April in Meiko

It was supposed to be a sunny weekend, or so the weather forecast led us to believe. Unfortunately, just a few kilometers leaving home, the first drops started from Bemböle and it took us the final stretch of road to Meiko outdoor area in Kirkkonummi to get a rest from the downpour.

Some synchronization mishap led to two riding groups joining at the final destination, a Spanish/Polish team from one side, and a French-British-Korean on the other. The latter group, following the classic Kuninkaantie, took to the countryside roads out of Espoo, passing by fancy architects-designed houses, a rolling gravel road leading the the Northern shores of Humaljärvi dotted with old farms from years gone-by before getting up a hill to Korsolampi where we would spend the night. Oddly enough, the way to the lake was along a mildly steep uphill, a strange sight in these low lands of Southern Finland.

The evening was spent mostly exchanging around Benoît and his wife's year long journey from South of France to Korea, all the way through Iran, an excellent escape (at least in our minds) from the relative misery of Finnish spring and its constant grey color. As someone might have said: "Ah, April, the November of Spring!". I officially kicked off the hammock season by setting it nicely at the edge of the still frozen lake.I spent a surprisingly good night, not bothered at all by the thick humidity of the place and the chilly temperatures.

Two early birds, Lee and Robin, took off a bit after sunrise while the rest of the group enjoyed the place a little bit more, before heading to Espoo along Espoonlahti and the coastal path all the way to Helsinki, where Jorge and I got literally drenched by a spring shower (including hail!). Despite being soaked from head to toe, this Sub24 was as fun as it can be, and I'm glad we still manage to find new places to pitch our tent after 5 years running these Sub24 overnighters!

- Florian.