Skill & Fitness level

INTRO

At Carpathian Dreams we strive to ensure that all of our customers live the best possible experience when they come to one of our mountain bike trips.

For this it is very important that you choose the trip that suits both your physical and technical level and your interests.

In our travel offer we have options for all levels, cataloged according to your physical and technical requirements

Below we have prepared a guide that will help you choose the trip that best suits your needs.

We ask all our riders to understand that our adventures are designed as a group trip, not a race, or a private guided experience.

Read carefully the following guidelines and make sure that the chosen trip matches your level of ability and physical fitness before booking. Please be very honest when choosing your level, while your general satisfaction will depend on it.

If you are not sure if a particular trip is right for you, contact us and we will be happy to help.

Fitness level

LEVEL 1 You are not a sport person and you ride occasionally and just for fun. Your normal ride would be no more than 10-15 km during one hour and mainly on flat ground.

LEVEL 2 You have average fitness and are capable of riding 2-3 hours a couple of times a week, and can handle one or two easy climbs.

LEVEL 3 You are capable of riding for about 4-5 hours a day at a moderate pace, on hilly terrain at a steady pace, or more demanding terrain but only for shorter rides. You exercise regularly throughout the year, at least twice a week for an hour or so.

LEVEL 4 You can ride for a full day at a moderate pace (with breaks). You can handle two or three long climbs in a day and would consider yourself a relatively strong rider and don’t have a problem riding for several consecutive days.

LEVEL 5 You are a strong rider and do some serious training. You are competitive in your age category on races. You can handle sustained climbs and would ride the steep sections even late in a race and train regularly for endurance events.

Skills level

Beginner You have no experience with off-road mountain biking, and you ride mainly on asphalt or gravel tracks in the park. But you want to step further into the off-road world.

Novice You have limited experience on mountain biking and mainly on gravel tracks, smooth trails or forestry roads.

Intermediate You have been mountain biking for a few years, and have solid intermediate-level skills. You can handle a varied rolling terrain, have good control of your brakes, and know how to shift gears appropriately so that you don’t get off your bike too often. You are not too bad on slightly technical sections, with smaller rocks and roots and can climb on single track as long as it is not technical.

Advanced You have been riding for more than 5 years and are confident in almost all aspects of mountain biking. You can handle most technical terrain, including rocky and slippery trails, along with features such as switchbacks and small drop offs.

Expert You have been riding for a lifetime and are confident riding all types of terrain, including very rocky, severe descents, 2+ foot high drop-offs and other more challenging trail features.. You can descend fast, climb technical single track and have done a few stage races.

The Area

Romania, a country from the east part of Europe is a place little known for the rest of the World, but wich has a lot to offer.
Romania’s mountains are considered to be one of the last wild places in Europe, the Carpathian Mountains beeing home of more than half of Europe’s large carnivores like bears and wolves.

With almost half of its population living in the countryside, Romania and its villages is the place where you can still experience the rural lifestyle, in its true sense, witnessing ancient old traditions and customs, wich are extinct in other parts of Europe. People are still working and living from the land, using their own hands and animals for this. They still use horse drawn carts for carrying stuff and colecting hay in the old ways.

But this fragile paradise is facing extinction due to globalization and young people migration to urban areas and to foreign countries in search for a place to work.

Also, another danger that Romania is facing is deforestation. Tourism and income from it could be an alternative to distruction of the wild habitats. It can also add an income to the local economy, helping to preserve the fragile way of life of the local comunities.

The best moment to visit the wild and archaic Romania was 20 years ago, the second one is NOW.