Company welcomed

In the spirit of sub-24... no excuses. Over-nighters the first Friday of every month, right?

Despite holidays and travel monopolising the lives of potential sub-24ers, Friday 1st July will see one lonely Englishman riding to Nuuksio. Bike? Check. Tent? Check. Integrity? Check. Friends? Nope.

Company is welcomed.


... I noticed from the poll on the right that someone else is planning to come (and what does 'maybe' mean?). I wonder who you are. Maybe we should syncronise our watches?

This is Lee.


p.s. As of 8 pm Thursday, I am still going. Not sure to where yet, but Bemböle at 5.30, I'll hang around there for a minute or two in case someone's coming. You'll recognise me, I'll have a bike with me. And no friends. Am I sounding desperate yet?

Nuuksio and out!

Just got home from the second Sub-24 of 2011. Quite tired but feeling so good about the last 24 hours. We had a fantastic time!

The crew

Charles


Xavier


 Sonja


  Florian
 

Some friends and family joined us by car (the cheats!) but it made for a very social evening with people from Finland, France, the UK, Poland and Zimbabwe of different ages and backgrounds meddling together and enjoying the beautiful evening and constant light. And Zuzanna stayed for the camping, good on her!

The location: Haukanholma, Nuuksio National Park.

The road there is 17 kms from Bemböle and it is certainly challenging. It's very hilly, especially by Finnish standards!

Florian waiting in Kilo for the arrival of Sonja and Xavier

Ooooh, I sense a new blog profile picture coming along...

There they come!

Riding along Turuntie past Karakallio. Sorry you couldn't make it Lee, we thought of you!

Leaving Bemböle behind, and practising the "over-the-shoulder" picture technique!

 The sudden appearance of Pitkäjarvi makes us realise we're real happy to be there!

Riding up to skiing hills, practically the Alps then ;-)

The riding team

After a couple of hours riding, we made it to our camping spot and then the fun simply continued, in excellent company!

Charles' new "Star Wars" tent

 Florian and Ville refresh themselves, Finnish style

Feeling miserable :-)

Some people's first ever Makkara!

 The next morning, after a quick breakfast, the ride home.

Did I mention there were hills?

 It's always ok to get off and push!

The sight of Bemböle means a return to civilisation

Now Charles' next challenge is to ride to Lapland from Helsinki, starting on June 15th. This means he won't be on the July 1st Sub-24. But Lee is up for going so look at your calendars and let us know if you're interested to join again next time!

3rd June 2011

In keeping with tradition, the first Friday of the month will be Sub-24 Friday! Last month saw two new faces join us (they're coming back, by the way!) so hopefully we can help more people lose their Sub-24 virginity this time. Remember to let us know if you intend to come, that way we can exchange phone numbers to make sure the meeting time goes smoothly.You can also vote on the right-hand panel of this blog so we can get an idea of numbers.

Talking of meeting time, this month we will meet at 17:30 at the Bemböle Shell Station.

View Larger Map

And this time we'll be heading to Nuuksio proper: Haukkalampi. That's a 17 kms ride from Bemböle and I must warn you, it is very hilly! We will be returning towards the city the next morning after breakfast. If this particular ride feels a little daunting to you, you could take yourself and your bike onto a train to Espoon Keskus, which is very close to the Bemböle meeting point. Zuzanna is thinking of doing this so you could even meet her there if you wanted to.

Here are the essentials that you need to bring:

• A bike
• A tent
  
• Sleeping bag and mat
• Food to grill
• Drinks (alcoholic or not, that's up to you) 

And this blog post usually applies to all Sub-24s but Lee will be in England this time so please find below and edited version of what you don't need (and what you do):

Charles and Lee will bring:

• A coffee pot, coffee, milk, something for a nightcap Does anyone have a coffee pot? I don't mind bringing the coffee and stuff if there is indeed a use for it.
  
• A map, swiss army knife, spoon, fork, matches and a lighter, and a first aid kit
• Bike tools, a pump, spare inner tubes (700c and 26"), puncture repair kit
• Oh, and a chain and padlock to lock the bikes together - helps me sleep, anyway I will just have my own lock which is a U-shape. If anyone has a longer one that would enable us to lock the bikes together, then bring it along!
  

