RIDING EAST

Exploring side roads

By Erik Plankton

April 22^nd, 2014

BY the power of bacon

Pack: Fat bike with overnight gear, food

Go: Ride to Hamina using only small side roads, gravel is bliss

Find: Decadent villages and a beautiful mire

After a hearty breakfast of bacon and a potato omelette I took to the road on saturday at 10:30. I had made a route using the Strava route builder and printed it on to my handlebar bag. I selected randomly small roads that linked to each other avoiding all bigger main roads. The route worked surprisingly well and the directions on the cue sheet were pretty much accurate. Also tested two Alpkit Stem Cell drawcord closure bags on the handlebars. I had a MytiCup on the left filled with mixed nuts to munch on while riding and on the right was the camera. Very handy setup with room for much more gear if needed.

countryside

It took only 20km to leave the busy stuff behind and find myself among the small roads and open fields. Traffic was pretty much non-existent during the entire day. Later on in the evening I could ride for an hour or so without any cars passing by. This was also a break in ride for the Brooks saddle. Was surprisingly comfortable right from the start and didn’t have to resort to a backup saddle I had with me. My ass says YES!

FIRE

The smoke could be smelt for many kilometers as several fields were being burnt clear.

void

Some of the smaller villages were really still and empty. Houses vacant and in decadence. Empty sports fields. Some of the forests were under pretty heavy logging with huge piles of pine and spruce along the service roads.

staying hungry

I didn’t take a huge amount of food with me, since I pretty much relied that I could get a nice warm lunch during the day on saturday. This turned out to be a minor mistake, since the route was somewhat remote and the highways have killed of most of the smaller gas stations and restaurants. Had a sandwich and pastry at a round two o clock at a gas station and the exactly same menu at seven in the evening at another gas station / bar. Also bought some candy for a moral boost.

evening light

The weather was beautiful and it was the warmest day of this spring with temperature around 14°C. Riding felt good and easy, so I kept going until Valkmusa national park, which is mostly a big mire.

valkmusa

Exploring the national parks mire turned out to be great. Lots of birds and very nice views.

setting up camp

There was a bird watch tower in the mire, so I set up camp next to it. Ate a rice satay from Adventure Food and it was pretty good. Or at least I was hungry. Lights out at 22:30 with 132km on the cycle computer.

sunrise

I woke up at 5:15 to some birds. Decided to get up to check out the rising sun.

morning at the mire

Spent a good three hours wandering around the mire and enjoying the beautiful sunrise. Made coffee and breakfast. Back on the bike around nine.

back in the saddle

The last part of my route was not optimal since I had to ride a lot of paved roads and cross the new highway that is being built a few times. Next time I will spend more time planning the route. Still it was a very enjoyable 50km to Hamina. I arrived there at noon and the ice cream kiosk had just opened so I jumped at the opportunity and treated myself with a “super tiger” flavored cornet.