A good few days on the mountain

Spent a few days skiing the local mountains. Good weather, good snow... good times! 

Skiing season just started

Got a bit over 6 kilometers on skis yesterday, second day out on the mountain...

 This is what happens if you're not careful and drag your skis through water while crossing a creek which looks frozen but it isn't, although it is totally covered with fresh snow: in seconds snow will stick to the bottom of your skis and is almost impossible to get rid of, especially if you're skiing off-piste, in remote areas and temperatures are way below 0. Forget about exhilarating descents for the rest of the day unless you're patient enough to scrape every bit of ice away...

Another perfect day

Just back from another amazing day in Bâlea! Man and dog back safe after shredding powder all day long, they're both still high on adrenaline...

First snow

Roots & snow - Făgăraș Mountains, Romania

Back in the saddle

Now that the summer holidays madness is over, traffic on Transfăgărășan road is slowly returning to normal, virtually non-existent that is. Time to put this road to some good use before the first snow closes it down.

 So, I took the bike out for a ride today. The plan was to climb all the way to Bâlea Lac. Cârțișoara village to Bâlea Lac is a 30km long climb, starting at an altitude of 450m and reaching the top at 2042m.

Weather was excellent, temperatures in the low twenties (centigrade), no wind whatsoever at high altitudes. Even so, it took me almost 4 hours to reach the top. My right knee has been acting up recently, forcing me to keep the speed down for most of the climb.

Training ride

I'm quite happy with this morning's training ride: climbed from Bâlea Waterfall (1234m) to Bâlea Lake (2040m) in 92mins. A total distance of 13km, average speed of 8.5kph, a personal best for this particular stretch.

Panoramic view over Fundul Caprei Valley