Distance: 75 km
Time: 3 hrs 44 min.
Speed: 20 km/hr
Climbed: 1911 ft
AHR (Average Heart Rate) 106 bts/min
Cum Distance: 722 km
Cum Climbed: 6235 ft.
Punctures: 0
Another sunny hot day but short as we have moved fron the Great Plain into the mountains.
All up from 5am on and breakfast at 7. It was still a nice cool 12 deg and beautiful for cycling. Some small clouds in the sky and a gentle breeze rustling the trees.
Some groups moved off too fast and relented. We maintained our basic 22 km/hr and rotating at front. Just the 5 of us all day today.
Navigation was no problem for today...out the gate turn left onto Highway 79A, straight on to Brad and the hotel (Pensiune Ana Maria)on left hand side. We’re overnighting posh tonight and for the next 2 nights also.
We had a few early easy long pulls to set the tone for the day. We each approached hills of consequence at our own pace and waited. For each other at the top. We had three or four climbs today but not too steep. Some were actually through road works, rather crude road works. On these works, no hi-viz, no notices, no bollards with tape or hard hats. We had road works on descents also and they kept us on the alert all day.
Here in the hills were plenty of horse carts, of hay pikes and images from another time. Cows grazed by the roadside, complete with bells; shepherds tended their sheep and hay was being cut and saved by hand in the fields.
The hedgerows had a plentiful crop of blackberries and cornflowers edged the road especially at the start of today's ride. Storks appeared perched precariously on power poles in the fields.
On the high ground the countryside reminded of the roads and surroundings beyond Shillong (India).....no road edges, apparent commonage and the road disappearing over the rolling landscape. Shepherds cabins with their dogs were the only habitations outside of the villages. No ribbon development here.
With today's short mileage our lunch came at a late stage (at 58th of 75 km). Riders readily pulled in as the heat was coming on heavy now. Chance to fill up with cold water.
I spotted a notice for the Gold Museum - gold was mined here from Roman times till 2006. After checking in and showering, I walked downtown to investigate. Asked a few locals but couldn’t help me (probably from out of town). 
Eventually I spotted it and entered; not too many there.only opened in 2012. The lady asked me for 15 lei but I suggested that it should be less for ’an old lad’. “OK” she said, “just 10 for you”. It had an impressive display of over 1300 gold pieces from the gold triangle here in the Apuseni Mountains. I photographed some of them, and the tiny ’Gold Lizards’ are valued at 3 million Euro. The gold from here all found its way to the Roman Empire, later to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, to Russia and to Romanian state during Ceauscescue’s time. Brad didn’t benefit from it and now is a town with a disillusioned population and offering no hope.
In the centre is a monument bearing Romulus and Remus feeding from the she-wolf as symbol of Romania's Latin roots.
On the way back I spotted the areas narrow gauge railway from mining times. Still used as an attraction at festivals.
Tonight we stay at Ana Maria's Pensiune and Gergu (Tour leader) welcomed us at the door looking like Yul Brynner from the King and I.
We had arrived in at 12 noon so it’s like a semi Rest Day.
A lovely day’s ride with beautiful scenery and a great change from the straight flat roads of the last few days.
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