Sunday, January 17, 2016

A real fatbike overnighter



It feels like I've almost manically been pursuing outdoor activities since the winter temperatures arrived just before New Year. I guess two miserable winters in a row causes that. I've been riding my fatbike, I was on a chilly overnighter (-22C) in Paimio and I did a good amount of Nordic skating before the snow came. When it became clear that the snow prevented skating this weekend, the plans to go on an overnighter came naturally. At first I was quite sure that the mires of Kurjenrahka would be rideable, with the mire being frozen solid and the amount of snow suitable, but the snowfall continued and my preference then turned to skis. However, JJ still wanted to do it by bike and on Saturday afternoon, just after sunset at 16:00, we met at the Rantapiha parking to see what actually would be possible to ride.

Saturday, January 9, 2016

The Nordic skating season is upon us


The weather took a turn for the better during Christmas and got colder. No snow, but the forest trails soon froze, making for excellent fatbiking. The continuing low temperatures combined with no snow also made way for something not often easily possible: skating on lakes and the sea, so called Nordic skating. During a cold winter the skating season continues further out on the sea, but the ice closer to land gets too much snow. The closest lake (a little over 1 km away), Littoistenjärvi, is a shallow lake which is one of the first to get ice and hence the first skating trip took place on December 30th, just two days before my kayaking season ended.

Saturday, January 2, 2016

Zegul Arrow Play first impressions


While I've been quite satisfied with the Aquarius Sea Lion, in some situations it has occurred to me that a little more stability would not be a bad thing. I would even be ready to trade a little speed for it.