If there are any readers out there, you may have noticed that a few days went by and there were no postings on my blog. It was time for my annual bike tour around Finland. This year I thought I would go to the Åland Islands, unfortunately I wasn't able to find any decent hotel due to the
Rockoff festival. Therefore, I changed the route a bit and shortened it by one day. I should probably have gone there anyway, because now I missed the chance to see Lena Philpsson on my birthday...
It hurts. Maybe even sweeter,
the Swedish version.
Stage 1: from home to Somero, 120 km
The first day was the hardest, maybe due to a more hilly terrain, total ascent 860 m. I stayed at motel Rantatupa (Beach cottage). It was nice and clean and the food was OK. This was also the only place during the whole trip where I was given the choice to store my bike in a garage for the night. Very nice!
My dinner below.
Otherwise, I was not that impressed with Somero. It is a place where they write Disko with a K. The youth hangs out around the ice cream kiosk, and drives around the block with their cars or ATVs (looking cool).
Stage 2: Somero-Rauma, 151 km
The longest stage but quite easy overall, total ascent 485 m. I was going to stay at Eura, but both hotels were closed. On the way I saw this bar, unfortunately closed (fillari=bike). (
Someone has added their contribution as an engraving or
in English.)
Rauma is probably best known for the old part of Rauma, which is nice if you like old wooden houses. In general I liked Rauma, could have spent a few days there. I stayed at hotel Raumanlinna. The hotel was nice, but quite expensive and the room was too hot. No air conditioning, not in line with the fare/night.
Some
Kalevala inspired art in the canal.
By the way the driving-around-the-block-with-your-stereos-playing-with-enormous-bass is really popular in Rauma. I regret I did not get it on video, it was a caricature of red-neck idiots installing huge sub-woofers in their cars. Look at me, I'm cool, my whole car is vibrating from some techno sh*t!
Stage 3: Rauma-Kustavi, 104 km
The third stage took me to Kustavi, which is a place where you can go to the Åland Islands by small ferries. The weather was nice and the total ascent was 400 m, an enjoyable ride. It was quite hard to find a place for the night as my visit happened to coincide with the Volter Kilpi week. I was lucky to get a hut at Lomavalkama, a modest hut but nicely situated by the see (+ good food at a reasonable price).
I didn't participate in the
Volter Kilpi celebrations, which I regret a bit. Volter Kilpi is considered somewhat of a literature genius. As far as I know his books have not been translated to other languages than Swedish (by Thomas Warburton). His texts were long considered untranslatable, due to his almost bizarre use of the Finnish language (stream-of-consciousness). Finnish is damn hard anyway. They actually sell t-shirts stating that "I have read
'Alastalon salissa' by Volter Kilpi". You are considered a hard core literature fan if you manage to read it.
I collect Finnish Science Fiction literature, and his last (incomplete, posthumously published) work "Gulliverin matka Fantomimian mantereelle" (Gulliver's journey to the Fantomimian continent) is considered a SciFi book. I guess it is actually closer to the Fantasy genre. It is sort of a continuation to Gulliver's travels by Jonathan Swift. I have not read it yet, but I have manged to find all versions published so far, including the first edition hard cover with cover papers fairly intact. Well you need to be a book freak to appreciate that...
From Kustavi I called several hotels on Åland, but all were booked for the weekend. I then decided to go to Naantali, which is a nice old town.
Stage 4: Kustavi-Naantali, 77 km
The Finnish president, popularily known as the
Moominmamma, has her summer residence in Naantali (A Conan O'Brien look-alike, or the other way around).
Coincidentally, the
Moomin valley amusement park is situated here also.
I stayed at the Naantali Spa, a very nice place.
But again, a bit expensive and a hot room with no air conditioning. They would benefit from a modernization. I also felt that they were looking down on me a bit in the reception, because I came by bike, not by car. Sometimes people think that it is a question of money that you go by bike and not by car, which is totally stupid.
A view from my terrace.
Practically all the streets in the center of Naantali are one-way roads. There is usually no space reserved for cycling (only pedestrians), which was OK for me, but not so OK for some angry tourists who were honking their horns. At that point I slowed down and went riding in the middle of the road, it sounds like harassing but it is the safest way for a cyclist. In that way you avoid idiots forcing past you at high speed. In general, cycling in that part of Finland is nice, a lot of cycling roads, nice scenery etc., I can recommend.
Stage 5: Naantali-Turku (+bus Turku-Helsinki) Helsinki-back to home, 37km
On the last day I just cycled from Naantali to Turku and took the bus to Helsinki (some problem with the railway), and pedaled home.
After riding in other parts of Finland I was a bit disappointed with the potatoes fields we call cycling roads here in Helsinki. I am being a bit mean but... of course there is a lot of cycling roads in Helsinki and the maintenance is challenging, but anyway. On the other hand, I did most of the distance on normal roads, which usually are in better condition than cycling roads. I strongly urge cyclists to use roads, as a bike is a vehicle among others, and does not belong among pedestrians. Somehow traffic/road planners have missed this completely in Finland. With the climate change, and all, you would think that attitudes towards cycling should start to change.
The approximate route, in total 490 km. The bus from Turku to Helsinki + the ride home is not shown.
