I'm in the midst of finalizing my preparation for my bike tour next week. On Monday morning I will set out to complete a project that's been several months in the making. The SOVA-tour will be a five day adventure from Turku to Punkaharju, during which I will blog and tweet from the road. The main body of this reporting will be in Finnish, and posted in my tour specific blog. Not to neglect this, my main cycling blog, too much, I'm hoping to post a couple of brief reports here as well. At the very least I will take the time to compile a post-tour write-up when I'm home again.
Embedded below are the planned daily stages, courtesy of bikemap.net. Based on Google Maps, bikemap.net and it's sister sites for other sports offer a great mapping and route planning tool. I've always enjoyed pouring over maps and dreaming away wanting to visit different places. With digital maps combined with efficient routing tools, it's very easy to see how far 100 km or so a day actually gets you.
Before I get to the maps, I would like to take the time to thank a few companies and businesses for helping me make this tour a reality. Things started to fall apart on Tuesday morning when I noticed that my BOB Yak trailer had been stolen from its place in the common bike shelter in my building. Distraught I called the sole Finnish importer, Kareisen pyöräkorjaamo, to check if they had any in storage. There weren't any available, and the prospect of getting any more this week were uncertain to say the least. None the less, I would be contacted as soon as any showed up, with the promise to overnight a trailer to Turku should any arrive on time. On Thursday I received a phone call saying no new trailers had yet been delivered, but that there actually was a bike shop in Turku that also carried the trailers. I rushed over to Next Bike and true enough, they had a BOB Yak in the shelf, straight out of the box. Since I had already made my police report and filed a claim with my insurance company, I elected to buy the new trailer there and then. By now it was almost lunch time, and after lunch I got a text message saying my new trailer had been assembled and was ready to be picked up.
I've since taken the trailer out for a shakedown, and had my bike given some professional TLC at Visan polkupyörähuolto. Dropping just about everything he was doing, Visa swapped my brake pads and a gear shift cable, opened and reassembled the bottom bracket and retuned the gears. With my bike feeling as good as new within hours after dropping it off, I was more than happy to pay the reasonable fee instead of making a mess of my self and only getting half the job done.
Day 1: Turku - Tammela.
Day 2: Tammela - Asikkalan kk.
Day 3: Asikkalan kk - Mäntyharju.
Day 4: Mäntyharju - Ryhälä.
Day 5: Ryhälä - Punkaharju.
Showing posts with label Road. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Road. Show all posts
2010-06-12
2010-04-12
On the road again..
Yesterday I went out on my first road bike ride of the year. With an ambient temperature of around 10°C and the sunshine making it feel even warmer I was determined to go out for a spin. This year I'm starting from an even lower level of fitness than last year, even though I did go ice skating a few times during winter. I've got some decent incentive, however, as I'm planning to cycle-tour from Turku to Punkaharju in the middle of June (more on that later).
As I was preparing for my ride I noticed that the batteries in both my Sigma bike computer and my FRWD sports computer were flat. I then resorted to logging my performance with Nokia Sports Tracker istead. It works well enough, and while it in a way felt liberating not to stare at a speedometer the entire time I think I prefer to have a display in front of me over the phone in my jersey pocket.
There's still a lot of sand and gravel on most bike paths in the area, with only a narrow clean line near the middle along most of my route yesterday. Hopefully they will be cleaned soon, as it did detract from the enjoyment of being out on the bike again. The sand also decreases the amount of grip offered by 23 mm racing tyres to dangerous levels. At one point I hade to slow down almost to a crawl to negotiate a turn without wiping out.
Roadie season premiere: 18.8 km, 51min3sec, 22.1 km/h avg, 43.8 km/h max.
As I was preparing for my ride I noticed that the batteries in both my Sigma bike computer and my FRWD sports computer were flat. I then resorted to logging my performance with Nokia Sports Tracker istead. It works well enough, and while it in a way felt liberating not to stare at a speedometer the entire time I think I prefer to have a display in front of me over the phone in my jersey pocket.
There's still a lot of sand and gravel on most bike paths in the area, with only a narrow clean line near the middle along most of my route yesterday. Hopefully they will be cleaned soon, as it did detract from the enjoyment of being out on the bike again. The sand also decreases the amount of grip offered by 23 mm racing tyres to dangerous levels. At one point I hade to slow down almost to a crawl to negotiate a turn without wiping out.
Roadie season premiere: 18.8 km, 51min3sec, 22.1 km/h avg, 43.8 km/h max.
