# couple of pics (BIG) from today's ride



## J . (May 28, 2006)

here are a few pics of places that I quite often visit during weekends. all around Paloheinä area, close to center of Helsinki where I live. rode these earlier today, some of them twice... :thumbsup:


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## KeepTheRubberSideDown (Dec 1, 2006)

Cool little bridges.


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## GETSTUPID (Feb 10, 2007)

Call me naive, but what's the wood for? What's wrong with the dirt? Is it to avoid ruts etc? Scenery is incredible btw!


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## mace2 (May 3, 2004)

GETSTUPID said:


> Call me naive, but what's the wood for? What's wrong with the dirt? Is it to avoid ruts etc? Scenery is incredible btw!


i'd guess it gets really muddy


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## ArmySlowRdr (Dec 19, 2003)

I like the rooted section. yummy.


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## nonoy_d (Jun 27, 2005)

Who built the bridges? It looks like it was done by a big group of people. To cut the logs into thin pieces would require power tools, the weight of the planks would really require dedicated trail workers. Man you are blessed to live close to your playground, and looks like a well maintained trail by dedicated people.:thumbsup:


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## [CrazyRick_11] (May 14, 2006)

that looks like some fun riding.


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## J . (May 28, 2006)

GETSTUPID said:


> Call me naive, but what's the wood for? What's wrong with the dirt? Is it to avoid ruts etc? Scenery is incredible btw!


it get's quite wet and muddy at spring, I wish I had my camera with me on some mid-May rides, at couple of places most of the surrounding ground was covered with water.

-> nonoy_d: the bridges were built and are maintained by the city. these trails are used by hikers as well, horses have other dedicated routes that are just for them (no bridges on those trails, thou).


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## J . (May 28, 2006)

*more pics, different town*

I went to centern Finland to my family's summer place for quality vacationing, here are some pics from the trip.

The house is near a small town, there's no mtb-trails or anything like that, it's just forest and some gravel roads and trails, used by any vehicles available. most fun were trails made by guys cutting trees, I don't know what their machines are called but they make these huge trails no matter where they go. I'd just ride some roads looking for trails leading to the forest and tried out any that looked promising.

roads are like this



















"trailhead"












leading to less traveled paths














































going back next week, stay tuned...


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## mtnbkrid (Jan 30, 2004)

Where's the Bike?


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## J . (May 28, 2006)

mtnbkrid said:


> Where's the Bike?


I'm on it! You can see a bit of Ignitor in the lower right corner of one of the pics..


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## J . (May 28, 2006)

stripes said:


> I knew those bridges looked familiar! I've been there. I used to work in Helsinki (Centrum) every few months in a previous job. One of my friends there rented a bike for me and we rode out there. Thanks for bringing back the cool memories. :thumbsup:


:thumbsup:


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## Danny73 (May 30, 2007)

Interesting thread.....here's my pic from today's ride...


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## Smashley49 (May 18, 2007)

Those bridges look like fun to ride  The forestry out there is beautiful too! Nice pics


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## J . (May 28, 2006)

a couple more, these are actually from a ride I did over week ago, still centern Finland.

for those of you who like logs (ok they're quite small...):










tried to pedal up but had to give up, ground was very soft and resulted in the good old "hip to stem" trick. down I managed a bit better, thou I believe a full susser and some dh skills would have helped.

someone asked about the bike so here it is, 2005 GF Rig.










and some berries, had to leave them, don't taste good raw.










that's it for now.

j.


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## springbok (Apr 23, 2004)

love the pics, they're so forum friendly. no horizontal scrolling. did you crop each of the images for the forum...if so you're too kind.

P.S. I just got a GF RIG (07) recently and enjoy it also


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## J . (May 28, 2006)

*back again...*

I didn't do too much trail riding during winter, some loops every now and then, but before this week last time was in February. I commute and ride around town all year, thou. so when my friend called me for a few hours of quality riding in the woods I was all for it. turns out I'm in really bad shape (surprise...), he just left me biting the dirt and dust most of the time. today I went back for a solo ride, just taking in the scenery and enjoying riding the familiar trails.

couple of pics from today's ride follow:




























E: stuff.


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## austin_bike (Apr 2, 2005)

Danny73 said:


> Interesting thread.....here's my pic from today's ride...


I see the problem, it's the illinois license plate 

Born and raised there and the riding season is too short. Good job getting out there to get some while you can.


