Although cloudy, today there has been no rain. A strong wind came up, together with the temperature going down. It reminded me of the weather I experienced in Norway, don't even want to know how it is like right now over there. However, I have to admit that it’s easier to cycle with these temperatures, as you don’t sweat too much, and I definitely feel less tired in colder weather.

As I said, a few km after trespassing river Kymijoki I got to Pyhtää, where I visited its old church, dating back to 1460. It is the one with the most preserved paintings from its Catholic era I have seen during my journey. And it's definitely something unique you don't see in traditional Catholic churches of Southern Europe, as also the painting are very old, being them from the time before the Reformation.

During the route I stumble into the King's Road once again, so I decided to follow it instead of the main road as it was much trafficked. It's still nice to be in the countryside, even if now it starts to be too cold. The only drawback of the day was an unleashed dog, which didn't have anything better to do than running after me. It's the first time it happens in this tour: I've met many dogs in the countryside, and noticed how much they like to barks at bikers, but usually they are on a leash, which has saved many legs I suppose. I mean, this one just run freely after me and even got so close that it bit my back bag! Fortunately its "surveillance area" ended a few dozen of metres from the house it came from, so it stopped running. I was so angry I started to think about the best way to kill a dog with a knife. Fortunately nothing bad happened to me, but it was really close.

My journey ended in Kotka, where the wind was blowing really strong. After two days in the woods I needed to find a warm place for the night. So, for the first time in this tour, I got a room in a gasthaus. And what a room! This is an old manor house from the thirties, and in my room there’s an original stove from the time. The owner had already put some woods to warm it up. I have also a kitchen all for me, and from the window I had the chance to see a wonderful sunset. Very inspiring place, I'm happy for the choice!

Kotka is famous for its port, which is one of the most important industrial port of Finland, and it has several attractions related to the sea, namely the Maretarium, a huge aquarium showing the species of fish that live in Finnish water, and the Maritime Museum, which hosts also the icebreaker Tarmo, built in 1907 and one of the oldest icebreaker of the world that still "alive". So, tomorrow I'll stay here, spending my time around fish, museums and icebreakers. And then…

Day 52 – Tour de Finlande 2010: Ruotsinpyhtää – Pyhtää – Kotka

Trip distance: 56 km
Actual trip time: 3 h 18 m
Distance from day 1: 4211 km
 

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It stopped after an hour or so, but it was too late to wait for the tent to dry up, so I packed everything as wet as possible and got on my way towards east. This time I was lucky: once I stopped for a coffee at the first gas station, it started raining very hard. The coffee became two and another forced stop of an hour as a result. I had anyway some e-mails to answer to, so the time wasn't really wasted. And once again, just a few minutes after I restarted cycling, here comes the rain again. This time I didn't stop, even because I had no place where to stop. And after all, I got all the water-proof equipment needed, why do I bother?

It was then that I got to Pernå, the place they mentioned yesterday in the news for some bears that were hanging around the houses looking for food. One was killed during the night, but the police stopped searching for the second one as they thought it might have well run into the deep forest, after what happened to its mate I guess it was a good idea. I didn't see bears either, actually not even people around, everybody scared? Guess it's the rain. And since autumn has arrived also here, everything was closed. Also the nice church you seen in the picture at the top of this post.

After a few km I reached Loviisa, the largest town in the area. It also has a nice red-brick church, that one also closed for renovation or something. Fortunately the town museum was opened (finally, at least!), where I had the chance to see a nice exhibition of photographs of Loviisa, placed in the strange attic of the old building which hosts the museum itself.

The weather got better in Loviisa, sun was shining and I was smiling, but grey clouds were always at the horizon, so I thought to stay inside for the night. To get to Ruotsinpyhtää it was only a dozen of km and it was just 4 p.m., so I called the gasthaus in the village to make sure there was a free room. Good that I called: all the rooms were sold out. I wonder who travels at this time and with this weather. I called then the gasthouse in Loviisa: closed. The owner told me anyway that the camping is still open and it has also cottages and rooms. Good: I called there and the cheapest room was 62 euro. Bloody hell! And what about camping? "No, we don't accept tents anymore at this time of the year". Unbelievable. Better to start cycling towards Ruotsinpyhtää.

Conclusion: here I am below a tree in a half-wet tent. Fortunately the scenery is beautiful as I am just at the lakeside. Outside it's silent: maybe also the rain wants to respect the scenery. Or maybe it just waits for me to fall asleep and make a nice and resonant surprise.

