Oulu - Oijärvi ~85 km


Today only a short stage, because the next camping after that one at Oijärvi is at Narkaus, 195 km... well...

The heavy rain from yesterday stopped, I started early in the morning. Also in that day wind in my face. But the streets were easy to find and easy to ride, they were all surfaced.

Today I saw my first reindeers! First I saw two, then one more (I don't know who was more frightened: It stood right next to the street but well hidden in the trench (Graben), so I couldn't see it. The reindeer couldn't see or smell me, because the wind was in the wrong direction. So when I was at a distance of only 5 m it suddenly jumped out and ran away.)

In the evening I got off my bike and few minutes later the wind stopped. Haha... And the mosquitos were even more delighted: No wind, so they are able to fly... *njam* for them means *ouch* for me... It was the first day, when there were REALLY lots of them... Did I ever complain about mitches? Now I have to laugh about that. It was for the first time, that I used my Mygga (swedish anti-mosquito, that I bought two years ago in Sweden but had no need to use it...). So my daily routine changed: It was not longer: Getting off the bike - put up my tent - shower - cooking - bed. No, from now until Karasjok there was a little addition: Getting off the bike - mygga - put up my tent - shower ...

And even if there were clouds all the day, in the evening the sun came out, it was soooo nice! I had the whole camping site for me (and the mosquitos), there was absolutely nobody!

Sadly at about 8 pm it re-started to rain... So I got into my tent. As it's not possible to sit in my tent I layed down, and a few minutes later I fell asleep... At 8 pm! And then I woke up at 2 am, and couldn't sleep anymore... So I got out of my tent, took the bottle of wine (no, I'm not a alcohol addict, it was only 0,25 l...) that I bought at Oulu for drinking that evening, sat in the grass, looked at the sunrise. *sigh* Couldn't things like that happen more often?


Today in the morning I had a look at my wheels... This is the rear wheel - I hope it does it until the northcape: nearly no more profile, and cracks in the side...
Click: The front wheel - that's what it should look like...


That is as well a finnish cycle path... no, just kidding, under construction


reindeers

Click: At the camping site
Click: A whole niemi (semi island) for me!
Click: Nice view


Unusable, but nice to look at...

Click: One more picture
Click: My bike as frame...


Sun rise at 2 am

Oulu - about 4 km: Camping - City Centre - Camping


Today I spent the whole day at Oulu, regenerating. And taking photos. I won't show you all today, because that would be 101 photos... I'm so glad I have my digital Camera with me... ;o) that would be 3 films...

Besides, I'm keen on making photos of arcitectural details and market halls. And there were lots of... - as you are going to see soon.


Click: Raindrops keep falling on my tent...
Click: Those ducks snapped even at my fingers!
Click: What the hell is this for a sign?!?
(The solution - Link to Wikipedia - finnish)
Click: Market Hall Outside I
Click: Market Hall Inside I
Click: Market Hall Inside II
Click: Market Hall Inside III
Click: Market Hall Outside II - Detail
Click: Detail at a House (if just the sky was blue...)
Click: Ship at the harbour
Click: Ship at the harbour - Detail
Click: Houses at the harbour
Click: Market Place
Click: That's me at Oulu in the rain...
Click: Detail of entrance door with Reflection
Click: Detail of entrance door
Click: Church at great light
Click: Front of a House
Click: An anchor in the park?!?
Click: An anchor in the park?!? Yes, as a fence...
Click: The Oulu river on its way to the sea
Click: I hope they won't open the watergates now...
Click: Little piece of blue sky
Click: Lying in the tent
Click: My chaos and I...

Pyhäntä - Oulu ~130 km


This day was absolutely not spectacular. Even in my real notebook there are only 13 lines...

It was raining, so I just put down my head and cycled along. 90 km with an average of nearly 20, then restarted the finnish cycle pathes, how I start to hate them! Sign in this direction: "Oulu". Happy to find those things you follow this sign to a small path, far away from the main road. Another sign in that direction: "Oulu". Next cross: Nothing. Even no idea where I am. So in the evening my average was at 17...

However: I DID IT! I reached Oulu! I'm in time again! Yippie!
And therefore I will stay one whole day at Oulu tomorrow ;o) My knees will be happy, and I have the time for doing that. Feel great! But at the same time this means: No other possibilities to take a day off... Otherwise I won't reach the solar eclipse at the north cape...

