Sunday, January 26, 2014

Training on the ice

It's 18 days now to Rovaniemi 150 race, and it was time for another longer training ride this weekend. Winter weather has continued here with -10...-20°C temperatures, and lakes, rivers and some parts of the seas have frozen, ice thickness being at 5-30 cm. The quality of the ice is very good, because there is very small amount of snow on top of it. In the previous winters I have wanted to ride along the Paimio River to the sea, but mainly snow conditions have prevented it.

So, I headed to Paimio River.





There were tracks of others on the ice, so it was fairly safe to ride there. However, you should always carry some safety gear with you. I had my icepicks with me.


Out from the river and I got pretty excited, as the views opened.






As expected, there was other people too on the ice, like fishermen, skiers, skaters and some snowmobiles. I asked about the ice thickness from the fishermen, and it was around 15-30 cm in different places.




The surface of the ice had all kind of forms:



I really like the very open and wide surroundings on the ice.


I decided to ride to Karuna, a south-western part of Sauvo. Over there, I didn't need to worry about the ice thickness, but a very reckless van driver that was all over the place on the ice.

On the shore at Karuna:


I rode to Sauvo along the old Karuna road and purchased some eating from the local grocery store. Feeling was great, not tired at all. Then I countinued on the small roads to Paimio in the darkness:




About 90 km of riding and a very nice day on the ice. Also, 1013.25 km of training so far for January. Things are looking good for Rovaniemi 150.

Saturday, January 18, 2014

Winter is here!

After 33 days of miserable, grey, rainy and mild weather, the winter finally arrived here in South-Western Finland on January 11th. On Saturday and Sunday it snowed a little and temperature was around -3...-6°C.




And then, like a push of a button, temperature dropped like a stone and nightly it has been -16...-19°C the whole week, with daily highs around -13°C.




Not only it's cold, but the days are sunny!






Bike commuting has been absolutely great in these conditions and excellent training for Rovaniemi 150 as well. Weather forecasts shows that the winter is here to stay. Although there are not much snow, these conditions are perfect for freezing for rivers, lakes and seas...

Friday, January 10, 2014

S24O in January misery

The miserable, non-winter weather conditions have continued in the beginning of this year, but it's certainly not an excuse to not go to an overnighter. The last time was on the Vajosuo Beer Ride in November.

In the evening of Friday 3rd, the usual suspect Peter rode from his home to my place with his Fargo and we headed to the Wilderness of Marttila.

A fallen tree (caused by the powerful storm Seija in December) in the start of the trail to the lean-to:



Peter.



A tiny amount of snow on some of the duckboards:


At the shelter:


Peter starting the campfire:




An evening tea and grilled sandwiches followed.

Sleep time:


The beauty of misery in the morning?


The usual morning chores:



On the move. Peter mastering the slippery duckboards:






Heading back home on the gravel roads:



Thanks Peter for the company. It was worth it again. Check Peter's post here.