Day 51 – Tour de Finlande 2010: Porvoo – Pernå – Loviisa -    Ruotsinpyhtää

Trip distance: 69 km
Actual trip time: 3 h 47 m
Distance from day 1: 4155 km

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So, the last time I blogged something I was in Turku. From there I quickly went by train back to Helsinki as time was running out. Basically I had to be in Espoo for the Espoo Ciné film festival, which ended the day before yesterday. During this time I didn't drop cycling, as living in Helsinki I did my 20-25 km per day going back and forth between the capital and Espoo.

Furthermore I had to attend a party in Kerava, and when going there by bike (approx. 25 km from Helsinki city centre) I experienced for the first time what means to cycle in a big town: you get lost many times. Of course I had maps in my phone, but when you get in the woods somewhere with no street signs, I can tell you it's always hard to make a choice at a crossroad: and most of the times it's the wrong one.

That is also what happened this morning when I left Vantaa towards Porvoo. The metropolitan area of the Finnish capital is very well equipped with motorways, and also with cycling roads for the local traffic. I mean local, that is, it's good if you have to go from one block to another, it's deadly if you want to get out of the metropolis, as they are not designed for that! To make a long story short: it's easy to get trapped in a huge network of roads by bicycle, and in Finland this fortunately happens only in the Helsinki metropolitan area. I was so relieved when, after 25 km, I found the first street sign with Porvoo written on it. Didn't care about the road number, and whether there was a shorter way to do it, just happy I got the right one after all.

I got to Porvoo at 4 in the afternoon, just to find out that the museums here are surprisingly closed every Monday *and* Tuesday. Well, I managed anyway to visit the cathedral, and cycle around the old town with its wooden houses, which is one of the most picturesque in Finland.

You can feel that autumn is close not only from the temperatures but also from the light. I bought some food and left the town at around half eight, and I had to hurry in finding a proper forest where to sleep. At nine it already started to be so dark, that I had to use the torch to check that I put everything in the tent.

Funnily enough, today I was thinking for some reasons about bears, and I just heard from the news they saw a bear with a couple of cubs just 22 km from here. Well, let's think positive: it's a big distance, especially when you've got children

PS: Yes, the air mattress still has a hole, completely forgot it!!!

Day 50 – Tour de Finlande 2010: Vantaa – Porvoo

Trip distance: 85 km
Actual trip time: 4 h 50 m
Distance from day 1: 4086 km

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And with today's leg I reached 4000 km. I admit I really can't explain the feeling, it is a bit like living in a different dimension. Just to make things clear: the amount of km is really a lot, but this is not an extreme sport, nor a competition. You just need time and not necessarily a pre-training, the muscles will come little by little, you can decide how many km you want to do in a day, and the speed you want to keep. In any case I'm still impressed, as I had never done anything like this before.

I spent the morning in Kustavi, where I also visited the local church. As you can see from the picture there are several miniature models of old ships inside. In the old times it was common to make these small replicas in order to protect the seamen of the village while they were at sea. In those times journeys could last months, so that was also a way to remember them.

I took also a detour from Kustavi to go to check how much the ferry to the island of Brandö in the Åland archipelago cost: 22 euro seem quite a lot for me for such a short distance, although it wasn't clear to me whether that was the price also for cyclists. I didn't have time to get there anyway, however I might choose another route the time I will.

The cycling continued with a strong wind coming from any direction except than from the back, but today I didn't care too much: I wasn't in a hurry, and happy to know that I would get that 4000 at the end of the day. This is the thrashing period in the countryside and the colour of these golden fields is very very beautiful. Best time for cycling over here, I'd say.

After a ferry connection, maybe the last one of this tour, I visited Naantali, which has a wonderful old centre with colourful wooden houses. The town is maybe most famous for the Moominworld, although I have to admit I don't feel that young any longer to get there.

The last km of the journey brought me finally to Turku, which I'm planning to visit tomorrow. It's still open whether I'll continue the tour or have another break (this time longer), I haven't decided yet. At least if you don't see updates in the next days you know the reason.

Day 49 – Tour de Finlande 2010: Kustavi – Taivassalo – Naantali – Turku

Trip distance (excluding ferries): 99 km
Actual trip time: 5 h 50 m
Distance from day 1: 4001 km
 

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It's unbelievable how many people I have met in the Midnight Sun Film Festival: today my big thanks go to Kaisa who saved me from another hard night on a punctured air mattress giving me shelter at hers in Kustavi. I definitely should get a new mattress, no way I can find the puncture.

Today the trip on road has been quite short, as I had to get help by a total amount of seven ferries: this is Saaristo Rengastie, the wonderful Archipelago Trail, which brought me in the heart of the Turku Archipelago.