Also, for the sake of ideas (or if you lose all your stuff on the ride), our victuals list looks like this:

• Some kind of meat: sausages, chicken nuggets, something healthy
• A loaf of bread and something to put on it, like chocolate spread
• Speaking of chocolate, some of that too, and sweets
• Water from the closest tap and a few luxury drinks, like beer

In honesty, we hope to share some of our food and drink, just as you hope to share some of yours. We will happily compromise on our clothes in order to pack our bikes as efficiently as possible. But we'll still bring enough whiskey for everyone to get a taste.

Having said that, bring a woolly jumper. And a sleeping bag. And a torch in case you need a wee-wee in the middle of the night... 

As usual, feel free to ask any questions below. See you on Friday!

First sub-24 of 2011

One down, five to go! The first sub-24 of 2011 saw regulars Lee and Charles joined by two sub-24 virgins: Zuzanna and Xavier. It was certainly cosmopolitan with Britain, France, Poland and the USA all represented (but where were the Finns? Hint hint...)

 

The Bemböle meeting spot and Lee's bike

The rest of the team arrive. Note that we are still fresh at this point ;-)

 

Lee and Xavier didn't let their road bikes be put off by the dirt paths

 

Lee's photography gets all arty once we arrive

 

Foie-gras, saucisson and beer. Only some of our "luxury items"

 

Charles and his traditional finesse

Cycling = Hungry business!

Zuzanna feeling very proud of herself. She never had cycled 20 kms before...

Did I mention that a couple of us were French?

 

No mosquitoes yet so we enjoyed the moon-rise in peace

 

The magic of the sub-24...  

Charles had brought his GoPro sports video camera and got some nice footage from both rides. Give him a chance to edit it and then we'll post it on here.

Next sub-24? Friday 3rd June.

Where? Nuuksio itself this time. That's a 17 kms ride from the Bemböle Shell Station meeting spot.

A poll is already up on the blog's front page so let us know if you're coming!

What you don't need (and what you do)

The spirit of sub-24 dictates mutual support and sharing. But if anyone tries to touch my jam, there'll be trouble.


Charles and Lee will bring:

• A coffee pot, coffee, milk, something for a nightcap
• A map, swiss army knife, spoon, fork, matches and a lighter, and a first aid kit
• Bike tools, a pump, spare inner tubes (700c and 26"), puncture repair kit
• Oh, and a chain and padlock to lock the bikes together - helps me sleep, anyway

Here's what you probably do need:

• A tent (if you want to see if someone has space in theirs, use the comments section or the Facebook page)
• Sleeping bag and mat
• Food to grill
• Drinks (alcoholic or not, that's up to you)
• A willingness to share your food, drinks and life story
• Sub24 tradition encourages you to bring one "luxury item" to share. A bottle of something special, a local delicacy (the stranger, the better), or anything that you'd not usually expect to find on a camping trip.

In honesty, we hope to share some of our food and drink, just as you hope to share some of yours. We will happily compromise on our clothes in order to pack our bikes as efficiently as possible. But we'll still bring enough whiskey for everyone to get a taste.


Having said that, bring a woolly jumper. And a sleeping bag. And a torch in case you need a wee-wee in the middle of the night...

6th May 2011

Remember the date folks, the first sub-24 of the season!

Meeting place: the crossroads on Turuntie by Nokia-Siemens in Espoo. We'll be waiting on the footbridge crossing Turuntie at 17:00.

View Larger Map

We well then head towards Nuuksio and will pick up anyone else who would rather meet us at the Bemböle Shell station. I imagine we'll be there around 17:30.

View Larger Map

What you need:

• A bike
• A tent
  
• Sleeping bag and mat
• Food to grill
• Drinks (alcoholic or not, that's up to you)

We will head to Pirttimäki to find our camping site, 6,5 kms away from Bemböle. We will be returning towards the city after a leasurely breakfast - home in time for a hearty lunch.

Please post any other question you may have in the comments section and see you on the 6th of May!

 

Sub-24 Helsinki

Years reading about trips…
Inspired by an idea heard on The Bike Show, Charles and Lee met in Leppävaara and rode bicycles along Turuntie with the Friday night rush-hour traffic, past Bodom lake, through the forest, and over the hills to Nuuksio. Too much food and drink, rain and darkness made for a memorable night. A cold and wet ride home along the asphalt left us tired. And ready for the weekend to start.
One of us said “Never again!” but then, there we were, this time with friend Stu. On a kick bike. Cold and scouts didn’t stop us, and we made this promise: next year, bigger and better…