Into the Winter Paradise

Every October I start to wait it. Winter. Periodically I look for news how winter has started in Northern Hemisphere. I follow some long range weather forecasts and discussions on the Internet, and especially development of Arctic Oscillation and North Atlantic Oscillation.

Living in South-Western Finland, close to Baltic Sea, usually means that the wait is long. Early winter arrives here rarely. It happened in 2010, and the whole winter was incredible. Last winter (2013-2014) was almost complete opposite. November and December were very mild and wet. It was fairly cold for three weeks in January, but there was hardly any snow. After that we got snow once in early February and once in early March.

The old saying goes here that "years are not brothers to each other", and every year is different some way. Indeed, the fall and early winter has been different so far. We got first snow on 6th November, but it melted away the next day. The temperatures have been generally lower this November, so things have been looking sligthly better.

Friday, 21th November:

We got about 8 cm of snow and paradise was everywhere!

I decided to go for a short overnighter on Saturday-Sunday night, because weather forecasts were looking bad for next week.

After a great day with my family, I rode to a shelter close to my home that I found recently, in the middle of the night:

 It was late, so I prepared my sleeping system and went to sleep.

And a good night it was, as was the morning with coffee and sandwich:

The morning was beautiful:

The new 45NRTH Wölvhammer boots kept my feet warm and comfortable:

And the new 45NRTH Vanhelga is really unbeliavable snow tire. No other tire has been so secure and with so much traction!

It was a great morning in the winter paradise and I enjoyed every moment of it.

Later in the afternoon I went for ride into the nearby woods.

This was a great weekend. Weather forecasts are now looking for above freezing temps and even some rain, so this paradise will be at least partly vanished. Hopefully it will come back soon.

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...

2013 in Retrospective

It's the end of the year today, so it's time to review it and maybe think about the next year. Although this blog is about my outdoor and cycling related endeavours, it's always hard to look back in the year when there is so much else going on. All in all, the year 2013 was very interesting and a little strange too.

The year started with a nice, little overnighter with Peter.

Although the New Year's weather was awful with rain, the winter continued in January in a good way. Me and Peter had an excellent two-night trip to the Kurjenrahka for the coldest period of the winter.

February. Rovaniemi 150. My first winter endurance race and it was absolutely fantastic experience, and definitely the highlight of the year.

March was surely the best winter month in South-Western Finland. A nice overnighter at Marttila was executed again with the usual suspect, Peter.

Also, there was a great display of Northern Lights on March 17.

The winter continued to April and had a perfect ending with my Archipelago Winter Tour.

May. A short spring.

The highlight of the summer was the trip to Rovaniemi and the overnighter there with Mark.

September saw finally an overnighter with Korpijaakko.

Another S24O in October with Peter...

...and the 'sufferfest', Mammoth March Impossible, which wasn't a sufferfest this time.

No signs of winter in November, but that wasn't a big issue, because there was the arrival of new 9:ZERO:7 fatbike.

And November is always good, because there is the Vajosuo Beer Ride.

The first snow finally arrived on 6th-7th December, just in time for the Global Fatbike Day.

But it didn't last long. The snow melted very fast and what followed is the worst December in recent memory. Christmas saw rain every day.

Otherwise the outdoor year was indeed great.

So, what about the 2014? The weather forecasts are not showing much hope for the first two weeks. Actually, the forecasts looks ridiculous, with plenty of rain and constant overcast sky. The weather nerds are discussing about a very likely SSW and as a result, polar vortex split or a complete disintegration of polar vortex in the best case scenario. There is still some hope.

Anyway, I'm going to Rovaniemi 150 and that is the master plan. Other than that, no big plans.

Thanks to my family for support, and thanks also to all readers. Happy New Year 2014!

And additional thanks for my awesome sponsors and partners: 9:ZERO:7, 45NRTH, Lumicycle, Porcelain Rocket, Alpkit and Pyöristi.