Lost in Sipoonkorpi

At the end of May, Finland switched suddenly to full summer weather, and it was under a great light that a strong team of 9 cyclists showed up at the farm of Haltiala.

The presence of a few newcomers from England, Finland and Tunisia (?) once again proves that the concept of Sub24 knows no border and is still attracting people.

After a long jaunt following Vantaanjoki and Keravanjoki with a few stops in search of food, a mandatory swimming stop would be done in the outdoor location of Kuusijärvi, Vantaa.

Enjoying the surprisingly warm waters, a few cyclists-turned-swimmers shared a swim with a family of ducks to embrace the spring nature.

Joined by Immi, the group would now count 10 people, if only for a short while as a few cyclist would return home the same day.

For the rest of us, the goal was a laavu and a fireplace to set the camp, nearby lake Bisajärvi. After pushing the bikes for a good 2 kilometers on small paths (remember Urja?), we all had to admit the laavu was no more. Indeed, asking a few close residents, it appeared that all the camping facilities of the area have been removed as the land on which they were located was now private. Our map from 2012 indicated otherwise…

Since there was no other option left, the first official camping place being more than 10 km away across forest paths, Olivier located a rock that would consist of our camp for the night. No fire that night, nor access to water, but the great food brought would make up for the disappointing turn of events: pulla, mustikka pie, strawberries… Fighting the armies of mosquitoes in full force, some tried the dubious technique of makkara grilling in the flames of a gaz stove, while pondering of the protein content of mosquitoes as everyone was swallowing them by the dozen.

After an uneventful night, Nick would leave us quickly to fulfill parenting tasks, and 5 of us were left for the morning breakfast. Mosquitoes all gone despite similar weather to last night, we enjoyed our time rather nicely, and made our way back to our respective homes by midday.

The thermometer that day would reach 27 degrees Celsius, to our greatest pleasure.

Thank you all for the good times cycling, swimming, and camping!