You've got a friend in me

A week ago I was out on my bike again. But not just on any ride, oh no. This time I was on a mission. I had decided to go to a charity concert held in benefit of the Finnish Association for Heart Children and Adults. The "Ilman ystävää et jää" (~You won't be without a friend) concert was in Helsinki on Sunday, so what better way to get there from Turku than to hook up my Yak trailer to my road bike and start pedalling?

I started out on Saturday morning, just after 9.30. As agreed on a cycling forum, a fellow Turku roadie met me on the street corner and together we set out towards Piikkiö. Janne would tag along all the way to Halikko where, after a cup of coffee, he'd turn back to (I believe) go to someone's graduation party.

Before we ever got to Halikko, though, I had a few problems with the trailer. I had waited to take it out of storage until the night before, only to notice that it was missing a pin. Without it, the trailer would not stay on the bike, especially not in a bump or sharp turn. I went through every box and drawer in my flat in order to find an alternative, ending up with a sturdy piece of string as my best option. I was, after all, not going to cancel this mini tour on count of a missing cotter pin. The string held up fairly well, too. I had to retie it once about halfway to Halikko, where I eventually found a hardware store that carried a pin that fit the bill.

As the day wore on, the heat became more of an issue. With air temperatures of around 27°C, I went through a lot of water, and on the inclines the road surface temperature of about 50°C made it self known. It was almost like pedalling uphill in a sauna. Luckily the old saying of what goes up, must come down is still in effect. Cruising downhill at 50+ km/h sure cools you down even on a hot day.

A little before 19 I arrived at my destination for the day, Vihti. The last 20 km were really hilly, but the scenery made it worthwhile. Once in Vihti I made my way to my CouchSurfing host for the night. E and her daughters where waiting for me in the yard, and we soon went over to the neighbours and sat in the garden. After I'd had a shower a while later, I was treated to delicious pies (veggie and rhubarb) and ice cream. E and I sat up talking til around midnight, when it was more than time for me to turn in for the night.

On Sunday morning I headed out again a little after 10, as I was in no real hurry to get to Helsinki. Again, I had to tackle quite a few hills after leaving Vihti. Fortunately I know well enough how to climb with the trailer, slow and steady. Still, with the heat setting in around noon, it was still pretty tough this early in the season. All in all the landscape north west of Helsinki is a lot more rolling than I'm used to here near Turku. Guess I can only blame the ice age..

After reaching Helsinki I went to a friend's place to cool down, take a shower and chat for a while. H also agreed to drive my trailer and bag to the train station after the concert was over, making my life in central Helsinki a lot easier. With the unloaded bike feeling almost unbelievably light, I rode into town and found a kebab with my name on it. An hour before the concert was about to start, I went to the Savoy theatre, the venue of the evening, and convinced the doorman to allow me to take my bike inside the cloak room. The people from the heart association were thrilled that I had come by bike, and supposedly there's now going to be a story about me in the association's magazine. The concert was great, with several nationally, and some internationally, recognised artists donating their time for the charity.

Once the concert was over I met up with H outside the train station, thanked him for his help and caught the last train back to Turku. Mission accomplished.

...

Saturday: 130km
Sunday: 55km

Day 6 - Köln

Another hot day, but I did follow through and rode my bike to Hamm. Only from there, after 80 km in the sweltering heat with a couple of steep hills, did I give in and caught a train the rest of the way. Traveling with regional trains inside the German Bundesländer is, to me, surprisingly cheap. I paid 17,50€ to get myself, my bike and the trailer to Köln. The bike compartment was, however, an experience it its own right. Apparantly, for the obvious reason being the low cost involved, taking the train to start your bike tour in a nice location is quite popular. There were 9 bikes on the train before I got in, and more came on on the way. It was an open compartment, with most of the bikes piled up along one side, some people standing up in the middle and some sitting on fold-up chairs on the other side. But luckily it was smiles all round and everyone helped each other with getting the bikes out of the train at the right station.