And now I proudly present ALL pictures that I made in that day...


Having lunch in the middle of nowhere, Part 7


I guess my bike is happy to be here with me ;o)


I love those unregulated and natural rivers


Cycle path to Oulu in strange lights

Keitele - Pyhäntä ~125 km


Today I wanted just to go 70 km to Kiuruvesi, I just didn't feel like going 50 more Kilometers... However... riding wasn't much fun, just lots of unsurfaced roads with the wind the whole time in my face... I was looking forward to get to Kiuruvesi, that seemed to be a quite large village. I was looking forward to maybe a mökki (cottage - if it wasn't too expensive). I was looking forward to have a looooong afternoon and evening for not doing anything...

Yah, and then I reached Kiuruvesi: it wasn't a quite large village... The first camping ... I just didn't want to stay there. Expensive, Unfriendly... So I went on, because a few kilometers after Kiuruvesi there is the next one, maybe nicer, not in the middle of the "village" but in the middle of nature. Unfortunately it didn't exist... so... going back? Never! Next Camping: Pyhänta, 50 km that I didn't want to do in the morning.

It was quite comfortable going there, no hills, just straight ahead. It started to rain... It wasn't a heavy rain, but it didn't stop for some hours... So lunch today at a busstop, one of the nice and comfortable ones. I put on my rain clothes and went on. For the first time I was not sitting straight on my bike, but I layed my ellbows onto the handle bar (Lenker), put down my head, like they do on Tour-de-France... no, not exactly like this, I don't have a handle bar like this, but it works as well. Looking down to the street I thought: If now a moose would cross the street, I would crash into it...

I reached Pyhäntä. Shop for some food, Person for some information: I asked a young man, if he knew, where the camping site was. He told me, where I have to go. Fine. But there was no camping.... So I went back, Shop for some information (as the man in the shop spoke english as well). And the information was: The camping site doesn't exist anymore either!!! (So why told me the first guy to go over there???)(And why are all those non-existing Campings in my map, that I bought 3 weeks ago?!?) However, is there any other place to stay for the night? The only possibility was the motel... So, let's go.

9 pm at the motel: they seem to be closing in a few minutes: Is there any free room? Errr... room... well... no... just an appartment for 4 people... But as the Motel should have closed at 6 pm (a Motel closing at 6 pm??? Or she said something wrong or I heard something wrong...), and the owners were only there because of a birthday party, they decided to let me stay in the appartment for the price of one person... still 50 Euro, but no other chance...

So tonight I had the choice, which of the four beds I'm going to use, which of the four wardrobes I'm going to use, which of the four showers I'm going to use... no, just kidding. But the shower was HUGE!!! At least double than mine at home...

All my things needed to be dried: my clothes, my showes, and also my map...

Finally, in the evening, shower, a little longer shower, and still a little longer shower, cooking, hot choclate (you'll never imagine how good tastes a hot choclate with milk powder, water and real finnish Karl Fazer dark choclate after a day like this...), bed.

If I COULD reach Oulu tomorrow, I WOULD have caught up the time that I lost yesterday... We'll see...

Click: Having a little rest in the middle of nowhere (as usual...)


Nature is changing: There are more rocks and less trees in the woods

Click: Another funny sign
Click: Streets like this today
Click: 1381 means: 13 km 810 meter from the cross. So houses can easily be found by post or ambulance. Great system, isn't it? Gerd, special foto for you!
Click: My clothes need to dry...

The view from my appartment: Did you notice the rain on the left coming down from the roof?

Äänekoski - Keitele ~110 km


This day is quite a contrast to yesterday: I only used streets that had numbers: 652, 69, 551, 552 - voilà, arrived at Keitele. Not bad, therefore that I started my trip today only at 12 o clock midday...

My knees were ok, they started to hurt only at km 90.

In the evening having a cold beer at the camping restaurant. It costs 3 Euro. In the supermarket ist is 2,70 Euro. No comment...

Sunset is beautiful, Sunrise will be the same, as I am onto an island... But I guess, while sunrise I'm sleeping...

I only made 10 pictures today... something is wrong, I still don't know what it is..


breakfast and dinner... not only!