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## Dekes (Jan 3, 2007)

J . said:


>


Holy @ tire/rim width ratio


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## SHIVER ME TIMBERS (Jan 12, 2004)

cool ladders


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## sean salach (Sep 15, 2007)

austin_bike said:


> I see the problem, it's the illinois license plate
> 
> Born and raised there and the riding season is too short. Good job getting out there to get some while you can.


:skep: there's a 'riding season'??


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## J . (May 28, 2006)

*lo-res mobile pics from today's ride*

I rode around some trails I usually don't ride too often, for some reason. spring is turning to summer, most trees have nice bright green leaves all over, and the trails are quite dry. few muddy places were found...



















here's a place that used to be all roots, now smoothed nice for people who don't like to walk off-road. :madman:


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## Irrenarzt (Apr 19, 2006)

Where's Kimi at?


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## sean salach (Sep 15, 2007)

the smoothed over trail one is a beautiful shot! great(easy) composition and the lighting is damned near perfect.


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## Natedogz (Apr 4, 2008)

J. Those are some great trails and great pics, thanks! I've wanted to visit Finland for years but haven't made it there yet.


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## jgsatl (Sep 16, 2006)

i really like that last pic.


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## J . (May 28, 2006)

*cx passion, sorry...*

I don't want to post these on the cyclocross forum as I already have a suitable thread and more passion going on here... hope you don't mind!

today I rode more gravel road-y stuff because I was on my brand spanking new Cotic Roadrat, drop bars and all.

here's one place I visited, looooong paths right next to the fields.










and here's the bike, and some scenery.










I promise next time I'll be on my GF Rig again..


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## J . (May 28, 2006)

*lo-res autumn photos*

Yesterday I went out with the Rig again. Weather was nice, cloudy and around +10 celsius.

Autumn is coming, leaves falling and trails getting pretty wet.










A small stream right by the trail.










Mud. Me like! :thumbsup:










Some scenery from the highest point of yesterday's loop.










While riding the little bridges I posted in this thread last year I noticed some new ones being built. I rode around the bend of the fresh one and found a guy with chainsaw and other tools building them. We had a little chat and I continued on.










There are bunch of these torturing racks around the forest... I usually stop to stretch my back a bit while riding around these parts.










At the far end (the other end being my home) of yesterday's loop is a small café I usually visit, they have the best blueberry pie. But, &%€!(/& they were closed, so I had to ride a couple of kms to get to another place. The cake was ok, but NOTHING compared to the blueberry pie I had already mentally prepared to have... 










While riding back I stopped to check out on an old man with his bike upside down and the rear wheel off. He had had a flat tire and was ok, he just waited for the glue to dry a bit before fixing the hole. He had a cool 20-25 years old bike he'd bought from 2nd hand shop for 20€. This man was great, dressed really sharp and all gentleman-like, and obviously not minding spending some time fixing a flat. We talked a bit and I set off towards home again. Some nice people you get to meet when cycling.


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## youngjim (Aug 5, 2008)

Thank you for taking the time to post these photos, the scenery is beautiful. We don't have much like that around here, but further west (the Canadian Rocky Mountains) are quite similar.


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## elder_mtber (Jan 13, 2004)

Dekes said:


> Holy @ tire/rim width ratio


+1. ?? tire heavily loaded when pic taken??


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## J . (May 28, 2006)

elder_mtber said:


> +1. ?? tire heavily loaded when pic taken??


no I don't think so, I'm always off the bike when snapping photos. I like riding low pressures, I have ridden these rims for two years with no problems, and no snakebites either.


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## J . (May 28, 2006)

youngjim said:


> Thank you for taking the time to post these photos, the scenery is beautiful.


:thumbsup: :thumbsup:


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## J . (May 28, 2006)

*White Christmas??*

Sure does not look like it's going to be white christmas around here. Judge yourself, lo-res pics from today's mudfest  I didn't stop to snap photos of the worst/best places, didn't want to get my SPD cleats all globbered up. I got stuck once, rear wheel was half submerged in brown thick gloop. And I'm riding a 29er. I think I need a new back tire, any "takes all the mud you can dish out" ideas? Should fit an old GF Rig, I have Panaracer Rampage front, works well but might not fit in the back as the frame flexes quite a lot.



















The bike's drivetrain and brakes made funny crunchy sounds on the way home.










I'm waiting for the snow to be able to post in the winter passion thread..


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## General Hickey (Jan 6, 2008)

J . said:


>


Fork's on backwards man.