Leaving Bielefeld I rode through the center of town and had a look around, and then tried to get to the shorter route west towards Gütersloh. I failed miserably, though, instead getting lost in suburbia and then in the immediate countryside. In the end I didn't gain anything, but rather lost some time before finding the B61 west again. Before Gütersloh it was pretty nice, with a bunch of roadies out on sunday rides. West of G-town the road turned into a straight line, except near Beckum where there were as many hills as there were bends.

Getting off the train here in Köln and seeing the Dom with my own eyes was great. Riding north to find my CS host for the night was easy, with a couple of friendly locals pointing me to the right street as I got closer. Eva lives in a house owned by a college fraternity, so it's a big place shared by a bunch of students. After I had showered and washed most of my cycling clothes, we got in the car together with one of the guys who live here and went to a lake just north of town. Eva and G went swimming as I tried to get some sun on the whiter parts of my torso. On the way back we picked up a beer each, and at the house E and G whipped together a delicious dinner. A couple of other friends stopped by while we were eating, so the conversation around the table was lively.

Tomorrow I'm meeting Sergej in front of the Dom at around 10 in the morning. From there we'll head up the Rhein to Koblenz, and then on Tuesday to Bad Kreuznach.

...

Today: 85,13 km, 4h22m18s, 19,47 kmh avg, 38,3 kmh max.
Tour total: 565,73 km.

Day 3 - Uelzen

This will be a short(ish) one, but today's ride most certainly wasn't.

Leaving Schwerin just as the first drops of rain started to fall (I hope this pattern doesn't keep repeating itself..), I was met by a detour. And this time it wasn't even my doing. The B106 south of Schwerin was closed due to construction and I had to go around to the B321, in all 7 kms of rain I could have done without. Not the one to give up, I pushed forward, my legs slowly warming up after yesterdays climbing in the cold.

Just outside of Ludwigslust, my rear tyre went pfff. Rolling slowly, looking for some shelter from the rain, I didn't do what I should have which was stop immediately. This resulted in another snapped spoke, but at least I found some cover under which I proceeded to change the inner tube. Having originally decided to go around Ludwigslust, in hope of a somewhat shorter route towards Dömitz, Dannenberg and Uelzen, I chose to keep going and try to find a bike shop. Just as I entered Ludwigslust, I encountered an older gentleman who seemed friendly, and more than a little curious about my kit. He directed me to the nearest (one of two) bike shop, and wished me good luck. The repair was fast and cheap, and in less than half an hour I was back on the road again with a new spoke, a re-trued rear wheel and a couple of extra inner tubes.

The rest of my ride was mostly uneventful, and the sceneries I've seen would have to be experienced in person. Crossing the Elbe was a big moment, made more so by the heavy shower of rain that lasted for only 20 minutes. But it was more than enough for me to refrain from stopping and digging out my camera.

I've had another rainy day, but warmer and not quite as wet as yesterday. But it wasn't until I reached the outskirts of Uelzen until I saw the sun for more than a fleeting moment. I'm now staying with another couchsurfing host, and have just finished devouring my meal for the evening.

Tomorrow I'm heading to Hannover, originally my destination for today. It should only be about 100 km or so, and the weather should also improve further. And believe me, it's about time!

...

Today: 139,31 km, 6h53m8s, 20,23 kmh avg, 38,6 kmh max.
Tour total: 251,05 km.

Day 1 - Rostock

I woke up at 5.40 this morning and felt pretty good. Spreading out my sleeping bag on the floor of the air seat lounge turned out to be a decent idea after all. A couple of chairs over, JB - a French drummer, moving home after living in Finland for two years - looked up in a daze and went back to sleep as I exited the lounge. JB and I got to talking last night when he asked if he could borrow my phone for a short call to a friend in Finland. Later we had a beer in the bar and went through the bare minimum intros needed to keep the conversation going before going down stairs and turning in for the night.

Returning after a quick e-mail check and a short stroll to stretch my legs I found JB had borrowed my sleeping bag, wrapping it over his shoulders to get warm again in the unnecessarily efficently air-conditioned sleeping lounge.

