Matti's 30 Days of Biking

"30 Days of Biking is a pledge to ride your bike every day in April and share your adventures online with the hashtag #30daysofbiking."

I made my pledge on Saturday April 1 and became the rider no. 6236. In addition to sharing my rides on Twitter, I will write about them here. For the next 30 days this post will be updated daily. You can always find the latest ride on top of the post.

If you live in Helsinki, Finland or near by and want to ride together, contact me via Twitter. I ride single track on my fattie and road / gravel on my single speed. I'll most likely do an overnight bike-packing trip also.

Day 30: Finnish finish to 30 days of biking, 40km.

Is there a more Finnish way to finish 30 days of biking than to ride to a public sauna. If you're not familiar with Finnish sauna culture, it has nothing to do with the "saunas" you can find in red light districts (more). There are about half a dozen public saunas in Helsinki and in addition you can find saunas at all public pools and water parks in the country. But public saunas are only about one thing: having a great sauna with your friend or on your own. This time I met two of my friends at the sauna but first did a 40 km ride around Espoo. The weather was awful. Windy and cold and after 20 km it started to rain and then we got H2O in all forms: water, hail, snow, wintry-mix, you-name-it-we-got-it. After a ride in the cold, hitting a 100 Celsius sauna was just what I needed to finish the ride, and 30 days of biking.

Day 29: Rocky trails of NE Helsinki, 20 km.

My neighborhood trails in North-East Helsinki offer great opportunities for all mountain-bikers from beginners to pros and everyone in between, like myself. Yu can choose the easy trails or ride endless rockgardens, roots and cliffs. Today we chose the latter. We spent almost three hours on our bikes and covered only 20 km. But those were tough and fun 20 km. In addition to exercise you can get a history lesson at the same time. There are still find some WWI era fortifications and cannon roads in these forests.

Days 26-28: Commuting, commuting, commuting, 38 km. 

Swan taking off inside the frame.

Just same-old, same-old commutes. Well, yesterday morning swans were close to the trail and today the statues ("stone men") at the central railway station got new face-masks.

Kiss is coming to town.

Day 25: Awful weather, great beer, 9 km.

My bike: "Do we really have to go out in the rain and cold?" Me: "It's 30 days of biking, not 24, so shut up and go."
This was one of those days, that I would have stayed off the bike without the #30DaysOfBiking pledge. I was busy at work and doe to family logistics wasn't able to ride to work. I had a micro brewery tasting in the evening so I decided to ride there. The beers were good, but they were too many for riding. Should have taken the metro home, but decided to ride in the rain instead. Well, i was able to keep the rubber side down, at least mostly.

Bikes'n'beer = fun; Bikes'n'toomanybeers = nope.

Day 24: Quick evening ride to the bird tower, 4 km.

Bird tower close to home.

I was busy the whole day and didn't get to ride before the kids were in bed. Rode to a bird tower close by and sow a deer on the way back. Not much more to report.

Deer.

Day 23: Exploring abandoned Hell(sinki). 25 km.

Mammoth and a guerilla sauna next to it (google Sompasauna)

My friend defended her doctoral thesis on day 22 and I got home from the party at 1:30 am. So day 23 was a day of easy riding. I decided to explore areas of Helsinki I haven't visited before. First I rode to Sompsaari. The main cargo port of Helsinki used to be there, just 5 km on road (maybe 1 km straight) from the city center, and now it's developed into a residential area. You can still find some  abandoned ships there and a mammoth statue, because why not. After Sompasaari I rode to Kruunuvuori, another area that is facing massive reconstruction because a public transport and cycling bridge will cut the distance to city center from maybe 15 km to only 3. Sadly the abandoned house with the amazing gorilla graffiti burned down a few days after I visited it.

Abandon(ed) ship!

Abandoned house in Kruunuvuori.

Day 22: Morning coffee ride, 1 km.

Morning coffee ride

Had a busy day with my friend's PhD examination in Turku, so rode only 1 km to go out for morning coffee. Wasn't much but all I had time for today.

Day 21: Commuting series #3: Bikes'n'beer, 38 km.

Beer-stop one at Cafe Torpanranta

I usually take bit longer route home on Fridays with pit-stops at breweries and pubs. I try to leave work earlier, but this time I had some urgent stuff to take care of and was able to head out only at 5pm. We have sauna at 7 so I had roughly a 2h15min window to do my ride. Fridays are also great for combining biking with my other hobby: beers. I often ride a bit faster for 20-40 km and then continue for another 10-20 on slower phase with 1-3 beer-stops at my favorite pubs and breweries. Since I didn't have much time today I did the first stop already after 10k, then headed to Espoo and had another stop at Stadin Panimo brewery taproom. Was home at 7:15 pm and went straight to sauna. Rode 38 km, had two beers and 1000 units of fun.

Heading to Espoo

Beer-stop two at Stadin Panimo

Days 18-20: Standard commutes, 27 km. 

