Monday, January 7, 2013

First overnighter of 2013

We had absolutely miserable weather on the New Year and for the first couple of days of 2013. It rained and lots of snow melted. Fortunately, this mild phase was fairly quickly over, and by the Epiphany weekend the temperatures were back to below freezing.

I had plans for some longer training rides for the forthcoming Rovaniemi 150 winter race. At the same time, Peter sent me a message that he hasn't done an overnighter this year. Well, that's a good excuse, neither have I. :)

We decided to go to the Linnavuori at Piikkiö, a familiar, nice place for an overnighter. The temperature was about -4°C in the evening.

On the trail of Linnavuori.




The mild wave had done a lot of damage indeed, but for a fatbike it was an easy task.



Peter was at the lean-to when I arrived. I started to prepare my sleeping system. I have a writing coming up later on my winter gear.


Peter with his cameras. On the right, the new GoPro HERO3 Black Edition. Peter's old POV camera, Contour ROAM, is now mine. Stay tuned for videos in the future.


A big thermos bottle is one of your best friends in winter time. Enjoying a night tea before sleeping.


The beauty of light pollution from the nearby greenhouse.


Good night!


The night wasn't that cold, maybe -6°C, but at times it felt slightly cool.

Obviously we slept fairly well, because clock was 9AM when we woke up.



I decided to ride more on Sunday, so I ate an adventure meal for the morning breakfast. I also melted snow for drinking water. The new MSR WhisperLite Universal multifuel stove is great!


The morning and sunrise were nice.




A view from the back of the shelter.


We decided to ride to the Lake Littoinen. 


This lake brings me a lot of memories from my youth, when I visited there many times.



After cruising on the ice and shooting some video footage, I continued towards home on small country roads.


The small roads were extremely icy, but they were a blast to ride with the 45North Dillinger studded tires. These tires are phenomenal! I have video footage coming up later.


Getting closer to Paimio.


I visited my big brother for a sandwich and coffee, as my energy levels were pretty low.

What a trip! Thanks Peter for the company, a great way to start the new year! Already looking forward to your video.