2009-06-06
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
2009-05-26
Åland Runt 2009
This weekend my cycling got a shot in the arm (I know, bad metaphor). Last year I rode my bike(s) only slightly more often than I updated this blog. A lot has happened since my last post, which I won't mention here. I did recover my stolen MTB, but I won't go into that story now either. The topic of this post is, and will be, Åland Runt 2009.
Last saturday, together with 32 other riders, mainly from Turun Urheiluliitto's Harrastepyöräilijät, and a support van, I embarked on a two day light tour of the Åland islands. We met up at the club 'stable' at 7.15 in the morning, loaded our overnight gear in the van and rode the short distance down to the Viking Line terminal. Onboard we had a small conference room booked where coffee and sandwiches were served, and the itinerary of the trip was presented. Later on, before reaching Mariehamn, we also had lunch in the buffet restaurant.
We divided into two groups, with the aim of keeping the average speeds moderate. I chose the 25 km/h group, where I was joined by 18 others. This left the faster, 30 km/h, group with 13 riders. We were to ride mainly the same route, with the faster bunch taking predetermined detours to meet up with the support van at about the same times as the slower group.
We spent the night in cabins at Puttes camping, right next to the ruins at Bomarsund. Both the thai food dinner in the evening and the oatmeel & sandwich breakfast the following morning was literally devoured, to the astonishment of the cafeteria staff. Even with all the food available to us in the van, we had still burned enough calories to be very hungry :)
The weather on Saturday was cloudy, with even a few drops of rain as we disembarked the ship and rolled out of Mariehamn. The sky cleared as the day wore on, ending with a beautiful sunset to crown the evening at the camp site. On Sunday we woke up to a bright morning, not a single cloud to be seen anywhere. Still, we rode almost exclusively in long bibs, as May is not to be regarded a summer month here in Finland.
The scenery afforded to us as we blasted through the Åland countryside was stunning. If you're ever in this neck of the woods and you've got your bike with you, you should definitely make a stop there. Also, on your way back, why not indulge yourself in a celebratory meal in the à la Carte on the ship? We did, and it surely was a feast!
This trip was a great opportunity for me to try out my new wheels and tires. I'm now riding on Mavic Ksyrium Elites wrapped in Schwalbe Ultremos. Before the weekend, I had only done five or six laps on the velodrome on them. Now, with almost 200 km done, I'm very happy with their preformance. I also finally got to use my FRWD on a longer ride, you can check the data from both Saturday and Sunday on traxmeet.com. On top of that, here's a short, poor quality, video to illustrate riding in a chain gang. I've yet to upload any photos, but I'm hoping to get around to doing that soon..
...
Stats: see the traxmeet.com links above.
Last saturday, together with 32 other riders, mainly from Turun Urheiluliitto's Harrastepyöräilijät, and a support van, I embarked on a two day light tour of the Åland islands. We met up at the club 'stable' at 7.15 in the morning, loaded our overnight gear in the van and rode the short distance down to the Viking Line terminal. Onboard we had a small conference room booked where coffee and sandwiches were served, and the itinerary of the trip was presented. Later on, before reaching Mariehamn, we also had lunch in the buffet restaurant.
We divided into two groups, with the aim of keeping the average speeds moderate. I chose the 25 km/h group, where I was joined by 18 others. This left the faster, 30 km/h, group with 13 riders. We were to ride mainly the same route, with the faster bunch taking predetermined detours to meet up with the support van at about the same times as the slower group.
We spent the night in cabins at Puttes camping, right next to the ruins at Bomarsund. Both the thai food dinner in the evening and the oatmeel & sandwich breakfast the following morning was literally devoured, to the astonishment of the cafeteria staff. Even with all the food available to us in the van, we had still burned enough calories to be very hungry :)
The weather on Saturday was cloudy, with even a few drops of rain as we disembarked the ship and rolled out of Mariehamn. The sky cleared as the day wore on, ending with a beautiful sunset to crown the evening at the camp site. On Sunday we woke up to a bright morning, not a single cloud to be seen anywhere. Still, we rode almost exclusively in long bibs, as May is not to be regarded a summer month here in Finland.
The scenery afforded to us as we blasted through the Åland countryside was stunning. If you're ever in this neck of the woods and you've got your bike with you, you should definitely make a stop there. Also, on your way back, why not indulge yourself in a celebratory meal in the à la Carte on the ship? We did, and it surely was a feast!
