One post to make it all, the summer vacation in Finland!

Posted on August 3, 2013 by ombrandt

Where to start?

I guess day “0”, departure day, going to the boat on the 18th of July.
The day before I took my bike to work and left it in the garage (it’s 5 min from the harbor), and being by the check in 06:10 am was a little to early biking for my taste, plus the first tube to work gave me 15 min of “to be late” time.
Thankfully it all went well, I got to the boat in time!

Waiting in line to get on the boat in värtahamnen. then the breakfast on the boat!

The wait to get of the boat has started! in Turku now..

I got of the boat and met my brotherinlaw Hannu, then we headed to our hotel

Two pictures Hannu “snapped” of me on the way from the harbor to our hotel.

Our hotel of choice was Omena, pretty much in the middle of Turku, nothing fancy, but good space, large TV and fairly cheap!

Our two stallions in a corner at our hotel, ready for the abusive loading of gear.

Pretty much straight from the hotel check in we went to meet a friend of mine,Esa aka Bellina.

The one they call Bellina and me at Panimoravintola Koulu some kind of meatserving brewery, nice food and beer!

From there we went to a pub, had a few more pints before heading back to sleep!

Day 1 – The first one of our epic two days Tour the Finland on the Kings road!

Well the day started early, breakfast at Subways around 0800 before a quick stop by Turun linna (the castle in Turku)

Me in front of Turun linna to the left and both of us in front of it to the right.

From the castle we went towards Salo, which would be our halfway stop for the day!
The roads where 90% bike roads, and rather country side-ish.

We had a little rain on our way out of Turku, didn’t stop Hannu from bringing out his Nikon, or lending it to me!

We found our Sign, it says Kings Road in Finish and Swedish!

At some point towards Salo we took a turn of the main road (I think it was the 51 or something) and ended up in what was more or less our own road (I think we met three cars in 15-20km)

Complementary pictures of dramatic skies or something, it rained far away, then we hit the rain, the things that happen when you bike with a photo-nerd!

Anyway, roughly 60 km and many hours later, we found Salo! where I bought an new mini-pump (that broke a week later), before heading to get lunch!

Said bikestore where I bought my pump, it started raining badly here.

Pizza time, we stopped at “Smiley face” pizza or something like that,I had a bacon something pizza, Hannu had something vegetarian.

Again with some artsy pictures from Hannu, my Uvex helmet with the go pro on it..

From Salo we headed south towards Tammisaari, fairly uneventful, abit of a changing weather, we did help out to “save” some horses, have a stop in Teijo

Said horse that was trying to runaway, and the reason we stopped, to photo this magnificent stable building!

We had more rain on the way, here from outside a farms hedge, gave nice cover while we waited for the worst to pass!

My bike leaning against a tree somewhere, during one of the “nature calls” breaks, the right was a church on the way in to Tammisaari (Tenhola I think).

We found our motel fairly late, I think between 1900 and 2000, but it was ok, plan was to walk around a bit, have some food, a few beers, maybe take sauna before bedtime.
Everything but sauna went as planned, sauna was booked for next morning, after breakfast.

Some mode pictures from Tammisaari, beautiful town by the sea.

Another mode shot, this time of the church tower in Tammisaari, and just a little shot to show how dirty our bikes got!

Not the biggest of rooms, but we fit everything inside, our rooms was at “Motel Marine”

At the end of the day, this was where we biked:

Day 2 – Two tired men go from Tammisaari to Helsinki

So, Saturday morning, breakfast “continental light” style, that’s no bacon for me and on top of that the people at the motel forgot to put on the sauna, so no sauna either, well early start for us then!

Posing on a beach in Tammisaari, the morning of day 2

The original plan for today included a trip to Fiskars, but after a really long discussion (or one minute talk) we decided not to go “all the way up there” and instead went a different route that took us past Raseborg Castle

Hannu and me outside of the castle and the castle from another angle, cool castle atleast!

Me and Hannu on the inside of the castle, nice lighting from the windows and stuff.

Two pictures of the inner courtyard of the castle.

From Raseborg we headed toward Helsinki via Inkoo and Kirkkunummi, where we had a coffee break and our lunch, before heading via Espoo, Leppävaara to eastern Helsinki.

Some pictures from our “fika” in Inkoo.

