Thursday, August 09, 2007
Days 1-3
Finally! A computer!
Day 1: Nuorgam to Utsjoki (45 kms)
Not a bad way to start the ride. We got up fairly late, not surprising considering that we didn't arrive in Nuorgam until after midnight. Before leaving we walked to the river which is effectively the Norweigan border (and nothernmost part of Finland). It was just about 100m out the back of the cabin where we stayed.
I did the ride in one hit, with just a couple of short breaks to get some water from the streams flowing by the road, and to take some photos and video. The road was all sealed and pretty flat single carriageway. Even so, one thing I have learned is that Finnish drivers are significantly more tolerant of cyclists than Australians - probably as a result of the sheer number of Finns who cycle...
The scenery was beautiful (get used to reading that... I'll be saying it a lot). Riding through this country is like riding through a really nice coffee table book. Day 1 a lot of the road followed the Finland-Norway border (ie. a beautiful wide river) so we were riding with a mountain on one side and the water on the other. Granted, the constant wind blowing up off the water and slowing my progress wasn't ideal, but it sure was pretty!
We arrived in Utsjoki around mid-afternoon and booked into a cabin before I explored a little (there wasn't much there) and we did some groceries prior to dinner.
Dinner was excellent. We went to one of the two eateries in town and I had a reindeer pizza. With lingon berries on it. It was utterly delicious. I am all for countries that aren't afraid to eat their iconic national fauna.
Day 2: Utsjoki to Kaamanen (97 kms)
Whoa. This was a BIG day. 6 hours of actual riding, and including our breaks, it took us nearly 8. I just want to talk about about how deceptive topographical maps can be for a moment.
On the map of Finland that I have, the topography is broken down into 50m increments. Utsjoki is about 80m above seal level. Kaamanen is about 160. Not a big difference when spread out over nearly 100km, right? Technically, yes. Practically though, a day with a lot of long (albeit gentle) inclines and few consistently downhill sections really takes a toll on your legs. Up-and-down hills I don't mind - the long rises with no get-go-go-really-fast-down-the-other-side-payoff are the one's that I dislike.
Once again, the scenery was picturesque - (I know I'll say this a lot) plenty of lakes, but not much forest. Being a really warm day probably didn't make things any easier either, nor did the afternoon headwind that started blowing off the lakes.
I did end up taking a few extra breaks for mum to catch up with me (she felt that I left her behind a bit the day before - honestly I thought it would be the other way around. Clearly my time in the gym has paid off). Even with the breaks though, I slept really well by the time I was bedded down in Kaamanen.
Day 3 - Kaamanen to Ivalo (70km)
Today felt good. It was a bit cooler and we left Kaamanen around 8am so conditions were very comfortable. We did the 25 or so ks to Inari (on the shores of Finalnd's biggest lake) quite quickly. There were some uphill stretches, but plenty of downhill to make up for it. I even saw a couple of squirrels running around (which to people who live in places with squirrels will sound strange - but the only other time I've seen them was a couple years ago in Central Park in NYC and for some reason I find them facinating.)
There was also a really long winding mountain road through the forest, from which I was able to get a few glimpes of the lakes below. Here's me talking about the scenery again... It's a shame I probably won't be able to upload photos for a few weeks because if you could see the natural beauty of the place, you would probably forgive my constant harping on about it..
Inari was a bit of a non-event, but we stopped for refreshement and to stretch our legs a bit. I had a fantastic doughnut filled with some kind of blueberry sauce or jam. Really blood good.
Inari to Ivalo involved a few hills (some bigger than others) but for the most part the road wound it's way through a collection of large lakes. Being able to ride along witha gentle breeze on a cool clear day with the water lapping metres away and the forest strestching from the far edge of the lake right to the horizon... It's really like nothing else. Well worth the price of admission.
The highlight of the day (so far) for me was about 5km outside Ivalo when a whole herd of reindeer had commandeered the road (and the grass on both sides of it) to do a bit of grazing. It's not an uncommon occurence, but the first time I had been a large group of deer together - espeically that close (I did have to ride through them after all). For the most part, both the Finns and the deer seem pretty used to the situation. There is no honking - as I guess it would probably make the deer a bit skittish - the cars just wait for an opening and hope the deer have the good sense to move out of the way.
And now, here I am in Ivalo. I think there are about 70km to be done tomorrow - which given today's effort shouldn't be overly difficult. All in all, things are going well on the ride, and at this stage, I'm pretty glad that I decided to go through with it and actually do it!
