Euro E2E - The Route
Thursday 10 July 2008
10 July 2008
Thursday 10 July 2008
Our plan for today sees us reaching Helsinki. This involves around 65 miles of riding South along Route 130 which is a little bitty yellow road running alongside the gargantuan E12-3. A horror show of a major motorway.
Somewhat surprisingly, we managed to get on the road at the 'must have wet the bed' time of 08:30. This had the benefit of skipping whatever passes for rush hour in Hameemlinna as we had a very straight forward exit from the city.
Turning due South onto Route 130, let battle commence....
Very little traffic as most had diverted to the nearby highway. We also had the pleasure of a reasonable shoulder therefore any traffic that did put in an appearance had little effect on us.
Stopped for a CAKE and coffee at a roadside service after an hour or so and rejoined the fray for more....
As we toiled South, the weather improved and that yellow UFO returned for an encore which lifted our spirits.
We seemed to be Billy Whizzing the miles away today, probably in anticipation of a decent meal and a rest in Helsinki.
Arrived at the outskirts of Helsinki after 60 miles at around 14:00 to be somewhat frustrated by the myriad of poorly signed bikepaths heading into the City centre.
After what seemed like an interminable period of going around in circles (and quite a lot of voluble vented frustration....), we popped up in what appeared to be an industrial estate and luckily, found the main road into town
Arrived at the main tourist info point in the town centre, booked accommodation for the night and a ferry ticket to Tallinn, Estonia for tomorrow night.
Apparently, Helsinki is all booked out tomorrow as 'The Boss' (AKA Bruce Springsteen) is giving a concert to the poor folk of Finland.
Booked into our digs, showered, changed and prepared to eat 'magic Thai' for dinner. We also took the opportunity to book ahead to ensure we have digs in Tallinn when we arrived on the last ferry tomorrow night.
Our plan for the next couple of days is to spend tomorrow grockling in Helsinki then take the 21:40 ferry over to Estonia followed by more grockling in Tallinn on Saturday.
For the eagle eyed, that is two days of REST! Shurley not Miss Moneypenny.... Never fear dear reader, we will back in the saddle on Sunday.
Good to have arrived at our last point in Finland after what seems like weeks of biking. It's taken us 19 cycling days to dispatch the 1100 miles from North Cape, Norway to Helsinki, Finland. At times, we've found the scenery and biking a bit samey so here's to a bit more variety as we say 'Goodbye' to the Nordics and 'Hello' to the Baltic's.
Finland is our single biggest country of the tour and it is a relief to have successfully completed this leg particularly with our limited (and somewhat unusual in Miles' case) preparation.
Total today a very pleasant 70 miles and 500m of ascent. Total trip 1123 miles.
More Southerly ramblings to follow.
Back soon. Miles & Tracey.
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