Managed to drag our sorry ar$es out of bed and get on the road by 09:30. Stopped off at the local Apothecary to load up with industrial quantities of Ibuprofen. Tracey has niggly Achilles and Miles has dodgey knees. The SPD adjustments yesterday didn't seem to help so I'll be going for wholesale saddle relocation later to see if this helps.
The day passed in a bit of a low tempo blur. Straightish roads, greenish trees, and minimal height gain/loss. Ran into (not literally!) a few more Reindeer, most solitary and a couple of small herds.
Also spotted the very flat Finnish Viper (a distant cousin of the Cobra I'm sure...errm, maybe not) on the road. Either it has evolved to avoid the danger posed by modern traffic or this particular one was an ex snake and pre-squashed.
Weather mainly fine with a couple of small bursts of rain, one of which we dodged by hiding in a bus shelter - the only one for a 100 miles !!
Arrived at a lovely quaint campsite at Pudasjarvi, Finland early, around 13:30 after a very gentle day. Most rustic (in a nice way) cabins yet - very 'of the forest'.
Got sorted, killed the resident hornets and mossies and biked the couple of miles into Pudasjarvi town centre to buy supplies for tonight's dinner.
Had a really good look around that occupied all of 37 seconds, avoided the inbred 'tards and beer mongers then biked back to the campsite.
A lovely evening was spent in an idyllic spot in the woods.
Total today a very gentle 46 miles and 210m of ascent. Total trip 567 miles
Tuesday 01 July 2008
Pinch, punch first of the month and no returns!
Managed to survive the night sharing our lovely rustic cabin in Pudasjarvi, Finland with various types of wildlife.
Tracey was quite concerned and thought she was going to be carried off by the (admittedly mahoosive) Wood Ants. I think she had visions of being put to work in their local nest as a human drone!
Away at 09:00 for a 55 miler to Puolanka, Finland. Left route 78 briefly by taking route 20 and then rejoining 78 eleven or so miles later.
How we laughed during our ride on the 20 when a few Hornets took great interest in our bike, panniers and, above all, Tracey. This lead to her leaping off the tandem squealing girlishly as they continued their interest in the bike and ignored her.
Miles was mightily amused as he was still on the bike and now surrounded by a cloud of inquisitive monster insects. This lead to what is known in tandem circles as 'separation'. That is, where the stoker is abandoned at the roadside whilst the captain pi$$es off trying to escape too much unwanted attention.
Suffice to say, we rendezvoused shortly after Tracey managed her PB for the 100m and bounced her heart rate to the highest yet for this trip, regained our composure and continued on our way. Turns out, the Hornets just want FOOD and are really quite docile (so far!).
They (the Hornets) stayed with us for the rest of the day which led to intermittent squeals and wriggles from the stoker compartment but no repetition of 'separation'.
Continued grinding the miles out in hot, sunny weather with occasional thundery showers. Head winds also stayed with us for most of the day.
Scenery much improved, more ups, downs and bends than we've been used to of late. The surrounding countryside is now peppered with frequent farms and homesteads to punctuate the green.
On the wildlife front, we spotted a couple more Flat Finnish Vipers, a cheeky red Squirrel and our first MOOSE! This beast had taken up residence in the middle of the road and was moving for no one. It was very docile and watched with some amusement as we trundled past with the stoker flapping at her entourage of insects like washing in the wind.
Arrived into the Puolanka campsite at around 15:00, booked in, unpacked and then waddled into town to buy more supplies.
Puolanka is another example of a 'One Whore Town' that may have been transplanted directly from the USA. Well it has a Bank and Supermarket at least so hurrah for that.
Total today a hardy 55 miles and 470m of ascent. Total trip 622 miles
More Southerly ramblings to follow.
Back soon. Miles & Tracey.