Random mailboxes on one of the roads, think it’s somewhere between Inkoo and Kirkkunummi, a lot of what we saw on our trip was similar landscape/scenery.

Home at last well at least at our end destination, being greeted by one happy little girl, my little princess <3

The GPS file from our trip this day:

The rest of the Finland trip, starting with a exploration ride of almost 90 km.

Well I did spend nearly two weeks in Finland, sadly I got problems with a tooth, had to go on antibiotics and then pull said tooth.

Anyway, I did get a few days of biking in before and after it!
The first trip I did a few days after finishing the Kings Road ride

The plan was to CX in Sipoonkorpi, unfortunately I ended up abit wrong compared to what I hoped and I only found some skiing place, filled up with soft and soggy sawdust, well since my mom was in Helsinki, I figured I’d turn around and go see if she had time!

The only two pictures I took on this trip, the Norwegian Kings Ship K/S Norge and a nice view by the beaches of Eiranranta.

After a quick Milkshake at McD with mom and one of her co-workers I headed for Sipoo to meet my lovely wife!

Photo session time! yes you read it right, I shall model a little (sort of)

Well it was decided that I was going to get some action shots of me biking, and Hannu agreed to bring his camera, flashes and softbox out in to the forest to photo.

Anyway, 4 hours later we had something like 62 pictures, here are some of them:

The flying Norwegian, effect achieved by having the photographer lying in the ditch with me jumping on the wooden bridge.

Full focus ahead, picture on is the place leading to where I jump of on picture number two.

The photographer wanted a picture with the view that I can only describe as a little peeping Tom or something…

Two pictures where we played with shutter speed and flashes to get some ghost trails.

The trial of GoPro’ing

I got to borrow a GoPro hero2 from Hannu, after a few tries, some cheezy editing of the movie, this is the result:

All the music in this movie is from www.beatpick.com

Thats it for my vacation, who knows what will happen next time!

Day before departure

Posted on July 17, 2013 by ombrandt

And the nerves are kicking in!

Here’s the thing, I need to be at the harbor no later then 0610, on the way I need to stop at work to get my bike and one bag, this shouldn’t be a issue as I walk past work from the tube to the boat, the problem is, the earliest tube from home gives me a 30 min error margin!

Oh well, packing is almost done, here’s to making it in time!

First real long trip with the Burley

Posted on July 6, 2013 by ombrandt

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Today I went out with the two boys and our spoiled little princess (Siiri), the plan was to take a trip through Järva, up to Översjön for some BBQ and play time.

Mathias and Viljami at the time of departure, had to stop there for Mathias to fix his shoelaces..

Siiri in her protected environment, no kääpä (bugs) in there!

First fika stop, Mathias and Viljami posing like always, Siiri looking serious.. this is somewhere around 4 km on the map (top of säbysjön, they had no breakfast so this would do)

The kids enjoying some time by the water at Översjön, Siiri and Viljami balancing by the water and Mathias with his rock (or snail) that he found!

This place was also where the BBQ was going down, sadly, the ICA one time BBQ’s didn’t really work, so we had cold sausages and some juice before going on (the plan was to go home now, but that didn’t happen), instead we ended up having another fika, at Säby Cafe.

Mathias with his ice cream and “awesome” hair, which he refuses to cut, Siiri making a face and blocking out Viljami..

From here we planned to bike to the McDonald restaurant in Rissne, but before we got there we stopped at Leffe’s place and at a playspot close to Spånga IP.

Mia and Leffe just before we left from their place and Mia helping Siiri with her helmet!

Lots of pictures from the play spot close to Spånga IP, Siiri playing with wooden cars, the boys biking on the roundabout bikes and the big swing!

On our way from the play spot to go eat at McDonald Ellie asked if we could get some sewing stuffs (weird needles and brown thread) so with 25 minutes to spare we had to find our way from Rissne to Sundbyberg, Garming Edge to the rescue!

On the way to the cloth and sewing store someone fell asleep, doesn’t look like the most comfy way to sleep though xD

Siiri was woken up to some Milkshake, Viljami had some Sundae with strawberry jam!

Mathias with some caramel fudge sundae, looking bright as ever, these pictures are outside the McDonald in Sundbyberg, where we only stopped for some cold refreshments!