This is definitely a perfect route for bicycle touring: sea, islands, vast cultivated fields, soft uphills and downhills, and on top of all a fantastic day. The temperature went down the last night, but today with 23 degrees it was more than perfect.

Immediately after leaving the camping site I took the first ferry to the island of Korpo: here the islands are quite small, so it was just a matter of a few km to get to the centre of the village of Korpo, where I visited one of the oldest churches in Finland, whose construction started already in the late 13th century. You can see on the walls traces of the original Catholic paintings as the church, nowadays Lutheran, was built well before the Reformation.

Another few km and here we are with the second ferry to the island of Houtskär: as you may notice from the names, these islands are predominantly Swedish speaking. With such a beautiful sun I couldn't avoid a swim in the sea: the water is a bit colder than in the lakes, but well above the average, meaning you can still stay immerged for ages. At least I could.

Not this time, however. These island are quite far away from the mainland, and the ferry connections are not really frequent, so I had to take a look at the time to be sure to get to the next one on time. I was a bit worried, as I thought timetables were adjusted in order to get the cars on time for the next ferry, but I have to say that even by bike you can easily make it. I mean, cycling the Archipelago clockwise, you leave from a northern harbour, reaching the southern one of the next island, then you cycle to the northern harbour again, and so on and so on.

Sometimes there are also small ferry connections between contiguous islands (in the case of Houtskär there are two of them), but the distances are about 1 km, and ferries go back and forth all the time, so these are no big deal in terms of time. The connection between Houtskär and Iniö, my next destination, was however the longest one, and it took 45 minutes. It was the only ferry with a fee, 9 euro, while all the others are free of charge. Not a bad deal, I'd say.

Iniö was the shorter island of the archipelago, just a few km, and it brought me to the last ferry to Kustavi, which I reached well on time for having a pizza and a good chat with Kaisa. This morning when I left, after a night on a hard soil (remember the mattress?), I thought I couldn't make it. Instead here I am, ready for the next challenge.

Day 48 – Tour de Finlande 2010: Nagu – Korpo – Houtskär – Iniö – Kustavi

Trip distance (excluding ferries): 69 km
Actual trip time: 4 h
Distance from day 1: 3902 km
 

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I had a wonderful sleep last night: a very quite forest next to a not so trafficked road. But maybe I would have slept anyway as yesterday I've been awake for 18 hours. This basically means that I woke up quite late and had everything packed only around 10:30. The first stop was just a few km away: Sauvo is a small town with a huge church in stone. As a matter of fact the roof of the church was huge, almost twice the height of the walls: when I saw it from a distance I must admit I thought it was a castle. It's a pity today was Sunday and there was a mass going on: I just had a quick look as I didn't want to disturb the prayers with my immoral atheist soul.

Cycling felt even better than yesterday: the road has been mostly hilly, but a good weather and a lot of water helped me to go forward. I'm happy the bike is still working great despite dragging it into the woods without too much care. The only problem I noticed was some rust, especially on the pedals, that turned up in the days it has been hanging on the deck of the boat: bikes don't seem to like sea water that much. However, after oiling them they seem to work ok.

I stopped in Paimio for lunch, and I noticed that there was a museum of electricity: after all the radios I have seen during this journey, it was time to see how they get power. Despite the museum was presented as the biggest one in Finland concerning electricity, it wasn't that really: on its two floors the history of electricity in Finland was presented, and some samples of lamps, cables and equipments were on display. The best one was a beautiful film projector from the fifties. Maybe it'd still work.

In the afternoon I took the way towards the Turku Archipelago. After a short stop in Pargas I reached the first ferryboat that brought me to Nagu. I had been here once before, a couple of years ago: back then I continued the journey towards the southern island, while now I'll head towards north. The camping place is exactly at the harbour on the opposite side of the island, where I'll be taking the next of many other ferries tomorrow.

On a side note: the air bed I’m sitting on seems to have a hole. Already this morning when I woke up it was flat, and tonight same thing just half an hour after I pumped it. Guess I’ll survive anyway

Day 47 – Tour de Finlande 2010: Sauvo – Paimio – Kaarina – Pargas – Nagu

Trip distance: 112 km
Actual trip time: 6 h 25 m
Distance from day 1: 3833 km

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The sea break didn't really affect my muscles, as today's leg ended after 130 km. I have to admit anyway that the wind was very good; can't say the same for the weather, though.

The day started very early, as the rest of the crew on the boat wanted to leave at 6 a.m. in order to cover a reasonable distance. Which basically meant that I had to start cycling at the same time as they dropped me off the boat

The day looked promising with a beautiful sunrise. The small village of Fagervik, not so far from the harbour of Barösund, is a typical ironworks village of the area dating back to the 17th century, and nowadays a beautiful open museum. It was quite silent over there, I guess because I was there at half six in the morning.

