Bonus photo post

Ok, you'll get two bonus photos ;)

Orivesi - Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä - Suonenjoki

Quick update for my non-Finnish speaking followers. I'm in Suonenjoki this morning having stayed here last night and in Jyväskylä the night before. My need for rest and food has overridden my ability to keep two blogs and twitter feeds up to date. You'll get a bonus photo instead :)

Anyway, since you're dying to find out, here are the numbers from my two previous days on the bike:

Monday 9.7: 120,8 km, 5h 55min 1sec, 20,4 km/h avg, 61,3 km/h
Tuesday 10.7: 100,0 km, 5h 06min 15sec, 19,6 km/h avg, 56,0 km/h max
Tour total: 448,2 km

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

Turku - Urjala

I had an uneventfulday on the bike interrupted by pleasant encounters almost everytime I stopped. The BOB Yak is as good a conversation starter as ever and I had to explain myself a few times. People's reactions tend to vary between being mildly impressed to "you're doing what?". Mentioning my heart condition and the charitable purpose of this tour equalizes most to "oh, that's nice".

Route 9 from Aura onwards is rather boring but fairly safe to ride. The shoulder is wide enough and there wasn't that much traffic today. Most drivers passed at a good three feet or more but there were of course a few that came closer as well.

Tonight I'm staying at Taikayö Camping, approximately 8 km west of Urjala. Tomorrow I'm getting back on route 9 for a bit then switching to smaller roads through Valkeakoski and Kangasala on my way to Orivesi. Here's to the forecast for heavy thunderstorms not being accurate..

Today: 117,2 km, 5h 39min 33sec, 20,7 km/h avg, 49,3 km/h max
Tour total: 117,2 km

Day 2: Tammela - Asikkala

Last night I was way too sleepy to write a full post for day 2. I barely managed to stay awake to post in Finnish over on http://sovatour.blogspot.com. Here's then a short recap of at least how the day ended.

I had a decent but long day on the road. With over 6 hours in the saddle combined with some uncertainty as to where I was going to spend the night it started to wear me down at the end.

There aren't any proper campsites in all of Asikkala and as I rolled into town I caught an intense shower of cold rain. Soaking wet, and getting cold fast, I quickly made a reservation for a cabin and soon found myself in a hot sauna. Well rested I now look forward to another day on the bike. The sun is out so it should be a good one. I already have accomodation booked in Mäntyharju for tonight.

...

Yesterday: 128,32 km, 6h10m00s, 20,94 km/h avg, 52,8 km/ max.
Tour total: 233,26 km.

Day 1: Turku - Tammela

Today was the first stage of my tour from Turku to Punkaharju. I had a great day on the bike and besides a 20 minute light rain I can't think of anything that didn't go according to plan.

The Venesilta camping here in Tammela is really nice, and I had a lengthy chat with my neighbours while sitting next to the fire in the photo. The view of the lake is really something special, and my tent is less than 10 meters from the shoreline.

It's now time to turn in and get a good night's sleep. Tomorrow I'll be riding some 120 km from Tammela to Asikkala.

...

Today: 104,94 km, 4h55m18s, 21,50 km/h avg, 44,2 km/h max
Tour total: 104,94 km.

Tour preparation

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.

Bike route 392738 - powered by Bikemap

Day 2: Tammela - Asikkalan kk.

Bike route 392748 - powered by Bikemap

Day 3: Asikkalan kk - Mäntyharju.

Bike route 392754 - powered by Bikemap

Day 4: Mäntyharju - Ryhälä.

Bike route 392761 - powered by Bikemap

Day 5: Ryhälä - Punkaharju.

Bike route 392772 - powered by Bikemap

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

A blog then

Yes, having met travelers from around the world and reading their stories online I've decided to start up a blog of my own. As of yet I'm only a prospective traveler myself. I do however have a yearning to see the world, preferably from the saddle of my bike.

Most likely, this will start off as a diary / log of my training and other related and unrelated matters. Then in July I'm off to Germany on my first real, albeit shortish, bike tour. I'm hoping to be able to post regularly from the road as well. Exactly how that will work out has yet to be seen.

As for the heart portion of this blog, I have a congenital heart defect, the basics of which can be found through the links below. I am however one of the lucky ones, having survived in the first place and growing up to be strong enough to enjoy riding my bike, faster and longer than a lot of so called "healthy" people choose to do.

Interrupted Aortic Arch
Ventricular Septal Defect