Riding to work.

Just a standard commutes. Not much to report. Rode to work in the morning of day 18. Left the bike at the office. And rode back on day 19.

Day 20 morning commute

Day 17: Fat-fun @CentralPark, 44 km.

Three fatties in central park.

Out of the 16 rides thus far I had done only two on my fattie. I started missing technical singletracks and luckily a guy I had met on the trails sent me a message about a group. The group turned out to be only three, but it was fun to ride with people who knew the trails well. I don't ride in Central Park that often and there are no build, maintained or marked trails. There are dozens of trails crisscrossing in the forest and you need to know which are best for riding. My ride to the park is about 9 km one way and we had to do some road transfers from one segment to another. Finished with about 10 km paved, 15 gravel and 20 singletrack. Was a fun ride with a new group. Here's some unedited video from our ride.

Dirty bike is a sure sign of good times.

 

Day 16. Vanhankaupunginselän ympäriajo, 15 km.

Isoisänsilta (Grandfather's bridge), Helsinki, FI.

Yes, the title actually means something. It could be translated as Tour de Old Town Bay. This is a nice 15 km spin on good cycling trails. Hit the 500 km mark for 30 Days of Biking.

Day 15: Riding with Major, major lack of motivation, 9 km.

After 158 km on single speed bike on day 14, my body was exhausted. Didn't feel like riding, but pledge is a pledge. Need a motivational beverage to get going so I rode to a pub and back.

Day 14: Exploring Porkkala and Kirkkonummi, 158 km.

Good Friday is "pitkäperjantai" in Finnish which literally translates as "Long Friday". Since it's a public holiday, there's no choice but to do a long Friday ride. Me and my two friends headed out early. We were a group of three riders with three bikes with three gears and two freewheels. And we decided to head West to Porkkala.

Three riders, three bikes, three gears, two freewheels.

For some reason I had never been to Porkkala before, even though it's only 50 km from my home. The natural beauty of Porkkala peninsula is breathtaking. The area also has an interesting history. After the WWII, in accordance with the Moscow armistice of 1944, it was leased to the Soviet Union and hosted a naval base right next to the Finnish capitol. It was returned to Finnish control in 1956, but some "the Red Army was here" tags were left on the wall of the warehouse of the Sjundby Manor. It was a beautiful sunny day (0 degrees celsius) and for the first 60 km I had great company who had to bail early because of family responsibilities. Starting my recovery with some sauna, pizza and beer.

Högberget cave

Högberget cave.

Sjundby manor

Sjundby manor.

Day 13: Familyman, 4 km.

Picked up my kid after work and didn't want to ride 10k with a sleeping wobbly 3y old in the back. Took the metro most of the way home.

Days 10-12: Commuting series #2: Enjoy the ride, 71 km.

My shortest commuting option is roughly 8,5 km, but as I wrote on day 5, that route includes lots of lights, intersections and all kinds of traffic. By adding 2-4 km, you can avoid most of the annoying spots and add more beautiful scenery. If you ride 20km/h, 2-4 km adds 6-12 minutes to your commute. In reality the difference is even less, because you don't have to make that many stops or slow down as often. In the map above I have five different routes that are 10-20 km long, and 10-20 times more fun than the 8,5 km route.

Beats riding in traffic

Day 12: Recharging before the day at the office

Day 11: Enjoying natural trails

Day 10: taking the kid to the kindergarten.

Day 9: Takin' it easy @Hallainvuori, 9 km

Early morning ride on neighbourhood trails. I had not been riding in Hallainvuori after the snow melted this spring. I rode there a lot this winter when the trail is packed with ice and snow. Without snow there's one rock garden following another and I didn't remember how much more technical the trail is without ice. Started getting a headache after couple of km's so took it easy. Sat down and enjoyed the sounds of spring: woodpeckers, cranes, swans... Wasn't what I planned, but wasn't bad either.

 Day 8: Pizza ride, 16 km

Fornitaly, one of the best pizzerias in Helsinki

I was on kid duty the whole day. In order to get my daily ride in I moved the child seat to my bike and went for a pizza with my 3 years old. It is kind of strange to find one of the best pizza places in Helsinki in an old barn on an island more than 10 km from the city center. Fornitaly serves authentic Italian pizzas. Certainly worth the trip. This was the first ride with the kid for the 30DoB so time to list the pros and cons of riding with a 3y old on the back of your bike:

- You get 20 extra kilos on your bike
- Those kilos often fall asleep and become extra wobbly
+ You get more exercise with the extra weight
+ With the extra weight you don't lose traction climbing up hills
+ You get to listen to Christmas carols while you ride (yes, it is April), this might turn into a - after an hour

Day 7: On the 7th day he rode to the brewery and was refreshed, 9 km

Rode back home from the office. It was a rainy evening and didn't feel like riding longer so I just rode home and stopped ate Stadin Panimo brewery's taproom for a pint. Not much more to report. Had a nice chat with the guy sharing a table with me because that's what we Finns do: chat with strangers.

