The last remnants of winter

Toni asked for company for a little overnighter and I joined him, as did JJ. The plan was to take the cars to the Vajosuo parking place and then just ride to the shelter close by, be there for the night and ride a few hours in the morning before going back home in time for lunch. I didn't have high expectations for the riding, since the limbo between winter and spring generally is a poor time for riding a mountain bike or fatbike. I was wrong. This turned out to be a truly great outing.

The Vigu Sea Kayaking Guide Pt. 1/6

The Wilderness and Nature Guide education of Axxell offers two long specializations (10 studying weeks), Winter Fells and Sea Kayaking, in addition to a number of shorter specializations. It had been a long wait, but finally the fifth Vigu Sea Kayaking Guide course started.

Finally a ski overnigher

There have been limited opportunities to ski on natural snow in Turku during this winter, but I had hope for a better winter during this week when the kids have a vacation from school. Southern Osthrobotnia seemed to have more winter and I took the skis and overnighter gear with me when we went to visit the kids' grandparents. I did also take the fatbike with me in case there would be less snow than anticipated.

A short February overnighter with the kids.

The winter has been a roller coaster this far. We've had great winter weather interrupted by rain and too warm temperatures. Hence every opportunity has to be seized and this Friday was no exception. The weather forecast showed wintry weather with a night temperature around -10C and snowfall turning to slush and possibly even rain on Saturday afternoon. Since the kids have only been out a few nights wintertime, I thought it would be a good opportunity for a tent overnighter with them.

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.

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.

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.