I started at 18:30 from my backyard. The bike was packed with only the necessary stuff for one night and only a single sandwich for the evening and some coffee for the morning. No stove, but instead I took a thermos bottle with hot water.
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Riding my local trails...
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... before arriving at the 24 km road section.
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There is still not much spring green, only the early spring flowers like the liverwort.
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Arriving at the trail that should lead to my planned camp site.
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Bushwacking. The map showed probable sparse forest and fairly even terrain, but the reality was different. After a while I turned back, since this was no shortcut. A half hour was then spent looking for the tripod that was lost during the bushwacking.
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The sunset was coming closer and I still wasn't sure about the campsite. I continued to the trail I had seen on the map. It was supposed to lead close to a nice spot with a good view of a bog opening up right in the direction of the sunrise. Unfortunately, the trail was overgrown and it was not possible to ride or even walk on it, so I had to choose another spot.
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A while after the sunset I arrived at another spot and set up the tarp, after having ridden about three hours. I bought the cheap Alpkit Rig 7 tarp earlier this year and this was the first time I used it. I don't see this becoming my main shelter, since a month from now the bugs will be out and the Tarptent Double Rainbow will be my main shelter, but a tarp has other uses as well. And it proved to be worth it over the simple bivy bag this time, since there was a little rainfall during the night.
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The evening was clear and nice. Most birds went silent when it got dark, but the Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago) with its peculiar sound, held out a lot longer.
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The night was quite silent, though through the night I heard the characteristic sound of the Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) flying over me. A couple of times I woke to some light rain showers and there was also some wind, but I had pitched the tarp in the right direction to give good shelter from the wind. It started to get light around five in the morning, with the sunrise being a little before six. The birds started to sing when it got light and I could hear the usual species. Nothing special, though. A few cranes arrived just as I got up around sunrise and I could also hear black grouses lekking.
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Morning coffee. Coffee was my only breakfast this time, since I wanted to assess my fitness by riding with a good energy deficit.
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Under the tarp.
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At seven o'clock I started to ride.
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Storm damaged on the trail.
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A big one.
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The Vajosuo bog looks even more depressing in black and white.
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Turning back home, a ride on mostly roads.
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After a while the I could feel my energy level bottoming out and for the last hour I was a zombie. The fairly strong headwind didn't make it any easier, either. I arrived home a little before eleven. Though this was a somewhat unrealistic test, since you still need some amount of carbohydrates to keep the fat metabolism going, I still feel that my fitness has taken a big hit during this winter, because of a lots of flus and almost no skiing due to the frostbitten toe.