Distance: 90 km
Time: 5:31 h
Average Speed: 16 km/h
Maximum Speed: 40 km/h
We left Tampere a bit later than it was planned but still kind of early: around 9 a.m. For lunch we stopped at a lake with a spectacular view. Here Pauli realized that his friend Joonas works in the next town around 10km further on our way. So we arranged to have coffee with him. It turned out that he wants to write a little story about our trip since he works as a journalist.
Being used to the flat landscape of Lower Saxony the hilly landscape of Häme turned out to be....well, hilly, quite hilly (or mountainous for Nina). We could really feel it in our legs! Unlike in Lower Saxony where everything is paved the Finnish bike paths are not so sophisticated: we had to ride on some dirt roads and on highways. Nevertheless, the view was fantastic. As Joonas told us the landscape we saw today takes part in an international photography competition.
Finally around 7 p.m. we arrived in Mansoniemi, pitched our tent, showered, ate and passed out - hopefully ready to go on tomorrow.
2nd day: Mansoniemi -> Koskue
Distance: 77,7 km
Time: 4:26 h
Average Speed: 17.3 km/h
Maximum Speed: 43.7 km/h
The night in Mansoniemi wasn't the best. The tent was tinier than expected and the highway next to the camping ground was very loud and so were the birds which waited for the darkness to come. In vain.
We hit the road at 9 a.m. next morning. The first 25 km were quite tiring due to the hills. Then in Parkano we are a plate full of meatloaf and potatoes which restored our strength. After Parkano the landscape turned flatter and with our regained energy we speeded up and started to enjoy the ride more.
The rest of the way went by quite fast. We saw a couple of nice rapids and arrived in Koskue just in time to buy food and reserve the sauna for the evening. We also bought a couple of beers to celebrate Pauli's new job.
3rd day: Koskue -> Sarvijoki
Distance: 90 km
time 4:34 h
Average Speed: 19. 7 km/h
Maximum Speed: 40.8 km/h
This time we woke up quite early, it was blue sky and not cloudy as it was predicted. However, in a matter of minutes the blue sky was gone and we had to start biking in cloudy gray weather. Not very motivating! Nevertheless, the first 40km went by fast. Then we had very good Finnish salmon and potatoes in Kurrika. With full stomaches we went on and within a couple of hours we arrived in Sarvijoki. We were probably so fast because riding on the highway in cold weather (15°) wasn't too nice.
In Sarvijoki we stayed in the summer house of Pauli's family. It was really nice to be there: Sauna, cheese'n'bread, a roof over our heads,and beds!
All day we were worried that it would rain on us however, we were lucky today.We saw heavy rain clouds and it had rained at places shortly before we came there. 10 minutes after we arrived in Sarvijoki it started raining. Lucky us! Hopefully, the luck stays on our side.
4th day: Sarvijoki -> Oravainen
Distance: 75 km
time: 4:16 h
Average Speed: 17.4 km/h
Maximum Speed: 28.4 km/h
Today wasn't a nice day. It was grey, humnid and wet. The first 25km We rode on gravel / dirt roads which was really annoying. When we arrived in Laihia we went for a coffeepulla. Unfortunately the coffee was cold, the pulla half frozen and we paid way too much for it. The only good thing about this place was that we were inside when it started raining.
The next little village Vähäkyrö we wanted to go out for lunch and we did, but all we got was meatloaf and potatoes. Again. It can't get more basic. Because it rained so hard, we stayed quite a while in this local restaurant full of Elvis and Marilyn Monroe pictures.
The last bit to Oravainen was tiring and boring. We only rode highways with lots of traffic. It was raining and cold. Luckily there were no hills, but now we had wind from the front.
When we arrived in Oravainen we decided to rent a mökki (a cabin) instead of staying in the tent. A heater just sounded too tempting.
5th day: Oravainen -> Kokkola
Distance: 102 km
time: 6:00
Average Speed: 16.6 km/h
Maximum Speed: 29.9 km/h
Kokkola perkele!
The day started as any other day so far. We jad breakfast, packed out stuff and started biking. This time Nina took the map. The weather started cloudy, but half way through the day we started to see holes in the clouds and in the end we biked in sunshine.
Our first stop we did around 25km in somewhere (can't remember the name of the village. Started with a letter 'M') and had a coffeepulla there. Then we kept biking hard, passed Uusikaarlepyy and got to Pietarsaari 55 km from Oravainen. By this time Nina was about to pass out from hunger so we went out for a pizza. Here Pauli got a "great" idea to go on biking all the way to Kokkola still 37 km away. It turned out to be quite windy so the way to Kokkola wasn't nice at all. We got veeery tired. Our bodies didn't want to cooperate with us in the end anymore but after a lot of tediously slow biking we did it. Made it to Kokkola.
Upon arrival we just got our tent up. Being to too tired to prepare any food ourselves, we looked for a restaurant to have something to eat. After eating, drinking and stretching we started to see straight again and were able to enjoy a delightful sunset by the sea.
6th day: Kokkola -> Kalajoki
Distance: 68 km
time: 4:05
Average Speed: 16.6 km/h
Maximum Speed: 37.1 km/h
We woke up still very tired from the last days effort. Unfortunately, we didn't have real breakfast so we had to go out for a cinnamon roll and coffee after which we continued our journey.
The sky was grey and we still had wind from the front damping our moods even further. The first 20 km were kind of hard due to the wind and us being so exhausted. The next 20 km were even harder because we were hungry but there was no town in sight. Finally, in Himanka we found a restaurant that offered a buffet: salmon, schnitzel, salat, dessert... Hummm it was very good and plenty of it!
We discussed whether we'd stay in Himanka or go on to Kalajoki. We compromised to take a faster highway to Kalajoki instead of our usual choice of smaller and longer routes. So we biked another 20 km to Kalajoki.