Click: and lunch inbetween... as usual in the middle of nowhere...
Click: therefore I hate my camera: no, my finger is NOT intresting...


once more a beautiful sunset
Click: One more picture

Korpilahti - Äänekoski ~100 km


After my experience with the street no 9 yesterday I looked for a possibility going somewhere next to the main road, and this was quite easy, I didn't expect that. It was an unsurfaced road, but thats ok, if it's not raining... So I reached Jyväskylä, where I had some things to manage. It was the first real CITY I passed! Wow!

In the pedestrian zone lots of bicycles, as usual in cities with universities. I had to look at the tourist information, as in my tourist guide they told me to do so: there should be a map of cycling pathes to Viitasaari, where I wantet to be tonight. Yeah, there SHOULD be... Damned tourist guide! I bought it 3 weeks ago, nevertheless its 9 years old, I didn't realize that in the shop... Soooo...

I asked if there was a bike shop, as the "leg" of my bike (finns just use the finnish word for leg "jalla" for the bicycle stand (Radständer)) was broken. The weight I'm carrying around was too much for it. I tried just yesterday at Sysmä to get one new, but my bike seems to be so special, that no one fit... (didn't know my bike is so special...) However, same today. Nevertheless I bought a reserve tube, you never know what happens...

At Suomalainen Kirjakauppa ("finnish book-buy") I equipped myself with brandnew bicycle maps of north Finland, as I nearly have travelled through the ones I bought in Austria.

Back at my bike I saw another bike traveller from Germany. Wow again! We had a little talk, it was much fun! Together we went to see the university, then our ways separated: Jürgen towards south, me with direction northcape (still I didn't know which route to take...).

Finally I found a nice route, most unsurfaced roads, in the map marked grey, which means, there would be no sign for the villages in that direction. So the ability to read maps is the only thing, that will help you.

Everything worked fine, until I got to Tikkakoski: there was a military restricted area, a small airport, no signs, lots of roads and ex-roads, a bad map, the church marked in the wrong place and a desperated Angelika. Uffa. Help, I got lost! For about one hour cycling around, not knowing where I was, finally I met someone who I could ask. He showed me the right street and told me the names of every street, that I will have to take. Just... finnish street names are very difficult, as finnish is... However, I managed once more to take the wrong street (so at least I head the "honour" to see the finnish central store of Lidl...), and than finally I was where I wanted to be. Across the street 5 there was the next grey street waiting. So... let's go! Gravel uphill, Sand downhill, Mud uphill, Loam (Lehm) downhill, etc... And for the topping my knees were hurting so badly! At the end I refused to stop anywhere, because restarting pedaling (even after a stop for 3 seconds!) was SO painful.

But finally I reached Äänekoski, the city where I wanted to stop, because there is at least a terveyskeskus (hospital), so in worst case I could go there tomorrow morning... I was thinking about staying there for the whole day tomorrow, if the knees wouldn't get better. But I did NOT think about breaking off my project.

It was in those moments, when I was thinking about Mind and Body... Mind is strong enough to go on, Body isn't. What happend if Mind was too strong, stronger than Body?
Mind: Go ahead! You want to reach northcape!
Body (Knees): We can't! We are not hurting just for fun...
Mind: That doesn't matter! Go on!
If I have to go to hospital tomorrow, I know it is dangerous if Mind is stronger than Body...

In that evening I even refused to cook something... A thing that nearly never happens to me... I just felt like dead.


I was going on streets like this (or MUCH worse) for the most time this day

Click: There is always something to dry...


Wow! A real City


At Jyväskylä I met Jürgen

Click: Doesn't the cycle path look nice? Just... it end at the bus stop behind the hill... &%@!§


I thought I was at Tikkakoski, but the sign told me something else...

Click: There were also streets that were even worse...
Click: Strange signs... m19Oe, have you ever seen something like that?
Click: At least there were some nice views...


And the best of it: Äänekoski 9 km

Asikkala - Korpilahti ~130 km


I got up early this morning. REALLY early. I was at breakfast at 8 o'clock (that means 7 in Austria!), and just before this I put together all my things, so I could start just at 8.30. Wow.

I was looking forward to the stage (Etappe) of this day: I had to go across the Pulkkilanharju (this is a narrow piece of land separating two lakes. Harju=Bergrücken) and along (or nearly along) lots of lakes. How beautiful this must be!

