Night-riders

So, I had to put my bike lights on at 5 pm yesterday. That has some bearing on the trip this Friday- which I know everyone is keen to attend. Obviously, going along lit cycle paths is not such a challenge, but riding in the forest and putting up tents in the dark is not everyone's idea of fun, especially if the weather gods add some cold and wet to proceedings.

I, however, am still keen to go. First Friday of the month - sub-24!

To cut down on uncertainties, maybe we should go into Pirttimäki again and aim for the camping sites where we have been before. The  grilling cabin would be good if it's cold, but there are other options close-by if that place is already occupied. There's some nice new signposts in Pirttimäki, so we shouldn't be able to get lost. Even in the dark...


5:30 at Bemböle then, okay?

Usual equipment should be enough and I'll bring a trangia in case we need it. Just don't forget your bike lights, torches and headlamps.

Finally, apologies for the short notice of the post, I've been in bed for a week with flu. Which means I need lots of fresh air and exercise this weekend...

Christmas came early

IMPORTANT: nothing interesting is happening this Saturday 22nd October as previously promised. Unless, that is, you yourself have an interesting life outside sub-24.

There will be NO pikkujoulu party this Saturday.

However, we will be having a private hyrdrospinning lesson in English at 14:30 on Saturday 12th Novermber at Mäkelänrinne swimming hall. 50m pool, nice saunas... and bars close by, it should be a good evening.

14:30 is a touch early, but maybe a swim after, some relaxing in the steam room and saunas (and the 8 degree cold pool), there's a nice cafe overlooking the pool which some say serves the best munkki in Helsinki. Then what? The velodrome is just around the corner, I'll call them and see if we can get a tour. The city is a short tram ride away. Some games of pool, a spot of dinner, cocktails and then... the walk of shame to the taxi queue.

See you on the 12th, if not before.

 

(this is for X)

Christmas is nearly here...

Well, it seems like we've got a pikkujoulu party this weekend. Or maybe not. I'm waiting to hear about hydrospinning - which we are all keen to try, right? But if we can't get that booked before Christmas, then we'd better do something nice this Saturday. Is anyone coming? Ideas, please.

The next sub-24 should be on Friday 4th November. We're not on winter holiday yet. Tents, lean-to, cabin? We were talking about Rastila at some point? Or adventure...

Sub 24 is good for you...

...most of the time!

Unfortunately yesterday things didn't quite go to plan. It all started beautifully. The autumn sunshine and colours were stunning and the road to Porkkala is a perfect cycling road!

 

We then arrived on the Porkkala dirt track and were nearly at the camping spot when Zuzanna fell awkwardly. I started to think all may not be good when she wouldn't answer my "are you ok?" questions. When I got next to her she pointed to her left arm. It was twisted the wrong way. Ouch.

The good thing was there were three of us to handle the situation and we handled it well. Lee called the ambulance, while Dima and I stayed with her. Everyone stayed in control and she was doing remarkably well given the situation. She responded to jokes and seemed calm. It was pretty cold by then though and the wait for the ambulance seemed to take an age. In actual fact it was barely more than 20 mins, great stuff considering where we were. 

They performed emergency care, before embarking her and I into an ambulance to the hospital all the way in Helsinki. The fact that her main concern was that she needed to pee shows she could have felt worse! Eventually we got to the hospital and the scan revealed a nasty double fracture of the forearm. She wasn't surprised. I was!

They consolidated the arm in a safe position into a cast and will operate her on Tuesday. So we got to go home for the night, via the 24-hour pharmacy to pick up some real strong meds!

Overall she really feels fortunate that things weren't worse. The rest of her body's fine, the nerves and veins in her arm are unharmed, no internal bleeding, and she has very supportive friends all around her. She kept saying how nice the ride was up to that point and how she wants to come back there as soon as she's better!

Thank you to Dima, Lee and Xavier who took good care of our stuff once we were gone and got it back to us so soon the next day! I hope you managed to enjoy yourselves despite the circumstances.

Speedy recovery Suzie!

After the ambulance left...

We switched on all our lights, rode slowly through the dark and stopped at the first camping and grilling place we could find - crashing quite a cosy party that was going on there. We were tired, cold, hungry, oh, and depressed.

In other circumstances the roads and the camping would have been perfect. We'll try again next year, right?...

Porkkala baby yeah!

So here goes for the details of the Saturday 1st October edition of the Sub24:

• Where: Porkkala
• How far is that? Well this you can decide. Lee and I will be meeting at Kauklahti train station at 16:30. From there it's a little over 30 km to the camping spot. For those who feel that's a little too far, meet us at Jorvas train station from where it's 20 km away. Zuzanna will be waiting there and arriving on the U-Train that pulls in at 17:13. 
• What do I need? The usual.
• Will I regret it? No.

Any questions? Please do tell in the comments section or on the Facebook page.

Saturday 1st Ocotber and Pikkujoulu

Hi guys,


Well the Sub24 season is drawing to a close now as the cold weather approaches our shores. But we would like to go out with a bang with the October edition! A few differences first of all:

• This time, it's going to be the first Saturday of the month, hence October 1st.
• We want to ride a little further than usual, and mainly on paved road. We're thinking of heading Kirkkonummi way. Any ideas where we could camp/ grill over there?
• And in order to beat the night, and since we are leaving on a Saturday, we will leave at the earlier time of 4pm.

So where should we meet? Bemböle, as usual? Or maybe Kauklahti train station? The latter has the advantage of being on the right side of Kirkkonummi and people who don't want to push themselves too much could get themselves there by train.

On a different note, Lee and I were thinking it would be nice to have a Sub24 Pikkujoulu for the regulars but also for anyone who wants to come and meet us to see that we are, in fact, quite nice people! The date we had pinpointed was Saturday 22nd Ocotber. Suggestions so far have included renting a sauna in town or even a mökki in the vicinity. We'd share the costs so either way it's unlikely to end up as much more than 25€/participant. 

Would you attend? Do you have any suggestions? Please answer the poll on the right hand panel so we can get an idea of interest. And comments would be greatly welcomed.

Charles