LOST & FOUND

Scouting for a bikepacking route from Mäntyharju to Helsinki

By Erik Plankton

July 7^th, 2016

the idea

So I got this great idea one day…

1. The route from Mäntyharju to Repovesi is great (link: http://www.packgofind.com/pineridge)

2. The mtb route from Porvoo to Helsinki is now figured out too (link: http://www.packgofind.com/helsinki-porvoo)

… so could these two routes be combined for a roughly 350-400km bikepacking adventure that would take 3-5 days to complete?

It took quite many hours of map study to have at least some sort of plan for the route. On friday after work I took the night train to Mäntyharju and started riding at 21.45.

night riding

The first leg was about 44km and took three hours + one hour looking for the camping spot. Route here: https://www.strava.com/activities/626961731

to Repovesi

Since I have done the route from Mäntyharju to Repovesi a couple of times I decided to save time and energy and skipped some of the trails and took gravel roads. The wilderness sauna at Matkoslampi was warm and very tempting, but I had to make progress because I knew that the next day would be maximum effort and I would probably get lost many times.

quick overnighter

I got to Repovesi at around 0100 and started to look for a place to camp. Sukeltajanniemi was full of tents and the pump of the well at Olhava was broken, so I continued on to Kuutinkanava, which was full of tents or course. I then remembered that the “theater” area has a small platform. Hung up the inner tent on a branch and slept for four hours. Got going around 8.30 in the morning and it was hot already. Tip: the road side beach by the Kivisilmä bridge is a good place to take a quick dip on hot days.

leg 2: Kuutinkanava - Kyykoski

Here is the route for the first part of day two: https://www.strava.com/activities/627431138

Gravel roads and sandy trails

The route is mostly gravel roads with some nice hills and basic Finnish countryside views. I found a snowmobile track along the main road that offered some nice trail riding. These needs to be explored a bit more in the future.

Kääpälä

Stumbled upon this place with a yard full of weird signs and art. Apparently the person behind these deceased a few years ago, but the legacy lives: https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ensio_Tuppurainen . Worth checking out if passing by, here.

Write your story here. (Optional)

tanks!

Quite a lot of the route goes along the borders of the military area. They even have a traffic sign to be aware of tanks. I was thinking “yeah right, tanks”, but then suddenly when I turned onto a side road there was a CV9030 assault tank on display because of some random local event. It was the first time my “tank” was invited to lean against a vehicle.

fuel for the day

People talk crap about the level of ABC gas stations, but when it comes to bikepacking they are an oasis that covers all corners. You get as much food as you want for ten euros, a decent bathroom, a place to fill water bottles and a store to supply your candy cravings. The good shit.

Tuohikotti to kyykoski

The route was mostly forest gravel roads with no traffic at all. I think I rode for some three hours without seeing one single car or person. I had scouted a couple of possibilities for the route on the map and some turned out to be dead ends with the trail either vanishing or a river blocking the route. It was high noon and the temperature was about +27°C. It was really starting to have an effect on my performance and the hoards of mosquitos and horseflies were not helping.

KYYKOSKI

I have paddled through Kyykoski and fished there a couple of times, so I knew it would be a great place to have a break and maybe nap for an hour. But it was blazing hot with no shade so I decided to nibble on something and continue on. A couple of young guys where fishing there and offered me a sausage, but I couldn’t take it since I was already feeling a bit sick from the heat.

leg 3: Kyykoski - UTTI - AHVIONKOSKI

Right after crossing the river I made a little map reading error and ended up backtracking an overgrown trail and pushing through a forest without a trail for some time. The amount of flying nuisance was at an all time high. Eventually I got back on track and found the forest service road again. I was starting to feel quite bad from the heat, even though the fluids seemed to be absorbing quite well. I spotted a little pier in the shade by a river and collapsed there. Woke up 30 minutes later I was feeling a lot better and continued on to the second ABC gas station of the day at Utti. A lot of nice trails in the Utti region, that could really make this route great - but these need little more exploration or local knowledge.

Leg 3 route here: https://www.strava.com/activities/627900973

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pitstop

After eating some and refilling the water bottles I continued on towards Ahvionkoski rapid area. It was one of the hottest days this summer, so I carried about 4 liters of water. I downed about 8+ liters of waters that day but didn’t need a pee brake that often.

This was the first trip with the new KRNKY framebag, which turned out to be great. My philosophy on gear is that “if you don’t think about it while riding - it works.”

evening colors

After the energy kick from a burger and declining temperatures the kilometers passed with ease. I was still so tired from the bushwhacking before, that I didn’t completely follow my original plan for the route and ended up riding about 15km on paved roads. The route from Utti to Ahvio needs to be fine tuned a bit in the future.

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KNACKERED

I was pretty knackered when I finally arrived at Ahvionkoski area. Ended up at Kuovinkallio, which has a nice lean to shelter by the river. Just a few hundred meters from the road there is a nice secluded spot just a few meters from the river. I set up camp there and passed out pretty quickly. 120km for the day with 8h 30minutes of riding time. About 14 hours on the move total.

early bird

I set the alarm for 0600 in order to get going before the thunderstorms were scheduled to hit the area. Despite another night with just over 4 hours of sleep I was feeling pretty good. Packed camp and went back to the lean to shelter for another cup of coffee since the rain had already started.

leg 4: Ahvio to Loviisa

The route continued with a paved section to Valkmusa National Park, which I have visited previously. I would recommend taking the couple kilometer long duckboard path to check it out.

Strömfors iron mill

I stopped for lunch at the Strömfors iron mill which is a beautiful place to visit and fill up.

LOVIISA

After analysing the weather forecasts for the coming days and having a long deep thought I decided to cut this scouting mission a bit short and pedalled onto Loviisa just before the massive rain hit. The weather turned really nasty for a couple of days so I will continue the scouting of the route another time and connect the trail end at Porvoo to Loviisa properly and then to Ahvio. Then we would have a totally enjoyable bikepacking route in Southern Finland.