Soon after leaving Fagervik the first thunders started to roar: it meant rain straight away. Lots of rain. I waited half an hour before leaving again, but then decided I couldn’t wait any longer, and just found my wet way to Karis. Once there however the rain came down with such intensity that I went for a coffee, and then for a second, and then for a third. For a couple of hour it was really raining cats and dogs, maybe even a couple of bears.

Once the rain got to a decent level, I managed to get to Fiskars, which is maybe the most known Finnish name for manufacturing products in metal, especially knives and scissors. In the area the road follows the so-called King's route, meaning the old road connecting Turku to Helsinki.

Also Fiskars is a real open museum, nowadays full of workshops and exhibitions. Its home museum wasn't that impressive, though, as I was expecting more about the history of the place. In any case I had the chance to see probably the smallest working scissors in the world, just 1.2 cm, try to imagine, a picture of it wouldn’t give the idea.

After Fiskars the plan was to get to the archipelago, and my well prepared plan got screwed due to my old maps. I have in use right now a road map of the whole Finland, and a road/cycling map of the Turku Archipelago and the Åland, both from year 2003. Well, the original plan was to cycle to Kasnäs, which I visited also during the sailing trip, and get to the ferry to Pargas to start the proper cycling tour of the archipelago. On the map the ferry connection was marked, but since I couldn'd find any information of the timetable on the net, I decided to call the tourist office directly, just to find out the the ferry had been cancelled few years ago. Great.

I then planned to get to Pargas going through the island of Kimito and from there almost back to Turku. As the journey started to be long and I woke up very early in the morning, I had to stop somewhere in the middle. Both my maps had a camping mark in Eknäs, but no sign of it once I got there. Well, on the net I found at least a phone number related to the place, and guess what: the lady told me that the camping site stopped its activities already in 2003.

What chance had I left then? The woods of course! I had water, juice, pasta, what more do you need? A shower, maybe, but that'll happen only tomorrow, I guess and I hope. I took a picture of me planning the map for tomorrow while the pasta was cooking, as this is the first time I eat outside in the woods since the end of June in Karigasniemi, at the border of Norway. The reason? Maybe you can guess: today it has been the first day since a looong time with no mosquitoes on sight. I was impressed myself as well: even though the temperature is still quite high for this time of the year (despite the morning rain today I have read +26 somewhere), it seems mosquitoes have disappeared already. And for some strange reason food tasted much better!

Day 46 – Tour de Finlande 2010: Barösund – Fagervik – Karis – Fiskars – Kimito – Sauvo

Trip distance: 133 km
Actual trip time: 7 h 40 m
Distance from day 1: 3721 km

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So, what happened in the last days? The last Monday, after I got to the Port of Raisio, next to Turku, we started sailing immediately. The distance from Turku to Helsinki by sea is around 105 nautical miles (a bit less than 200 km), which means about 24 hours of sailing. The first evening we left around 8 for a short trip to Airisto in the Turku Archipelago, where we stayed overnight. Not too much wind, so we went with the motor. Moreover it was raining every now and then, so it would have meant to get quite wet if we wanted to stay on the deck too long.

The next morning we left towards Hanko. The weather was still cloudy but the rain had stopped. And a good wind. Which meant engine off and sails up. That was fun! The area of the archipelago of Turku is full of island and rocks, so you have to be really careful in checking the sea chart all the time and crosscheck it with the position given by the GPS plotter.

We approached Hanko in the early evening, so we also had time to stroll around the town. Very nice wooden building area in the city centre, although in Tuesday night there was not too much life around. Actually the whole town was completely empty except for the harbour area. As we are getting towards the middle of August, you can notice that the holiday period here in the north is almost over.

After a good night sleep we started the journey again. Sails up and there we go. The day didn't go that well for me, however. I just went in the lower deck to get some coffee, and standing for a few minutes in a small sailing boat without watching the horizon made me feel immediately seasick. Not a nice feeling. On top of it I felt really sorry as I wasn't really able to do anything on board. I tried to get some sleep as the only way to feel better was just to lie on the couch. Well, that's a plus for cycling: not too much rolling

The distance to Helsinki was still quite big, so we planned to have a stop in Porkkala, just in time to have a good swim (we didn't go to the harbour, just dropped the anchor and have a nice swim in front of a small island). The water, even in the sea, is still impressively warm. Finally, yesterday morning we did the last three hours to reach the guest harbour of Katajanokka. It's great to come by boat in Helsinki: the guest harbour is exactly in downtown, at the end of Aleksanterinkatu, there's no better place where to stay!