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## J . (May 28, 2006)

General Hickey said:


> Fork's on backwards man.


Is not, you can check the details here:

http://cotic.co.uk/product/roadrat


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## General Hickey (Jan 6, 2008)

J . said:


> Is not, you can check the details here:
> 
> http://cotic.co.uk/product/roadrat


Interesting, it makes total sense. It's just everytime I see that it's because the fork is on backwards.


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## ProEdgeBiker (Jun 24, 2004)




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## JDel (Sep 30, 2008)

J . said:


> While riding the little bridges I posted in this thread last year I noticed some new ones being built. I rode around the bend of the fresh one and found a guy with chainsaw and other tools building them. We had a little chat and I continued on.


How exactly is that bridge made? Did they just cut tree's in half? or is that lumber from home depot


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## J . (May 28, 2006)

JDel said:


> How exactly is that bridge made? Did they just cut tree's in half? or is that lumber from home depot


 I don't think they got them from Home Depot... There was a bunch of trees cut in the area, could be they took some of the logs and had them cut into suitable pieces. When I saw the guy building them, he was just using his chainsaw to cut the smaller logs that support the bigger ones into length.


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## Crank'nStein (Jan 23, 2006)

*nice pics!*

Looks a little muddy for my Southern California skills but I'm sure it's fun until clean up time:eekster:

How do you like the Roadrat? I've been eyeing that frame for a while for local trails and around town,

Mike


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## J . (May 28, 2006)

Crank'nStein said:


> How do you like the Roadrat? I've been eyeing that frame for a while for local trails and around town,
> 
> Mike


Roadrat is ok, I've only had it for maybe 5 months now. I ride to work and around town practically every day, and some "just for fun"-riding on top of that. I bought it because I got tired of adjusting and readjusting the brakes on my old CrossCheck. My MTB has BB7s and they have been very reliable and just take any beating from my limited riding skills, so I wanted a frame that can take those. Also, we still have some snow and ice during winters, all rim brakes clog up with wet snow very fast (my opinion...  ).

Surly Crosscheck was more comfortable to ride, somehow the angles were more relaxed and/or the frame was lighter and more springy. And I loved the color (light grey) of that Surly... I wish I never sold the frame, to be honest.

I'm pondering about getting another frame, maybe Singular Peregrine or Salsa La Cruz (with White eccentric rear hub to ss it) and hopefully finding *the* frame for my commute/around town/cyclocross/summer touring needs.

So to sum it up, I like the Roadrat, but I'm still looking. On the MTB front, I've been on my GF Rig for 2,5 years and am not even dreaming of another MTB (no, really!). I'd like to find me some long term bikes...


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## Crank'nStein (Jan 23, 2006)

*A little Harsh?*

So you think Roadrat is a harsh riding??? 
I have a Soma Double Cross with a triple, it rides very nicely but I was looking for a single speed cross frame. I love cross bikes for rides from home where I can hit some dirt, ride the pavement and just have fun.

What do you weigh. I'm about 190 lbs, so I like a firmer ride.


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## J . (May 28, 2006)

Crank'nStein said:


> So you think Roadrat is a harsh riding???
> I have a Soma Double Cross with a triple, it rides very nicely but I was looking for a single speed cross frame. I love cross bikes for rides from home where I can hit some dirt, ride the pavement and just have fun.
> 
> What do you weigh. I'm about 190 lbs, so I like a firmer ride.


I have very limited experience with cross frames, so I can't compare... But Roadrat is not light. I know there are a bunch very happy people riding their Roadrats, look around other boards for other opinions as well! For ss-spesific cross frame I think Singular Peregrine looks real nice:


__
https://flic.kr/p/3102274105
http://www.singularcycles.com/bikes.htm

I haven't tried one though, would very much like to. I'm quite short and bike shops understandably take in frames they can most likely sell = medium and large, so far not much luck finding bikes to try out. For single speeding the eccentric bb is good (my MTB has one), at least my experience after the initial "get to know each other"-phase has been very positive. On the other hand, I know people who very much more prefer track drop outs for the simplicity's sake.

Oh and I weigh around 75 kg (165 lbs??) with riding gear.


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## J . (May 28, 2006)

*Snow, finally..*

Went out on the Rig today, the first snowy MTB ride for me this winter. We had a snow storm earlier (early December if I remember correctly), but I didn't get to go out on the MTB, too busy working. Well, this week we had a bit of snow again and it's still on the ground, I checked the temperature when I woke up and it was still barely under 0 celsius. Breakfast, pack the Camelback and off I went...

