DRACULA EPIC RIDE (DER) is a BRM1200+ endurance cycling brevet, organized in Romania by Randonneurs România and the “Adevărații VeloPrieteni România” Association, under a Randonneurs Mondiaux license, in a fully self-supported format.
The first edition will take place July 22 to 27, 2028. Registration will be open April 1 – May 15, 2028. There are no qualification requirements for participation.
The DER route 1,476 km long with over 11,000 meters of elevation gain, to be completed within a maximum of 123 hours, connects all the places across Muntenia and Transilvania that recall the life and reign of the well-known Romanian ruler VLAD TEPES (DRACULA) — both a prominent figure of the Romanian people and the inspiration for writers such as Bram Stoker in creating vampire characters, namely Dracula. The link between the places in Transilvania and those in Muntenia that in various ways recall the name VLAD TEPES is made by crossing the Transfăgărășan, considered one of the most beautiful alpine roads in the world. And the route’s distance represents the year 1476, in which VLAD TEPES was killed in his final battle.
The start and finish are in Valea Lungă (Dâmbovița county), a locality also known among Romanian endurance cyclists as Long Valley, associated with a series of events in this discipline, which has thus become a hub of endurance cycling. There are 25 intermediate control points at places of historical significance tied to VLAD TEPES’s passage through the two Romanian provinces, Transilvania and Muntenia, as follows:
PC01, km 36, Târgoviște, Vlad Tepes Statue — the capital of Wallachia during Vlad Tepes’s reign;
PC02, km 164, Căpățânenii Ungureni, Dracula Castle — a castle open to visitors, located on the Transfăgărășan;
PC03, km 166, Arefu, Dracula Camping & Poenari Fortress — a fortress reinforced and extended by Vlad Tepes, used as a secondary residence and refuge during the wars with the Ottomans (also called “the eagles’ nest” for its hard-to-reach position, at 850 meters altitude, on a rocky outcrop at the entrance to the Argeș Gorges); legend has it that Vlad Tepes’s wife threw herself from the fortress walls into the nearby ravine; reaching the fortress requires climbing 1,480 steps starting near Dracula Camping;
PC04, km 220, Transfăgărășan, Transfăgărășan Monument — the alpine road that carries us from Muntenia, the province where Vlad Tepes ruled, toward Transilvania, the province where the Romanian ruler was born;
PC05, km 353, Sighișoara, Vlad Tepes Statue — the town where Vlad Tepes was born; in the house here, the Romanian ruler is said to have lived with his father until the age of 5;
PC06, km 500, Brașov, Tartler House (Vlad Tepes and Katharina Siegel) — the house where Vlad Tepes is said to have lived with his lover, Katharina Siegel, of Saxon origin;
PC07, km 517, Poiana Brașov, “Home of Dracula” (signpost) — a guesthouse named after Dracula, the character inspired by the deeds of Vlad Tepes;
PC08, km 540, Bran, Bran Castle (Dracula) — although there are no documents proving Vlad Tepes ever lived in this castle, his connections to the location are known to have been of a transit, commercial, or military nature; in Vlad Tepes’s time, the customs point between the two Romanian provinces stood right at the foot of Bran Castle; meanwhile, Bram Stoker’s character Dracula, inspired by Vlad Tepes, resides in a castle identical to the one at Bran, which is why it is popularly known as Dracula’s Castle;
PC09, km 587, Mateiaș Mausoleum — a monumental complex raised in memory of the heroic resistance of Romanian soldiers in the battles fought on the hills of this area in October–November 1916 against the German army; the mausoleum stands at the exit of the Rucăr–Bran pass, a strategic road used by Vlad Tepes during his reign;