This trip was a great opportunity for me to try out my new wheels and tires. I'm now riding on Mavic Ksyrium Elites wrapped in Schwalbe Ultremos. Before the weekend, I had only done five or six laps on the velodrome on them. Now, with almost 200 km done, I'm very happy with their preformance. I also finally got to use my FRWD on a longer ride, you can check the data from both Saturday and Sunday on traxmeet.com. On top of that, here's a short, poor quality, video to illustrate riding in a chain gang. I've yet to upload any photos, but I'm hoping to get around to doing that soon..
...
Stats: see the traxmeet.com links above.
2008-05-24
Around and around..
The photo to the right is the view from the top floor of our building. The velodrome (Wikipedia) just sits there, taunting me, right across the street. This Wednesday there was a local track meet, with 500m, 1000m and Keirin races. As I wasn't doing much else, I walked over and took a few snaps instead. I'd been planning to have a go at it myself with my roadie ever since I moved here together with my girlfriend over three weeks ago. Finally, this morning I got my act together and headed out there.The Turku velodrome (Wiki, Finnish) is a 333,33 meter outdoor circuit where the Finnish track championships have been held quite a few times. The last time I'd ridden on it was in 2006, if I'm not mistaken. Today I had the track to myself, but since I still haven't ridden much at all this year, I decided to take it really easy. In total I did about 60 laps, 20 km, including a couple with one foot unclipped. I really liked how the freedom from having to worry about traffic and other road hazards allowed me to concentrate of my riding style and position on the bike. Before heading home I went for a short spin to Lauste, a quaint suburb to the southeast.
After I got back home again and had had some bacon and eggs, Maija and I headed to Ajopyörä so that she could buy a pair of single-sided SPD pedals and matching shoes. She's been commuting to work, through sleet and snow even, but now I might just be able to lure her with me on even longer rides in the countryside.
...
Morning ride: 32.17 km, 1h14min24sec, 25.94 kmh avg, 44.6 kmh max.
2008-04-23
First road club ride 2008
Last night I was on my first roadie club ride of the season. Once again, due to construction work, the route has been changed this year. And, once again, Kaharinvuori just east of Rusko proved too much for me at the speed the chain gang was going. It's not a big hill, not even by local standards. Still it's steep enough for me to drop well behind the others this time of year.
Cruising down hill again on the far side I noticed one of the other riders had waited for me. On the flat he helped me keep a pace that would let ut catch up with the gang again. Before we could do that, though, we were overtaken by two cars which in turn couldn't pass the rest of pack. More traffic in Moisio caused the gap to inrease even further. I was in no shape to go any faster, so my companion asked if I was ok with him joining the gang now well ahead of us.
I was down, but not out. I decided that I wasn't dressed in lycra for nothing, and continued along the route alone. Actually I wasn't 100% sure I was going the right way, having lost line of sight to the chain gang. But then, while still on Paattistentie, near Auvaismäki, I saw them again heading south on Auvaismäentie. I knew the area from before, having passed through on a solo ride a couple of years ago. I really should explore these parts of Turku some more, it's great cycling country.
All in all I ended up doing two laps of the Moisio - Auvaismäki - Maaria circuit at my own pace before heading home again. Not too shabby, as this was only my second outing on the roadie this year.
...
club ride: 62,36 km, 2h26m4s, 25,62 kmh avg, 45,6 kmh max
Cruising down hill again on the far side I noticed one of the other riders had waited for me. On the flat he helped me keep a pace that would let ut catch up with the gang again. Before we could do that, though, we were overtaken by two cars which in turn couldn't pass the rest of pack. More traffic in Moisio caused the gap to inrease even further. I was in no shape to go any faster, so my companion asked if I was ok with him joining the gang now well ahead of us.
I was down, but not out. I decided that I wasn't dressed in lycra for nothing, and continued along the route alone. Actually I wasn't 100% sure I was going the right way, having lost line of sight to the chain gang. But then, while still on Paattistentie, near Auvaismäki, I saw them again heading south on Auvaismäentie. I knew the area from before, having passed through on a solo ride a couple of years ago. I really should explore these parts of Turku some more, it's great cycling country.
All in all I ended up doing two laps of the Moisio - Auvaismäki - Maaria circuit at my own pace before heading home again. Not too shabby, as this was only my second outing on the roadie this year.
...
club ride: 62,36 km, 2h26m4s, 25,62 kmh avg, 45,6 kmh max
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)