But: the first disappointment: The street is just being renovated, and the cycle path next to it was all gravel (Schotter) where the bike is more "swimming" then rolling. So i had to concentrate on the street, and not on the lakes, what a pity. I found also two (!) blue berrys today: Everyone is telling me, there are no mustikka (finnish) this year. What a pity, they are right... (at least in that moment I thought they were right...)

Eventough I was riding all along lakes there were lots of hills. Yes, it has to be like that, because if there weren't hills, the about 35 lakes would just be a large one... So, up and down again.

It was somewhere over here, when my knees started to hurt, not used to such a lot of movement. The first days I was pedaling with power, now I had to change: less power, more movement.

In the near of Sysmä (right in the time while I was going on a unsurfaced street) for the first time I got into the rain. No, not just some raindrops falling, this I had just yesterdy. REAL rain! I stopped to put my raindress - for me and for my luggage, then I went on... But of all those large raindrops the mud from the ground splashed onto my bike, into the cogwheels (Zahnrad). Nice sound *krrkrkrkkr* like "having sand in the gear" (austrian idiomatic expression) (Sand im Getriebe)... actually, it WAS sand in the gear... Luckily the street lead to a surfaced road few minutes later, and there was also a busstop with a little "house" - where two other bikers were waiting until the rain would stop. Two native finns - and they even talked to me ;o) They had a summer cottage somewhere in these parts, just cycling around for fun. So we were waiting together.

When rain got less, I went on. The two told me, that there is going to be a REAL mountain on my way to Korpilahti. So I was quite courious what means: a real mountain. Finland is flat, compared with austrian alps, so what is a mountain?

Did you ever notice the difference? In austrian maps the contur lines (Höhenlinien) appear every 100 m of height (so every 100, 200, 300 m), in Finland (and also in Sweden!) they appear every 20 m (20, 40, 60m etc. of height). Imagine this distance in austrian alps: the map would be just brown...

And I have to tell: Yes, it was a hill, but a mountain? however, from the highest point I had a nice view around.

For reaching Korpilahti I had to take the street No 9, a very big and very noumerously frequented road. It were just 2 or 3 kilometers, that I should go back tomorrow morning, but it was awful! I sweared I'm not going back that street!
At Korpilahti I asked where I have to go to reach the camping site. A woman told me, that it's not a guarded camping site, but just there at the beach I could stay for the night. So I went there and put up my tent. Some teenagers were playing volleyball, and even they told me, that it would be okay to stay here... so... why not? As there was also a small house with toilets and fresh water... Just no shower. So I had to go swimming, just instead of having a shower. *brrrr* quite cold this lake...

After cooking and eating I got to bed and fell asleep immediatly.

Nevertheless it's quite strange to go to bed before sunset...
I'm still not used to all the light around... when I wake up at night I have really no idea what's the time... 3 o'clock? 7 o'clock? 9 o'clock? If there are clouds, light is just everytime the same... So I started to set an alarm clock every day at 8.30. Just to know, that I had still time to sleep when I woke up BEFORE the alarm clock rang...



who doesn't want to live in a house like that?


Pulkkilanharju - work in progress

Click: Just right over there I sat yesterday evening to make pictures of sunset...
Click: Having lunch in the middle of nowhere.
Click: The view from the "mountain"


Colourful Finland...

Click: How to transport a tracor...
Click: Nice bridge...
Click: Here I was living for tonight
Click: Having dinner in the tent...
Click: Who needs more place in the tent: My luggage or I?

Järvenpää - Asikkala ~120 km


In the morning: wind and clouds - I really didn't want to get up... However, I startet my tour for this day at 10, not so bad...

I decided not to use the big roads, but only the small ones, some of them were unsurfaced (=unasphaltiert). And very soon I had to remember, what I read in the Finland guide: "Going by bike: Finland is not flat like a plate." Up and down, up and down, speed was changing from 10 km/h to 45 km/h and viceversa with a frequency of 1/120 Hz. (You can see, I'm NEVER bored on my bike, I just find always something to think about and calculate...)

On the airport I met a men, who asked me about my plans. He answered me, that he often goes by bike here around, and with my 21-gear-bike, he told me, I would have to get off my bike for pushing it. Getting off my bike? For pushing it??? Never! Just for the strawberries, growing right next to the street! And how much of them... So I got off my bike... every 10 Minutes, I guess... Even though they are growing besides the street they would have seen less cars then if they were growing in my Grandmas garden.

