Campina to Dracula's castle.

 Before I get into today's riding in detail, the above photo was taken of the group at our first morning tea stop for the day.

We rolled out of Campina at 8.30am for the 80km ride to Bran.  Bran is famous for Dracula's castle.  It's not the original castle that relates to Vlad the Impaler who later became famous as Dracula in the movies years later, but I thought this will do.  Because it's late and I'm tired, I'll post a more thorough update tomorrow about the original Impaler.

We got onto the E60 and headed west for 50kms.  The road was fantastic, nice and smooth and usually had a great shoulder to protect us from the many trucks and buses that are heading north to Brasov.  No sooner had we left Campina and we hit the most spectacular countryside thus far.  We had pine forests either side of the road for miles and miles, and steep mountain cliffs just for added scenery.  The train line follows this section of roadway as it winds through the valley and all the way up to northern Romania.  What was a concern was the clouds that were hanging menacingly overhead for the majority of the morning.

Our first town was Comarnic and then Sinaia, both small towns but very crowded at this time of the year. 

I found the corner store very interesting.  The man in the above photo is ordering food through a small hole in the shop window. I decided to follow suite and order a coffee and roll.  No matter what you eat on tour, the food is processed very quickly.  Eating and drinking right is paramount on such a long ride.

 Whilst at Sinaia I found this car with train wheels sitting at the train station.  They use to use this vehicle to get from one station to the other in the early days.  It's now a museum piece.

 The above photo was taken in the town of Busteni.  It was here that we could see the clouds getting darker and darker over the mountains and it was obvious the rain was about to hit at any moment.  We pressed on for about 500 metres and down it came.  We all hid under a huge tree which was affective for about 30 seconds and then the drops starting making their way to us.  It rained constantly for about 30minutes and then eased enough for us to get back on our bikes and get on with the riding.

 Whilst riding along the valley floor I took the above photo of Peter as he was zooming bye. 

 At the 50km mark we left the highway and made our way inland over the big climb of the day.  We had to reach Bran, but first our climb would take us to over 1100 metres.  It was a nice climb with a couple of sharp pinches, which was tough going carrying pannier bags.  I know some of cycling friends back home in the Gong would see this as a snack.  But those pussy's ride road bikes. 

 Once the climb was conquered it was time to roar down the hill and on towards Bran.  Whilst riding at break neck speeds I made a quick stop to photograph the mountains across the valley.  It was stunning scenery every km of the journey today.

Whilst sitting at the junction waiting for Peter (who was just behind) Mary and Maurice I saw this castle on the mountain a couple of kms away.  We're going to see the castle on our 2nd rest day and once again will provide an update.

Once everyone was together it was a 10km ride to Vampire Camping where we'll be staying for the next 3 nights.  I brought my tent on this tour and I was going to use it.  The site is pretty good and clean, but they turn the light off in the sitting area at 9pm, no exceptions.  I would post a photo tonight, but it's too dark.

Tomorrow we're going to see Bran's Castle and look around the town.  No riding until Monday.  It's like being back home, I do nothing on weekends.

Until tomorrow, safe riding.