Urjala - Orivesi

As you can see from the photo today's route was even more rural than yesterday's. Well that's not quite accurate, but I at least left route 9 so that I could actually admire the scenery. Oh, and avoid a fine for cycling on the motorway :)

From the area around Viiala I followed some excellent cycle paths to Valkeakoski where I stopped for lunch outside a supermarket. The road from Valkeakoski to Kangasala was really nice and the hills were few and far between. This changed for the last push from Kangasala to Orivesi during which I, for a brief moment, started contemplating the wisdom of this endeavour. Undulating is an understatement and my compact crankset doesn't have the range for comfortable climbing when tired.

Fortunately I had company for the last 10 km or so as a local roadie had caught up with me and stuck around to find out what I was up to. We parted ways as I turned towards the Säynäniemi campsite, yet to face a single drop of rain or the forecast lightning. As I came to a stop in front of the reception building the skies openend up and thunder crackled through the air.

I explained the purpose of my tour to the landlady and ended up being donated a stay in a small cottage. As I'm writing this the rain har started again and I'm happy not to be huddling in my tent.

Today: 110,2 km, 5h 25min 33sec, 20,3 km/h avg, 54,8 km/h max
Tour total: 227,4 km