I am in Ploesti, Romania for a couple of weeks with work.

It is no Venice. :lol:

I brought my folding bike so I could get a few rides in.

It is miserable cyling to be honest, with terrible drivers, choking polution, and roaming packs of feral dogs who are a constant hazard! :mad2:

I have not been out every day (been here about 10 days), but I took some pixxors this morning on my camera phone. I went out early and did about 1 hour around the West part of the city.

I get strange looks as I stroll through the hotel lobby with my bike and in cycling gear.

I found a park with a skating circuit which is better to ride around than the roads, so long as no dogs are around. :p

The park has a massive empty man made boating lake. Maybe they fill it with water in the summer?

The tower is a mysterious structure in the park. I have no idea what it is/was for.

The concrete building is a communist era town hall/government building or some description.

Did I mention the dogs?

Interesting rydster. Doesn't look like the wealthiest place, but are the people nice? What about weather? What type of bike are you riding?

Well, cross that one off our list of places to visit.

I did not see a single dog in those photos. :)

Looks like a cheery place.

Interesting rydster. Doesn't look like the wealthiest place, but are the people nice? What about weather? What type of bike are you riding?

Dirt poor in some parts of the country side, like out of Borat or something.

Cities have embraced western consumerism to some degree, their is a nouveau riche which likes to flaunt its new wealth.

One gets the po faced looks which is typical of much of eastern europe. Not that friendly really IMHO.

I spent some time is Azerbaijan in 2006. More friendlly and more innocent the people seemed there, even if there were less flashy Audis and BMWs driving around.

Did you take those shots in color or black-and-white? I couldn't tell.

in all honesty that looks like almost anywhere in Europe... the outskirts of major cities, industrial areas, away from the tourist sites.

Romania is absurd. :)

Wow- that is definitely the @$$-end of Europe. I believe my grandfather got his distinguished flying cross at Ploesti, so the lack of decent architecture is at least partly his fault.

Hey, at least you got to ride, right?

Dig that folder- what is it, how does it ride and how many strange looks do you get?

I'm with MB. Taking it off my top ten places to bike list. Talk about cold war looking. I'm also interested in the bike you're riding. More details man.

Great pics. One of my handful of favorite photo essays so far this year. The over-saturated, fuzzy graininess of the photos adds a bracing Minox/Cold War spy camera aesthetic. Your fold-up bike looks like a wheelchair, something that adds to the general gloomy atmospheric.

Excellent.

Well, at least it kind of looks like they might have a bike lane in pic #3, so maybe it's not TOTALLY bad!

Dig that folder- what is it, how does it ride and how many strange looks do you get?

It is a rebranded Dahon folder.

I bought it because it is more convenient that flying and travelling around with a full sized bike in a big case - which is ok for bike holidays but not for this sort of thing. I do the occasional training course here and there you see.

I replaced the horrible factory seat with a specialised MTB seat and put my clipless pedals on. The ride is suprisingly good, even though there is no way to adjust the stem forward. I lower the bars as far as possible and can live with the position. I use it just get get a 1-2 hour spin in.

It has a rear hub which is ideal, since a deraillour is more vulnerable to damage in transit and needs more maintenance. The spacing is quite wide but in gear '7' it is big enough to test the legs.

Good thing it was cold and overcast. I guess it's like that 24/7/365. It really adds to the stereotype of bleakness.

I nominate this post for "Dreariest Ride Report." Interesting, but depressing.

So does the bike come with a case, and do you get charged for it at the airport? That place looks even more bleak than a Seattle winter, which is hard to do..............MTT