Today we left once again back to Turku, as the sailing trip will continues back to the starting point. However, I have taken part only to today's leg up to the small island of Barösund, from where I'll continue the journey tomorrow with my traditional means of transport. But these days have been unforgettable: it was like a short sailing course: at least now I know how to read sea charts and find the way through the archipelago. More or less, that is, fortunately I don't have a boat of my own

Day 42-45 – Tour de Finlande 2010: Raisio – Airisto – Hanko – Porkkala – Helsinki – Barösund (by sailing boat)

Trip distance: 142 nautical miles (263 km)
 

It has been a nice long weekend without cycling since a long time. I have spent a wonderful time at Niilo's cottage watching good films and having a lot of sauna, swim and fun with good friends. Which is even better when you are cycling just on your own for such a long time! I left this morning after a four-day break. The weather has been unstable for the whole weekend and so was today. Showers every now and then and generally cloudy weather the whole way to Uusikaupunki and even after that.

As a matter of fact this tour doesn't lack of surprises as well. Not only because of the temperatures spanning from the freezing point to 35 degrees. For example my route changed once again as I'm right now sitting on a sailing boat heading towards Helsinki. And the bike came along, of course! The last Saturday I got a call from the captain of Sampo icebreaker who was planning a trip with his sailing boat from Turku to Helsinki and wondering where I was hanging around with my bike and whether I was interested in joining the crew. Well, that was pure luck as Turku is less than 100 km from Uusikaupunki, no way I could miss this occasion as I was just a few weeks ago talking about how beautiful would be to sail in Finnish inland water. This time it will be however on the sea, but you know, it really doesn't matter at this point!

The plan is to reach Helsinki in two days, with a stop in Hanko. As my original plan was to cycle in the Turku archipelago, it might be that from Helsinki I'll be cycling back to Turku. But I won't bet on it, anything can change from one day to the other, and I prefer to keep life full of uncertainties at any time, especially this summer!

Day 41 – Tour de Finlande 2010: Lyökki – Raisio

Trip distance: 91 km
Actual trip time: 5 h 5 m
Total distance from day 1: 3588 km

Fortunately the thunderstorm that was forecast for today didn’t touch the area where I was. Some other travellers haven’t been that lucky, as the storm has completely destroyed one camping place in Uurainen, just a few hundred km north from where I was, injuring three people; the pictures are quite impressive. The last night, however, it did rain a lot, but I was so tired I realised it only in the morning. The weather was still heavily clouded when I left, but with no rain or strong wind. Travelling in the countryside is always nice, but having such a grey sky is like something is hanging over you all the time.

After having breakfast in the village of Yläne, I did the whole way through Laitila with no major stops. I wanted to get to my destination as soon as possible, mostly because of this uncomfortable weather. In Laitila I decided anyway to go and visit the local church of Saint Michael, a beautiful stone building dating back to 1460. In the surrounding of the church there was also a completely restored wooden house from the 18th century, Poukan talo, which nowadays hosts exhibitions about the history of Laitila. In the picture (that you’ll see once I have the time to upload it) you can see a reproduction of the founder of the first soft drink factory of the area, Frans Veranen, carrying bottles for sale on foot around the countryside and even to Turku. Nowadays the town is quite known for its beer factory, and as a matter of fact the Laitilan Kukko Pils III is one of my favourite beers.

Leaving Laitila the gusts of wind and rain really started to blow. It was a pity as the ancient village of Untamala has an interesting archaeological centre of the area. But it was impossible to stop since  a strong rain started to come down; as a matter of fact it was also hard to cycle, I had never experienced during this journey such strong gusts of wind. Sometimes I had to slow down as transversal wind was moving the bicycle towards  the side by itself. I also took off the cleats from the pedals as I felt I should be ready in case the wind became so strong I couldn’t control the bike.

Fortunately nothing bad happened. Only a continuous fight against strong headwind, but the rain stopped and I managed to get to Lyökki at Niilo’s cottage, reaching the sea for the first time since day 1 in Kemi. I couldn't avoid a swim after a relaxing sauna, as even the bad weather did not really affect the warmth of this summer.

This time I'm going to have a four-day break from the tour: it is  the longest break since I left Sodankylä the last June. I have to admit I really need it. Not only because my muscles have to rest sometimes, but also because staying overnight almost every day in the tent, and quite often in the woods, is not the most comfortable way to travel. In any case up to now I have done 40 full days of cycling, and more to come!

Day 40 – Tour de Finlande 2010: Yläne – Laitila – Lyökki

Trip distance: 100 km
Actual trip time: 5 h 25 m
Total distance from day 1: 3496 km

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