PC10, km 666, Valea Lungă, the Rădulescu Family — the start/finish control point will also be passed roughly at the halfway point of the route, organized as a rest, hydration and refueling stop, a control point set at the symbolic number… 666 km;
PC11, km 708, Mănești, Vlad Tepes Statue — the locality is linked to the childhood years of the great voivode Vlad Tepes;
PC12, km 724, Târgșoru Vechi, Turnu Monastery (founded by Vlad Tepes) & Vlad Tepes Statue — Târgșor was a thriving trade center in Vlad Tepes’s time; here, in 1461, the Romanian ruler founded Turnu Monastery within the princely court of Târgșor, where, in 1462, Vlad Tepes ascended the throne of Wallachia for the second time;
PC13, km 768, Siliștea Snagovului, Snagov Monastery (burial place of ruler Vlad Tepes) — also known as Vlad Tepes Monastery, built on an island on Lake Snagov, it is linked to the Romanian ruler’s name because it houses his tombstone, set before the church altar; here, in 1456, Vlad Tepes ordered the construction of a defensive wall, a bridge, a prison for traitors and thieves, and a refuge tunnel beneath Lake Snagov, said to still exist today;
PC14, km 876, Lehliu Gară, “La Partid” Restaurant — since all endurance cyclists’ roads lead to La Partid, it could hardly be left off a route dedicated to the memory of ruler Vlad Tepes;
PC15, km 901, Vlad Țepeș (Călărași), Town Hall — a locality bearing the Romanian ruler’s name;
PC16, km 1004, Comana, Comana Monastery (founded by him) & Vlad Tepes Tower — the local monastery was founded by Vlad Tepes in 1461, and is also said to be where the ruler’s beheaded body was actually buried; a tower was raised in the town center in his memory;
PC17, km 1009, Comana Forest, Vlad Tepes’s Well (the site where Vlad Tepes was killed) — most likely the true location where Vlad Tepes was killed following the battles against the forces led by Basarab Laiotă;
PC18, km 1014, Vlad Țepeș (Giurgiu), Blue Church Belvedere — a locality bearing Vlad Tepes’s name, located closest to the place where the Romanian ruler is said to have been killed in December 1476;
PC19, km 1040, Daia (Vlad Tepes’s Last Battle — 1476), Town Hall — on the hills near the village of Daia, Vlad Tepes is said to have fought his final battle in 1476, before being killed;
PC20, km 1051, Giurgiu, Vlad Tepes Statue — during his famous anti-Ottoman military campaign of 1461–1462, Vlad Tepes managed to recapture Giurgiu Fortress through a ruse, also known as a military strategy; Giurgiu was a “bridgehead” for Ottoman incursions into Wallachia;
PC21, km 1172, Turnu Măgurele, Turnu Fortress (Battle with the Turks — 1462) — the site of a battle in June 1462 between Vlad Tepes’s army and the Ottoman forces, in which the Romanian ruler managed to repel the Ottoman attacks coming from across the Danube;
PC22, km 1282, Videle, the Morometescu Family Courtyard (Nea Petrică’s) — our cycling friends from Videle could hardly be left off Vlad Tepes’s route either;
PC23, km 1350, Bucharest, the Water Tower “Vlad Tepes’s Fortress” — also known as Vlad Tepes Castle, it currently houses the headquarters of the National Office for the Cult of Heroes;
PC24, km 1353, Bucharest, the Old Princely Court (Curtea Veche) & Vlad Tepes Statue — Vlad Tepes is the one who first documented the settlement of Bucharest in 1457, and also the one who moved the capital of Wallachia from Târgoviște to Bucharest, to be closer to the Danube for strategic and military reasons; built in 1459 as a palace during Vlad Tepes’s reign, the Old Princely Court served as the residence of Wallachia’s rulers from the 14th century onward;
PC25, km 1399, Bălteni, St. Nicholas Church (another site said to be where Vlad Tepes was killed) — according to older traditions and legends, Vlad Tepes is said to have been killed in Bălteni Forest, on the site of the former Negru Vodă Hermitage, today’s St. Nicholas Church in this locality.