I dozed off for a couple of hours, alternating between an air seat and the comparatively comfy floor. Then I started giving some more thought to where I was going to spend the following night. I'd been hoping to find either a couchsurfing host in or near Rostock, or a campsite in the range of 20-40 km south/southwest of the city. Turns out most, if not all, of the campsites in the area are situated immediately on the coast, leaving the south of the city void of, safe and legal, places to pitch a tent. I also made the mistake of sending the CS requests for Rostock a bit too late, so it took until early in the evening until I heard from Paloma. I'm now in her and her boyfriend's apartment, sipping on a cup of peppermint tea, after riding for 22,86 km through the by then already dark suburbs and downtown Rostock.

This is then my first, official couchsurf. Tomorrow my touring starts in earnest. I should be able to reach the Elbe as planned, if nothing too drastic happens along the way. I've got a few solid suggestions of campsites in the Dannenberg area, so finding a place to stay is mostly up to me making it all the way.

Community

I would have to say that I enjoy my job. Not only does working on the ship give me the opportunity to go on regular rides in the middle of the day. From time to time I also get to meet fascinating people.

Just this Friday a German fellow named Timo boarded the ship in Helsinki. Timo was riding a 105 equipped Cannondale roadie, which caught my attention, as there was a sleepingbag attached to the handlebars and a tent fixed to the saddle. When I later saw him sitting in the stairs outside the compartment where my cabin is, I promptly introduced myself as a fellow cyclist. It turned out he had done 6000 km in six weeks! Starting out in the Stuttgart area, he had gone through Germany, Denmark and Norway, made his way to the North Cape and then down to Helsinki, the last stint taking a stunning mere 8 days.

Awestruck I quickly realised I had a lot to learn from my newfound friend. So when he asked me where people without a cabin were supposed to sleep, my couchsurfing instincts kicked in and I offered Timo the spare bunk I usually use to store my clothes. He gladly accepted, and also bought me a beer in the pub after I got off work. To top up the sync we already had going, we also figured out that we both study process control at university.

Community, a sense of beloning and sharing what you have to spare, is a wonderful thing. And I've found that solo (bike) travellers expect the least help, but then also truly appreciate it when they get it. A week from now I will wake up in or near Rostock, about to start first full day of my tour in Germany. Whether I'll be camping alone somewhere or on a friendly couch remains to be seen. I can handle either one without losing faith in my current idea of community.

...

25.6.2007: Two laps around my standard route in Helsinki (Seurasaarenselkä), a quick stop at the SuperFast terminal and a slow roll along the shoreline at Kaivopuisto, finishing off with a stop at an icecream stand.
46,48 km, 1h54m32s, 24,35 kmh avg, n/a kmh max.

26.6.2007: Two laps around Södermalm, a hilly expedition Nacka Strand, another lap around Södermalm and finally a run down Kungsgatan.
60,01 km, 2h28m39s, 24,22 kmh avg, 59,7 kmh max.

28.6.2007: Started off with my usual warmup lap around Södermalm, then headed towards Älta. Just as I got there I suffered a flat. Walking back into town, I called my friend the mountainbiker who, in intermittent showers of rain, came out to meet me with a spare inner tube. When we finally met the rain had already stopped. But it sure is great to have friends!
25,00 km, 1h2m59s, 23,82 kmh avg, 59,7 kmh max.

2.7.2007: First stopped at my favorite bike shop in Stockholm, Gamla Stans Cykel, to top off the pressure in my tyres. Then cruised along Hornsgatan, explored Långholmen and another island nearby, and rode via Hammarbyslussen to Danviksbro. Headed in the general direction of Saltsjöbaden, but turned around in Östervik as time was running out. Getting back into town I did, however, have time for a lap around Södermalm. Finally I popped in to Vagabond, a travel bookshop, to buy a traveller's wallet for my trip to Germany.
53,00 km, 2h17m34s, 23,12 kmh avg, 47,6 kmh max.

3.7.2007: A Sunday ride on a Tuesday! Simmo the magician joined me for a leisurely ride around Helsinki. We didn't go far, nor fast. But chatting away and actually observing our surroundings and enjoying the atmosphere still made it a great ride. Also shopped around a bit for some more kit for my tour.
15,59 km, 1h21m42s, 11,45 kmh avg, 28,6 kmh max.