Because of all these strawberries time passed, street not... So in the afternoon I had to hurry up. And I did. I had to! The man of the camping yesterday evening told me, that I would NEVER reach Asikkala, because it is just too far away... He'll see... It was quite hard, I admit, but I did it. I arrived there at 18.30.

But now the more intresting question: where to stay tonight? No camping around here, so I had to look for some B&B, Hotel, something like that. At the Info there was mentioned only one Hotel. A Spa-Hotel. Fear... how expensive will it be? 75 Euro per night... Ok, is there any other possibility? Yes, there is a B&B, very new (therefore it was not on the map), so I can go there. Yes, but also B&B is 50 Euro per night... Exhausted as I was, I just couldn't go on, so I had to stay there.

On the map Asikkala seemed to be a city. But in reality it's just a little village, there was absolutley nothing but a channel between two lakes. So in the evening I went to the northern lake to see the sunset. Beautiful! Just... Sunset is at 22.45... The reason (Vernunft) says: "Go to bed, you have to get up tomorrow early", the aesthetics say: "Stay here, it's soooo beautiful". So I stayed... Well done.


strawberries
Click: some more strawberries


Der Weizen wogt in sattem grün/The wheat waves in rich green


Picture Puzzle: Where hides the main road? (I'm sitting on a small way besides to have lunch
Click: Having lunch in the middle of nowhere - view on the other direction


Sunset
Click: Sunset with ducks
Click: Some more sunset pictures I
Click: Some more sunset pictures II
Click: Some more sunset pictures III
Click: Some more sunset pictures IV
Click: Some more sunset pictures V - with seagull
Click: Some more sunset pictures VI


Chaos in B&B

Helsinki Vantaa - Järvenpää


Here we go!

After spending only one whole day at home (I've been to Sazburg for one week) before going to Finland, I was quite excited: Do I have all I need? We'll see...

However, at the airport of Vienna the check-in was very exhausting. The airport is a giant organism: everyone has his task, everyone knows his task, has some little other with whom to collaborate. The whole beeing works, even without knowing how it works exactly. You could say: Left hand doesn't know what right hand does.
The problem is only, that the airport is a beeing with hundreds of hands, all not knowing what are doing the others... So when I asked how to proceed to check-in my bike I got 5 diffrent information from 5 diffrent persons.

In the airplane I was very relaxed: my bike entered the plane at the same time as I did (I saw it!) and after all these preparations in nearly no time (I bought my shoes with which I've been travelling only one day before!) it was very nice just to sit and look out of the window.

At the airport of Helsinki the first thing I had to do was putting together my bike, as I took off the wheels for transport. People were looking at my quite strangely...

Very euphoric I left the Airport: Sun was shining bright, some clouds, not for raining, just for looking nice in the blue sky where there, wind came from the back, a whole new adventure has started! My tent, my bike and I alone in Finland! Yippie!

And the next fine thing I discovered were the cycle path all along the street! Enthusiastic as I was, I was driving with a speed of 30 km/h, the cars next to me were allowed only to go 60 km/h, so great, I'm driving at half of speed of cars! Yeah!

In all this enthusiasm I just had one problem: I still was not used to the finnish streetmaps. I CAN read maps, though I missed the streets I wanted to take. Didn't matter, it was just sooooo nice to go around over there! Eventought driving along a quite big road you could smell the woods and the rape (deutsch: Raps)!

So, missing one street after the other, going along the lake on the wrong side (so I had to go down on the other side for some kilometers to reach the camping site), I reached Järvenpää in the evening. Direct line distance to airport were 16 kilometers... however, I did 50 kilometers in the first day.

Sun will go down at 22.30 right over the lake. 22.30!!! And it was not dark all the night! great! I love finnish summer! No wind, no moquitoes, I laid in my tent, the "door" wide open, to fall asleep... Beautiful! couldn't this happen more often?

On this first day I was absolutly satisfied and happy. I'm ready for the next morning to come.


Click on pictures to enlarge and follow the links! I have only 3 MB for blogging, so I have to save space... ;o)


my bike! I hope it will reach finland without damage

Click: a bear! I hope it will be the only one that I meet here...


these are finlands cycle pathes! ... at least in the south...


aren't those colors beautiful?

Click: at the camping: trees look like broccoli...
Click: For the first time sleeping in my tent... courageous or thoughtless?


hach...
Click: the view right out of my tent... not so nice, but still ok