Day 6: Lunch ride around the city, 12 km

Rode by Suomenlinna fortress

On day 6 commuted only one way and left my bike to work. I have a secure place for it at the office. It was a beautiful day so I went for a quick spin during my lunch break. Helsinki has a nice network f bike lanes in and around the city center. I rode by the shore for half an hour and finished with 12 km. Great way to get a ride in on a day when i would have been difficult to do otherwise.

Crossing the tracks

 Day 5: Commuting series #1: One dimensional man, 8,5 km

Heading out from Erätori.

I ride to work always when possible, but due to family logistics that often means only 2-3 times a week. I live in Herttoniemi, close to Erätori and my office is in the city center, in Forum. This is the first in a series posts about my various commuting routes and styles. I call this the one dimensional man. This is a goal-oriented commute, in which you choose the shortest route in order not to waste precious time from work, i.e. money, i.e. things you can buy with that money. But shortest ain't necessarily the fastest. I sopped once to take a picture, and I had to stop four times for lights and once because a coffin pilot didn't respect the yield sign. The shortest route also goes by the main railway station where you must ride slow because of all the pedestrians crossing the bike lane, or walking on the bike lane. This shortest route is 8,5 km and it took me roughly 25 minutes so my average speed was 19km/h. Due to all the stops this is slower than my normal commuting speed. I will post other routes and commuting styles later. They are all longer, but some are roughly as fast. And they are all more fun than a one dimensional commute.

One dimensional man route from Erätori to Forum

Kulosaari bridge.

One of the four stops for lights.

Day 4: Single speed love, 86 km, +7c

#SingleSpeedLove (Photo by TK)

Today after work I felt a little tired, but luckily I had planned a ride together with my friend TK. Once I hopped on my bike I felt re-energized. The weather was also much better than on the first three days. Sunny and warmer, but a bit windy. We headed west to Espoo, at first using the trails I discovered on day 2. Then we took the shoreline trail to Kivenlahti. We had to push against head wind on soft gravel. After a quick break at a gas station, we took the paved trail along the railroad tracks back to Helsinki. Could have continued a bit longer, but it was already 10pm when I got close to home and will have an early wake-up tomorrow. My Genesis Day One is a great bike also for a bit longer rides on gravel. I will certainly do that loop again, maybe heading out a little earlier doing an extra loop to make it a metric century.

Sunset ride. (Photo by TK)

Trail less than 10 k from the heart of Helsinki. (Photo by TK)

Day 3: Preparing for summer, 7 km, + 4c

Getting ready for summer.

30 days of biking also means 30 days of bike cleaning. Yesterday I again finished pretty late, so I postponed clean-up for today. Today was mostly maintenance day. After I finished cleaning my bike, I put the summer shoes on my fattie. Out with studded Dillingers, in with Bud and Vanhelga. I haven't been riding my neighborhood trails in Herttoniemi for couple of weeks. Last time everything was still covered in snow and ice. Some spots were still icy, but more than 90% was ice-free, and muddy. (To my trail advocate friends: no I wasn't ruining anyone's work. In Finland you can ride almost anywhere and most of the trails, like my neighborhood trails, are not built and maintained. They are kept open by riding.) Did an easy 7k spin and returned home. To clean my bike.

Ice, ice, baby.

Plenty of birds at Vanhankaupungnlahti (Old Town Bay).

Another clean-up.

Day 2: #RideForMike around Helsinki, 51 km, +4c

Endurance cyclist Mike Hall died on Friday in an accident during the India Pacific Wheel Race. Today cyclist around the world paid tribute to the legend. I rode for Mike around Helsinki. Again due to family responsibilities I was able to roll out only in the afternoon. I had to do a quick bike clean-up and tune the brakes before the ride. I was too cold, with wet feet, to do it yesterday. Today I decided to check some new routes in Western Helsinki. Will be returning to Karhusaari - Lehtisaari - Otaniemi (Espoo) again. Great bike trails in a beautiful environment.

Pre-ride clean-up and tuning.

Laajalahti

Day 2 ride.

Day 1: Scouting @ Sipoonkorpi, 52 km, +3c

Kelirikko = rasputitsa

Spring is early in Helsinki. I decided to ride to Sipoonkorpi to check the gravel roads to see if they are already in good condition. I rode out in the afternoon at 15:30. It was cold and humid. The frst 15 km were paved. Then I got to Sipoonkorpi and saw the sign (above) warning about rasputitsa. They were not kidding. Some sections were icy, some were soft and muddy. With different tyres it would have been fun, but Continental Sport Contact tyres are not meant for these conditions. Had to take it easy for 12 km even though a local farmer had just maintained the road (see the photo below). It was cold, it was muddy, it was fun.

Farmer doing some road maintenance

Can you spot the swans?

Chameleon.

Oops, I accidentally Pikkulintu'ed.

Day 1 ride