Kalajoki has a really nice sandy beach, but unfortunately someone built a huge camping ground and an entertainment center on it. We were unlucky to be there while there was a beach football competition. This event had attracted many drunken Finnish people who kept on being noisy event though it was our sleeping time!
7th day: Kalajoki -> Oulu
Distance: 14 km
time: 1:08
Average Speed: 12.3 km/h
Maximum Speed: 22.6 km/h
Waking up we felt like our bodies were sucked out of all energy that was still left in them the night before. Still we decided to push onwards. That didn't last long though because Nina's knee started hurting even worse that it had before. We thought it was time to make a break so we jumped on a bus in Kalajoki and ended up in Oulu. In Oulu we had lunch after which we looked for a camping ground, put up our tent and took a well deserved nap. So today there was no biking but we still treated ourselves with everyday coffeepulla (This time it was cacao). Rest of the day we just nurtured our miserable bodies by laying and reading. Also took a short stroll on the beach. We planned to rest yet another day here. Good night.
8th day: Oulu
We slept long, went to town to shop and eat, rested in the tent and went to sauna. Ready for biking tomorrow, hopefully.
9th day: Oulu -> Simo
Distance: 98.2 km
time: 5:52
Average Speed: 16.7 km/h
Maximum Speed: 29.7 km/h
It rained when we woke up. The weather forecast had predicted rain for the whole day so our moods were low. But to our surprise when whe got out of the then, the rain stopped. And it didn't come back the whole day.
We had the obligatory coffeepulla in Haukipudas and lunch in a town called Ii. That was 40 km and we still had about 40 km a head of us. Unfortunately we had to ride 20 of that on a big highway full of traffic. Really annoying. The other 30 we rode on dirtroads
After arriving in Simo we went out to eat cause we were too tired (again) to cook. We had Finnish fast food. No we collapse in our tent!
10th day: Simo -> Tervola
Distance: 78.5 km
time: 4:36
Average Speed: 17.0 km/h
Maximum Speed: 35.1 km/h
We had a late start because we slept in. Around 11 o'clock we were on our way to Kemi where we planned to have lunch. Luckily, there was a paved road next to the highway so we didn't have to go try our luck with cars and trucks.
Due to our late start we skipped coffeepulla today and had lunch right away in a fancy hotel. Shortly before we arrived in Kemi we saw the first sign to Rovaniemi so we felt like getting closer to our goal.
Not really knowing where to spend the following night, we left Kemi with enough food to get us through the night and the next morning. 20 km from Kemi was supposed to be a camping ground and after another 14 km a motel! After biking almost a 100 km yesterday, Nina favored the shorter distance to the camping ground but that would mean a very long day of biking the next day. As it turned out there was no camping ground so we just biked on to the motel.
Again, it was very windy and again the wind was coming from the front. This time we took turns so that one could ride in the wind shadow of the other. Still, it was very exhausting. Hopefully we have a good night sleep in the motel beds.
11th day: Tervola -> Rovaniemi
Distance: 87.3 km
time: 5:43
Average Speed: 15.2 km/h
Maximum Speed: 29.7 km/h
After a good night sleep and a horrible breakfast (Pauli didn't mind it so much) we started going again. It was to be our last day of biking and it turned out to be a long day. Like the last days the wind blew from the front but this time it had doubled its strength so we were worried if our already tired bodies could manage. Wind-Tonttu (A Finnish gnome) can have a terrible effect on the biking speed!
Nina was already tired after the 10 first km and wanted to take the train but Pauli, in his stubborness, wanted to go on and fight the wind. As usual, after 20km (against the wind) we treated ourselves with a coffeepulla. According to our map there should have been a restaurant after another 20 km but reality proved it otherwise, no restaurant! Luckily we had repared for this eventuality and had brought musli, bananas and yoghurt. What a great lunch!
Finally after almost 6 hours of biking we reached our goal: Rovaniemi! 792 km biked 0 to go.
The whole Naakka-family was there to welcome us. We had a nice dinner and took a well deserved sauna after which we collapsed in the beds of Mama-Naakka and Papa-Naakka.
12th and 13th days: Rovaniemi
Well rested and fed we went to visit the Joulupukki (Santa Claus), wrote postcards, and went to Ounasvaara (a hill). Wherever we went we were looking for reindeers but unfortunately they were hiding in the woods.
On Juhannusaatto (Midsummer eve) evening we went to Katri's freinds to have a bbq, some wine and sauna. It was a very nice evening at the Kemi river. We even saw the midnight sun as the sky opened up right before midnight. It is impressing how bright it can be in the middle of the night!
The next day we went to see the devil's soup bowl whish is a big hole in the bedrock created by the melting ice a long long time ago. Afterwards we looked for reindeers again - but without any success.
Jaakko and Katri showed us the important places of Rovaniemi (e.g. the Lordi-square). Again, well fed and rested we hopped on the train to Tampere. Thanks to the Naakkas and Katri for the terrific time in Rovaniemi.
Conclusion:
-Biking is fun if there's wind from the back and not fun with the wind from the front.
-A one and a half person tent is exactly that. Doesn't fit two. Fortunately Nipi is almost just a half a person in size.
-Eating in small village restaurants serving Finnish food is fun - sometimes.
-Biking is a good way to get to know a country, especially when taking smaller roads.
-It is good to camp in Finland because after a long day of biking you have the option to go to sauna.
-Gears area great and helpful. So are pants with cushion.
It was a really nice holiday but next time we'll bike somewhere warm with better and cheaper food. And we will sleep in a bigger tent.
p.s.- I will add some pictures soon but for now you can check out:
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| Tampere - Rovaniemi |
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