Day 1: Nuorgam to Utsjoki (45 kms)
Not a bad way to start the ride. We got up fairly late, not surprising considering that we didn't arrive in Nuorgam until after midnight. Before leaving we walked to the river which is effectively the Norweigan border (and nothernmost part of Finland). It was just about 100m out the back of the cabin where we stayed.
I did the ride in one hit, with just a couple of short breaks to get some water from the streams flowing by the road, and to take some photos and video. The road was all sealed and pretty flat single carriageway. Even so, one thing I have learned is that Finnish drivers are significantly more tolerant of cyclists than Australians - probably as a result of the sheer number of Finns who cycle...
The scenery was beautiful (get used to reading that... I'll be saying it a lot). Riding through this country is like riding through a really nice coffee table book. Day 1 a lot of the road followed the Finland-Norway border (ie. a beautiful wide river) so we were riding with a mountain on one side and the water on the other. Granted, the constant wind blowing up off the water and slowing my progress wasn't ideal, but it sure was pretty!
We arrived in Utsjoki around mid-afternoon and booked into a cabin before I explored a little (there wasn't much there) and we did some groceries prior to dinner.
Dinner was excellent. We went to one of the two eateries in town and I had a reindeer pizza. With lingon berries on it. It was utterly delicious. I am all for countries that aren't afraid to eat their iconic national fauna.
Day 2: Utsjoki to Kaamanen (97 kms)
Whoa. This was a BIG day. 6 hours of actual riding, and including our breaks, it took us nearly 8. I just want to talk about about how deceptive topographical maps can be for a moment.
On the map of Finland that I have, the topography is broken down into 50m increments. Utsjoki is about 80m above seal level. Kaamanen is about 160. Not a big difference when spread out over nearly 100km, right? Technically, yes. Practically though, a day with a lot of long (albeit gentle) inclines and few consistently downhill sections really takes a toll on your legs. Up-and-down hills I don't mind - the long rises with no get-go-go-really-fast-down-the-other-side-payoff are the one's that I dislike.
Once again, the scenery was picturesque - (I know I'll say this a lot) plenty of lakes, but not much forest. Being a really warm day probably didn't make things any easier either, nor did the afternoon headwind that started blowing off the lakes.
I did end up taking a few extra breaks for mum to catch up with me (she felt that I left her behind a bit the day before - honestly I thought it would be the other way around. Clearly my time in the gym has paid off). Even with the breaks though, I slept really well by the time I was bedded down in Kaamanen.
Day 3 - Kaamanen to Ivalo (70km)
Today felt good. It was a bit cooler and we left Kaamanen around 8am so conditions were very comfortable. We did the 25 or so ks to Inari (on the shores of Finalnd's biggest lake) quite quickly. There were some uphill stretches, but plenty of downhill to make up for it. I even saw a couple of squirrels running around (which to people who live in places with squirrels will sound strange - but the only other time I've seen them was a couple years ago in Central Park in NYC and for some reason I find them facinating.)
There was also a really long winding mountain road through the forest, from which I was able to get a few glimpes of the lakes below. Here's me talking about the scenery again... It's a shame I probably won't be able to upload photos for a few weeks because if you could see the natural beauty of the place, you would probably forgive my constant harping on about it..
Inari was a bit of a non-event, but we stopped for refreshement and to stretch our legs a bit. I had a fantastic doughnut filled with some kind of blueberry sauce or jam. Really blood good.
Inari to Ivalo involved a few hills (some bigger than others) but for the most part the road wound it's way through a collection of large lakes. Being able to ride along witha gentle breeze on a cool clear day with the water lapping metres away and the forest strestching from the far edge of the lake right to the horizon... It's really like nothing else. Well worth the price of admission.
The highlight of the day (so far) for me was about 5km outside Ivalo when a whole herd of reindeer had commandeered the road (and the grass on both sides of it) to do a bit of grazing. It's not an uncommon occurence, but the first time I had been a large group of deer together - espeically that close (I did have to ride through them after all). For the most part, both the Finns and the deer seem pretty used to the situation. There is no honking - as I guess it would probably make the deer a bit skittish - the cars just wait for an opening and hope the deer have the good sense to move out of the way.
And now, here I am in Ivalo. I think there are about 70km to be done tomorrow - which given today's effort shouldn't be overly difficult. All in all, things are going well on the ride, and at this stage, I'm pretty glad that I decided to go through with it and actually do it!
# posted by Nils @ 11:39 PM 
