Paltinis on Friday afternoon and a relaxing-ish ride on Saturday, Sunday was the final cycling day before going back home. Again we planned for a recovery ride, but we adapted our plan on the go and went the extra mile for a super delicious dinner.
But before we get to dinner, here’s how we started our day in Sibiu – brunch at Charlie’s followed by a super tasty coffee from AM PM. Highly recommend both places!
As a side note, parts of this ride are part of the UCI-ranked “Sibiu Cycling Tour” that will take place this year on July 23-26 in Romania – more details here.
Route in a nutshell
Distance: 65 km | Elevation gain: 600 m (max elevation 630 m)
Route: Sibiu – Poplaca – Orlat – Sibiel – and back (with a 20 km detour through Rasinari)
The ride from Sibiu to Sibiel is a flat route that seems to be popular for cyclotourism. It has a winning combination for beginners – beautiful scenery with the mountains in the background + relatively wide roads + few cars passing by.
Sibiu – Poplaca
From Sibiu we took the same exit as we usually do – followed the bike track towards the National Park Dumbrava Sibiului, and then continued on the state road towards Rasinari. The catch was that this time we turned right before getting to Rasinari, thus entering a new area.
Poplaca – Orlat
The road from Poplaca to Orlat was very peaceful, with very few cars passing by. Some clouds started to gather around our area, offering awesome views of the horizon.
Orlat – Sibiel
Sibiel is a traditional Romanian village located on the Sibiu outskirts (“Marginimea Sibiului”). During childhood summer holidays I used to go on week-long camps in Sibiel, so the short visit brought back nice memories.
During almost every ride we take we meet some (wild) animals – this time it was storks!
Detour on the way back for dinner
On our way back to Sibiu, despite the muscle soreness accumulated over the last 3 days, we decided to make a detour for a delicious dinner at Pensiunea 1 Mai. The detour added 20 km of false flat, but it was definitely worth it. Nice way to close the cycling adventure!
To conclude, this is a relaxing and easily accessible ride you can take from Sibiu. With low gradients and beautiful scenery, the ride to Sibiel is appropriate for beginners or intermediate road cyclists – it’s up to you to make the most of it!
The bike
I used my own bike – Canyon Endurace CF SL Disc.
If you would like to rent a bike for this ride from Sibiu, my go-to rental place is Light Cycling.
‘Till next time … happy riding!
Georgiana
