Monday, September 27, 2010

A fall overnighter

After the week with almost constant rain in the middle of September, two weeks of mostly sunny and dry weather followed. The nice fall weather called out for a small excursion and I managed to use one of my last summer vacation days for this. The plan was to leave sometimes on Sunday afternoon, ride for a few hours and sleep somewhere in the Kuhankuono area. Monday would see riding the Vaskijärvi trails as well as the best parts of the trail system leading back to Turku.

I managed to leave at 16:30 on Sunday. About two hours of asphalt and forest roads followed.




Finally the singletrack starts at Töykkälä.


There is not only boardwalk riding.


Sometimes a full suspension bike would be nice.


Boardwalk riding can be tricky sometimes.


It will soon get dark.


Hmm... Floating boardwalks, maybe the alternative route is better.


Savojärvi


Darkness. I should have brought the other light with a wider beam. Or both lights.


Finally at Särkijärvi at 20:30. After 57 km and about 3.5 h of actual time in the saddle.

It was a beautiful and silent night.


About to wake up the next morning. It started to get light around 6:30, with the sun rise at 7:20. The air was crisp with a temperature was around 4°C (39°F) and it just felt like fall.


Watching the morning...


... eating porridge and drinking coffee...


... drinking more coffee...

... until the first rays of the sun warm up mind and body.


My new pillow, made from fleece and a bag-in-box wine bag. Very light and comfortable and packs down small.


Camp site.


The riding started with both real singletrack and forest roads.




Natural energy: Lingonberry...


... and cranberry. Tasty!



Vaskijärvi.


Some remnants of a former time.


Finally the Fargo gets to pose at Kajavajärvi.


Forest roads on the way to Pukkipalo.


Lakjärvi.


Again, on some sections I would prefer my full suspension bike.


I think I'll walk this.


A late lunch at Takaniitunvuori. Finally my last Reiter meal, from now on I will buy the Real Turmat ones. They taste a lot better.


Kurjenrahka.


Vajosuo.


After Vajosuo I rode through Kangenmiekka and past the trail destruction near Myllysuo. Then I rode straight home, about 30 km.

Some final trails. Photo taken just 200 m from my home.


Todays riding was 113 km and 8 h of riding excluding a lunch break and some short photography breaks. A truly fantastic fall ride!

A slideshow with some more pictures is found here.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Fall

There is no doubt. The fall is here. A week ago the terrain was still dry, but since then it has rained for most of the time and now the poorly drained trails are quickly becoming unrideable. Or they should at least be avoided.

Still, there is many places to ride. I went for a typical couple-of-hours Fargo ride: 50 percent gravel and sand road, 35 percent singletrack and 15 percent asphalt.



The Fargo in fall mode: Wide Cascadia fenders and the Continental Mountain King 2.4 in the front to get some grip on wet rock and roots.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

New project

There has not been any biking in my life the last two weeks because of some work related traveling. Among other places, I was in the birth place of modern mountain biking in Marin County, California, without any opportunities to ride.

During my traveling, the first parts of my new bike project arrived. I will build the wheels myself, which is something I have never done before.



The frame also arrived and I went to get it from Foxcomp.