We got the needles and things for Ellie and after a short fika outside McDonald I again had to use my GPS to find a way home 😀
Siiri got a little angry and whiney on the way from Sundbyberg so we stopped by a park-slash-lake areas.

Siiri by on her way to the water, posing as always… Viljami having a quiet moment, by the water, with his helmet on…

The golden trio of kids out biking today, so fun to be by the water

The GPS found us a way home, and if we quickly mention, before moving on, my detour because I thought I knew better, we “soon™” was close to home!
There was time for another break though, the old man (me) needed a toilet and the kids wanted something cold again, so Ice cream at OKQ8 in Helenelund!

The ice cream outside OKQ8 in Helenelund, Twisters for the boys, Piggelin for Siiri, I being older and more sophisticated had a Ice coffee icecream thing!

Being almost home we really only had one more shot at the McDonald lunch I promised earlier, though this was more the time for dinner, we stopped for some food and play time anyway!

Viljami with his dinner, the usual, Cheeseburger happymeal with milk and some apples (Siiri stole his apples again!)

Mathias with hair in his eyes waiting “patiently” for me to take the darn picture so he could eat, Siiri looking graceful as ever, she really just wanted the play spot anyway..

The man himself, me, enjoying a cold cola in the sun, not sure if it’s visible on this picture, but I got myself a pair of stingy, fiery red shoulders today, so as I’m sitting here typing this I have yogurt on them to lessen the pain from the burn (Ellie said it would help, still not sure if she’s pulling my leg or not!)

Last but not least, the map from today, and under it the link to the runkeeper page from the biking, incase anyone is interested in the stats from this truly slow ride!

http://runkeeper.com/user/ombirons/activity/204902831

Last few tidbits before the Finland trip! (+this weeks exploring)

Posted on July 4, 2013 by ombrandt

Not going to be the biggest post in the world, but today me, the wife and the two girls went out to shop stuff, including my last items for the long trip.

So without much more fuss, here is the list of things we bought:
– 4 x Carbohydrate gel’s
– 2 x Continental tubes (I now how three spare ones with me)
– One new tire (my front one got a nasty rift and well I want a spare one with me for the trip and the two weeks in Finland..)
– Four pairs of white ankle socks!

And last but not least, my new pair of Castelli Velocissimo Due BIB:

Other then this, I’we done some more exploring, Igelbäcken to be precis, I was looking for some nice flowing forest paths and stuff, so I took the bike and headed down towards Igelbäcken, followed the road next to it past Akalla and past Kista, before I had to jump off the bike and go over the new road, down in Igelbäcken I think I found a little piece of heaven, lots and lots of tracks all over the place!

I also met Magnus, who was out with his 29’er MTB, after a little chat we went back towards Järva together and I showed him a few of the places I usualy bike (since I’m on a Cyclocross I dont go the most technical places, more flow, more fun!)

Anyway, here is the map from this day:

For a more detailed view, check out my Garmin connect page —>HERE<—

Vacation biking planning 90% done or there about..

Posted on June 30, 2013 by ombrandt

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Right, so far the planning is going good, tickets for me to take the boat the 18th of July is booked, with a cabin and lunch on board, I think it came to something just under 700 SEK all inclusive

my booking confirmation, just because I can post it!

What more’s left?
Well Hannu booked the rooms at omena hotel in Turku, still waiting to see if Ilkka is joining, but I’m staying optimistic!
I’we also started preparing my bike for touring, so two new bags attached, the front handlebar bag and a “carb loading bag” that sits between my top tube and the saddle.
Still gotta make sure I got the tools, spare parts and other stuff I need with me, but all in all it seems to be heading the right way!

Recap of the ride itself:

I’we made a new map of the trip and imported it to my new Garmin Edge 800 to.
Two day ride, probably Turku -> Tammisaari on Friday and Tammisaari –> Helsinki on Wednesday, not sure what stops we will have on the way, but more on that later on!

Another day with the kids out in Järva

Posted on June 27, 2013 by ombrandt

I think we went out something like 10:00 o’clock and we came home like 1500(?)

So first off, the map from our bike trip (24.2 km)

A nice mix of gravel road and forest paths again 🙂

First water break, Viljami having a sip while Mathias is waiting “patiently”… this is somewhere in the woods close to Bögsgård

Action pictures from the same area, First Viljami then Mathias passing by in a blazing pace!