That's where I came from:










And that's where I'm heading next:










These guys (?) were getting some fresh air as well.










"Sunshine" 










Yep, it's snow, at last.










I rode for 3 hours, warm enough and it was great to see the sun occasionally.


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## mstguide (Oct 20, 2008)

I think you need more mud!
Mud mud mud. 
Our local trails are starting to dried up now. It's almost dusty out there.


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## J . (May 28, 2006)

*More snow..*

It's been snowing for the last couple of days, so after I woke up it was time to hit the trails asap. After struggling with the Jones ACX as my rear tire for months I finally put on a Maxxis Ignitor for a change, can't say it helped but it's what I've got. Most of the trails were covered with fresh snow, some had a few foot steps marking where they go, but almost none were packed hard with snow. So, riding was mostly slipping and sliding, or cutting through the fresh powder. First time ever I dreamed of a Surly Pugsley.

Yeah, there *is* a trail, can't you see I just rode it?










This was a bit more manageable..










After an hour of trying to ride and constantly getting stuck I gave up and rode rest of the trip gravel roads. Dropped at my usual places to get refueled, nice surprise was the sausage grilling for all the xc skiers that were out having a blast. I took my share with plenty of mustard on top.










After the small lunch I just had to stop at the café (https://ulkoilumaja.net) for some dessert.. 










Hope the snow stays for a few weeks, I'm going to get a better gripping rear tire and try again.


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## maxmatias (Jan 29, 2009)

I'm taking my bike next time I go to Finland.

Kippis!!


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## thebigred67 (Mar 29, 2005)

J . said:


>


That would look cool if you slammed the contrast in Photoshop.


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## zod (Jul 15, 2003)

Great pics! I love that kind of riding, we call that ghetto trail. Back in the day around where I live that was all there was to ride - old dirt roads, powerline cuts, ATV double track, etc. We'd just go out and hit up what we could find, there weren't any mountain bike trails. We still get out and do the old ghetto thing a few times a year.


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## ttowry (Feb 2, 2009)

love the pics they are so beautiful.


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## J . (May 28, 2006)

Thanks for the nice comments! 

I got a new rear tire for the mtb, we'll see how the Bonty Mud X works....


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## J . (May 28, 2006)

*Icy trails...*

We've had a great winter around where I live, a couple of months of snow and nice, not too cold weather all in all. I didn't have to go to work today so I hopped on the Rig and rode around for 2 hours. Usually I do 3-4 hour loops so this was something new for me, also I didn't venture out too far, just had a blast riding a few solid trails over and over again.

Pics:





































I had studs in front only, LBS modded some Kenda Klaws with studs, I've had this for over a year. It's like new, last year I didn't need it at all as we had practically no snow or ice, this year I've just been lazy... But the tires work. Great, actually. Rear is Mud X, it's ok but slippery at times.


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## icecreamjay (Apr 13, 2004)

Wow, thats cool that your LBS studded those. I've never seen a custom studded tire with real studs, just ones with screws and bolts, but then I don't really peruse the hardcore winter forums (Alaska and such). 

I have seen a Nokian stud replacement kit sold online. It almost looks like thats what they used, but I wonder how they drilled the holes. Do the studs seem to fall out easily? The ones in my Nokians fall out sometimes anyway (I've lost about 6-7 over maybe 20 ice rides).


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## J . (May 28, 2006)

*video..*

Here's a short clip I captured while out riding yesterday. No helmetcam or any such device, just rode one handed... That's the reason picture's quite shaky and composition is way off in places. I still hope you get a glimpse of the fun!





Winter ride near Helsinki from 334542 on Vimeo.


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## J . (May 28, 2006)

icecreamjay said:


> I have seen a Nokian stud replacement kit sold online. It almost looks like thats what they used, but I wonder how they drilled the holes. Do the studs seem to fall out easily? The ones in my Nokians fall out sometimes anyway (I've lost about 6-7 over maybe 20 ice rides).


This was bought before the Nokian 29er studded was out. The bike shop made a small batch of these and I understood they sold pretty well, I know a few guys who have a set of 2. No idea which studs they used but obviously hard manual labor was involved in the installing process. I haven't lost any studs on mine, some have had problems with Nokians, don't know if it's because of the "bedding in" you're supposed to do (ride 40-50 kms *very* easily before full blast).


