IV Paimio's Revenge

Toni Lund arranged the fourth traditional early fall ride on the trails of Paimio.

Right after the start


Toni Lund






















I had some time constraints, so I was forced to turn back a little earlier.

Kangasala 24h

Most of the MTB-Turku morning section participated in the Kangasala 24h event, in the solo series. This was a very nice event and the route was good, with real technical Mtb trails for the most part. I stopped riding when I still had almost 5 hours time left, since my butt got too sore. Time in the saddle was 15 hours. I will certainly be back next year.

My Gary Fisher Hifi 29 bike, did unfortunately not like it, though the problem probably started earlier. The right chainstay developed a rather ugly crack.


The warranty does cover this, but it will take a while to get a new frame.

Kuhankuono - La grande finale Day 2

The second day I rode back to Turku, using a different route where possible. The distance of this day was 80 km.

Breakfast at 4:15




The Haukkavuori trail








Unrideable bog


Almost like Autobahn




Where is the trail?


Yumm. Pasta and fresh blueberries for dessert.


Horse trail


Kullaanvuori and just an hour of riding straight through the city left


Some random thoughts about the gear:

• My backpack weighed just under 12 kg, of which 4 kg was water. This is not too much for someone my size, but I would not want much more on the technical trails I rode. The next time I will add another bottle holder to the bike to get 1 kg off my back and take less water with me. Another alternative would be to take a water filter and make more drinking water during the ride.
• The Deuter Trans Alpine 30 is a good backpack for this kind of trips and is just about the correct size.
• An ultra-light sleeping bag, ground pad and a mosquito head net is good enough for the summer. Add a bivy bag if there is a possibility for rain or alternatively spend the night at one of the lean-tos. A tent would probably be too big and heavy, unless it is one of the new ultra-light ones and it is shared with someone else.
• For this kind of terrain an FS bike is almost a must, at least for long rides with a heavy backpack. The Hifi 29 is perfect for this use. Not too heavy and with an efficient suspension.

The entire set of pictures is found here.

Kuhankuono - La grande finale Day 1

For different reasons I came to spend quite a lot of time in the Vaskijärvi and Kuhankuono area this summer. I did a whole bunch of morning rides as well as some longer day rides here. The culmination of this was a solo overnight trip from Turku to Kurjenrahka and back.

The first day I rode about 70 km, from my home forest to the Kurjenpesä nature cottage.

Start in my home forest


Boardwalk of Pomponrahka


Kullaanvuori








My trusty Gary Fisher Hifi 29


This doesn't look promising




After this the trail was completely destroyed and I walked and carried the bike for at least half an hour. No pictures, since it was too depressing.

Some nice old forest


Vajosuo.


The Vajosuo birdwatching tower


Finally at my destination, the Savojärvi lake, which offered a refreshing swim.


Pancakes


Good night!

Kuhankuono in July

Matti H and I did a longer ride in the Kuhankuono area. The weather was great and we were able to ride very efficiently.

Planning the offensive


OTB




Again








Boardwalk in bad condition










Snakebite






More pictures can be found here.

Harjureitti

A morning ride in the Harjureitti area in Säkylä. This is a very good XC skiing area in the winter, and has potential for Mtb riding in the summer. A quick visit did however not reveal that many good trails, though there certainly should be more that those I found.

Military area

Kuhankuono in the morning

Another morning ride in Kuhankuono. I rode the route of the Kuhankuono Extreme 2008 ride, which in November took over 6 hours in fairly challenging conditions. In perfect summer conditions this took just under 3 hours.



Schwalbe Racing Ralph 29x2.25 is a brilliant tire, with one major flaw: Weak sidewalls.