The kids on one of the bird watching places by Ravalen

First fika at Bögs Gård, ice cream and soft drinks for the kids, same for me and a coffee, oh and we got a free sugar and cinnamon bun! awesome time!

From here we headed the gravel roads towards Naturskolan, and headed a detour up past Fäboda gård before heading down to Översjön.

A well earned break for the boys at Översjön, searching for fish in the lake, especially wondering if there would be any pike there 😀

The last fika of the day, at Säby Gård, the vanilla buns are amazing!

After this we went down to Barkarby Handelsplats and bought some biking gloves for the kids and after we got home we ended up going back to Barkarby to get a new bike for Viljami (again), since having both kids here ends up in (apparently) lots of biking, the small one he’s been using (the racer/cyclocross is just to big for him to reach the breaks) is so small and the gearing wrong.

Anyway, he now has a redish orange Scott Voltage 24, looking something like this:

Viljami with his new bike, which according to himself was “super fast” even on like gear 4! and then a better picture of the bike it self, and yes it came with the water bottle and bottle cage!

Exploring the hoods part 2

Posted on June 26, 2013 by ombrandt

It’s been two days or something since my last trip out alone with the cyclocross, but today I managed some more.

Started out from home and then went up the Hansta- and Järvaled

From here it was a bumpy and wet route, tons of roots, mud holes and mosquito infested areas, and with all the new found paths I seemed to never really get anywhere!

One of the muddy mosquito places!

Anyway, fun day and all, looking forward to find more places to bike, also I now want a suspension bike even more then before!

Taking the boys out on a ride

Posted on June 24, 2013 by ombrandt

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Well, since the boys aren’t allowed on the computers (including xbox) before 12:00 I get to take them out on bike rides!
Today was Järva with kids (or as I like to call it ~1 hour of whining)

The route we took, from home past the motorcross place, over the forest to naturskolan, then up to säbysjön, översjön and down by IKEA and home

Viljami racing ahead, Mathias coming after, this was basically where we started 🙂

Mathias going “no hands” and Viljami taking the opportunity to race past him..

The boys leading the bikes up the hill before our first and only “real” forest track, around 2.5 km in to the ride on the map (this was the most fun part, downhill, a little turns and stuff.

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A quick break, for photos and resting, but mostly photos, we didn’t stop for more then 5 min, the ants got annoying after that.

From here it was gravel roads home, lets see how tired the kids will be tonight!

(I went for another 30 km ride to meet my Wife in central Stockholm after this)

Summer vaccation, cross tires on again!

Posted on June 23, 2013 by ombrandt

Last night I swapped my touring tires for a pair of Conti CX Race tires and today it was time to go out and explore some forest paths in Järva!

I’ll start by adding a map, I went from home and up by the arch saying Hansta skogen/naturreservat or something and followed the paths around there (orange triangle I think)

Well I got my first “stop”

Some random tree in the roads, no biggie, just jump of and keep going on the other side! and me somewhere close to Bögs gård I think

Had to go over a field with some cows, thankfully they where a little to the side, on the right side is me at one of my “dead” ends.

Somewhere around 18 km’s I got to what looked like a prepared skiing place, nice packed gravel and lots of hills up and down, eventually got off it and ended in the forest again, with more fallen trees!

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Finally the last little hill before I was home!

All in all a fun day, I found lots of single tracks, some wide forest paths, alot of dirt roads, some horse roads and the skiing thing, not bad, but I consider it a lesson learned, I know why people enjoy the dampeners on bikes, it got bumpy!

Planning the bike ride™ of the summer

Posted on March 24, 2013 by ombrandt

So, me and some friends were talking about a bike ride this summer, and what do you know, “The old kings road” came up, for those of you fluent in finish, read more HERE.(google translate)
For those of you not fluent, here is the low down, it’s a old postal road or something, from Turku (Åbo for swedes) to Helsinki:

The plan is do go first from Turku to Tammisaari, spend the evening/night there, and the next day pedal to Helsinki!

Adventures of a Norwegian in Stockholm

Random blogging about me and my adventures biking and bow shooting

Category Archives: Vacation