Väransby, June 2013

It's nice behind Bembole Shell

More new roads and new friends for this month's sub-24. At our regular meeting point in Bemböle, riders from Britain (2!), Switzerland and Russia shook hands and filled water bottles.

After a short ride to Espoon keskus railway station, riders from Finland, France and Britain (2!) joined the crew for a new route.

Finnish wilderness. Espoon keskus.

Rather than retracing our steps along Kuninkaantie, we opted for a ride southwards through Espoo's wooded central park, through some new and posh-looking suburbs, arriving at the Lansivayla bridge across the bay at Kivenlahti. From there, our way was rather confused by the building of golf course roads, although, on a brighter note, we did see some forest deer. Maps, GPS, friendly locals, and we were finally pushed in the right direction.

The end of the road

The reward for our hard work was Hirsalantie, a wonderful curvy Finnish countryside road with only the slightest of hills for added interest.What more do you want? Sheep? Strawberries?

When we finally arrived at Varansby, we found a perfect beach camping spot, The Beast and two tandem-riding adventurers (French and Australian). Along with copious amounts of comedy nudity, the refreshing swim and roaring fire gave us an enjoyable evening. At our busiest, we had eleven riders this month, but again family commitments led a couple home before the sausages were burnt. 

The traditional wheel-dip

No camping?

If I'm honest, they fell straight off

Vegetables. Cooked by girls.

Gravel

T-shirt in honour of bike thieves

Everyone loves a tandem

The sound of light rain on our tents kept us all in bed until late on Saturday morning. A lightning quick break of camp and an ultra-leisurely breakfast put us on the road well within sub-24 limits. The rain stopped and our ride back along Hirsilantie was only disturbed by ridiculous numbers of locals driving into the city.

Rather than attempt negotiating golf courses or central parks, we headed straight towards the big city along Lansivayla, stopped only by red lights and tandem test-drives. Incidentally, in the hands of seasoned handlers, the tandem is terrifyingly fast downhill. It sounds like a truck, too.

Well, that's it for this month. Thanks to everyone. I thought it best not to include certain pictures for fear of alienating potential sub-24ers. Presumably the Facebook page will be rather less-well edited...