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## J. Fragera (Apr 16, 2008)

I really like the bridging. My guess is that with the logging going on there, somebody must have grabbed scrapped slabs from a local mill and put them to great use.

There's a hardwood mill located about 4 miles from my house... thinking I might try to replicate that in some of the low lying areas on our trails. Thanks for the inspiration!


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## CaliforniaNicco (Oct 13, 2008)

sweet pics


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## J . (May 28, 2006)

*Back at the usual ghetto trails*

Rode around by myself yesterday, 5 hours of great weather. A few mobile pics follow:

My regular places, nice blend of wet mud spots and mostly dry trails.




























Some summer flora next to the trail...










One bit goes by this small stream.



















More stuff...



















At one point I suddenly started feeling rather weak even though I had a good breakfast before starting and had eaten pieces of a flapjack during the ride. So, I ate real fast all the rest and stopped by a small café to refuel some more. 15 minutes later I got sleepy, had to stop by the river and took a 10 minute nap. :thumbsup:










View from my resting spot..










And back on the bike, heading home.


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## andy85 (Apr 27, 2009)

nice pix!! =]


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## J . (May 28, 2006)

*early winter update*

So we got some snow, city's pretty clean of it already but the ghetto trails still have some. Went out with a friend yesterday, here's how our bikes/drivetrains look after couple of hours of pedaling... 



















We found out that Reba's snow clearance was not enough for Finnish slosh. Maybe I need to go up to 100mm for winter?


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## J . (May 28, 2006)

*Merry XCmas!*

Rode around the usual spots for couple of hours today, lot of soft snow so I stayed on the frozen gravel roads most times. When off road, the trails were 3-4 times the width of my front tire, point the bike off the trail you're stuck in the snow. It was nice being outdoors anyway even if the riding was not most epic ever. Around -5 celsius I guess, so not too cold.


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## J . (May 28, 2006)

*More winter pics*

Rode a little loop last weekend and again today, here are a few photos.

Snowy trails, hard packed and frozen:




































Finally gave up on the Mud X as a winter rear tire and bought the Nokian. Works, recommended! Front tire is still the studded Kenda pictured earlier in this thread.









On my way back home I rode by the sea. This pic does not do the view justice at all, but here it is anyway... Bright sunshine, around 0 degrees celsius, coast line still frozen. I had to stop and sit down to enjoy the view and the sun.


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## Steve.E (Apr 10, 2009)

Gorgeous pics, it's really interesting looking through from the start of the thread and seeing the variation in riding conditions, makes me wanna go out and ride!


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## J . (May 28, 2006)

*Spring compilation..*

Here are some pics I've forgotten to post, nothing special, just some springy feelings!

Back in April we still had quite a lot of snow in the forest, here's what the trail looked like:










Hard ice and snow on top but when it cracked, there was whole lot of empty space before hitting the puddle.

Next one is one the "bridges" featured in this thread before but now in more wintery disguise.










A few weeks later...










First really warm and sunny days in April, the local fixed/single speeders were out to play polo when I was returning from the trails.



















And finally the bike two weeks ago. Really warm day, at least +20 celsius, me and two pals rode for over 6 hours. Fun fun fun!


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## fourtyounce (May 2, 2006)

Very inspirational post from start to finish. Thanks!


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## JeffSkisMontana (Sep 7, 2003)

*Enjoyed....*

...the entire post.....great to see biking is such a passion in Finland.....Ride On!


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## insanitylevel9 (Sep 23, 2009)

cool place


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## J . (May 28, 2006)

*actionpacked 3 hour ride...*

Last week did a little loop in the usual neighbourhood. After maybe 50 minutes of riding I rode by a HUGE fire. Yeah in the pic it looks like your regular campfire but those 10 meter tall flames were really quite something.










I started to fumble for my phone to call for help but an elderly lady who had also happened to be passing by had done that already. So I just hung around for a few minutes until the firetrucks came over and started to put out the fire..

I continued on, did some nice trails, roots and mud, yeah bring on the autumn, I'm happy! My regular café is closed on Mondays so I had to check out another place (featured earlier in this thread as well..) and bingo, when I walk in the girl at the counter is unloading some freshly baked goods from the oven. Mmmmm...










While pondering where to ride next I tried to exchange a few words with the café's cat but to no avail.










And finally, a few pics from actual trails. These are pretty much the same stuff this thread is full of already, just tell me when you've had enough and I'll stop...


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