On saturday I hade a meeting in Lahti so I started planning the route to ride there. The spring was already so far that there was no ice and snow anymore except in few places. But I could ride through from all the places and I didn’t turn back anywhere. Here was my route to Lahti:
It was all together almost 300 kilometers for saturday. And it was really nice route and very enjoyable ride! I visited one friend in Orimattila to sleep the night there. Here’s the video from Day 1:
From Karjaa to Lahti
On sunday I first did a ride to Mankala Power Plant and from there I turned “back home”. But the route was about checking the Section 6 of TransEuroTrail Finland that I will share later. That turned out to be very nice route also!! Even less ice and snow than on saturday. I’m sorry but I’m not sharing the picture of the route because it will be published later in TET. Here’s the video from Day 2:
From Orimattila to Mankala and from There back to Karjaa
The best picture of the weekend is from sunday. This really made me smile!
Alive Children
I hope I will have a chance to do more these kind of longer trips this year!! I really enjoyed this so much.
YES! Spring is NOT around the corner, it’s here finally! So many plans made and so many routes to check. TET Finland will be even better soon! But lets start with the local roads and tracks. First ride was on Good Friday (Pitkäperjantai):
Good Ride on Good Friday
Second ride was on saturday:
Saturday with some more OffRoad parts
And on that ride we had a good laugh (I fell with the bike)!
Notice: Insta360 selfie stick is not made for enduro riding! Ihave now had it 3 times in my bike and it’s now bended. I can hardly open it or close it. I wonder is there any better ones?
Finally got out with my bike and this interesting camera Insta360 was attached into it. First ride I made a week ago. The camera was in handle-bar and I wanted to check only how it will look? Editing a good video was quite easy (Ok, I dunno about good but it looks quite ok to me!)
Insta360 One X2 attached in handlebar
Second ride I made yesterday. Now I had 2 cameras and my microphone with the wire (I couldn’t find my Rode Wireless!!) My DJI Osmo Action was in the normal place (handlebar) and Insta360 was on the tip of the stick behind me. You can see it from this picture:
Editing with 2 different cameras is much more complicated than you first think! They have dirrent picture style and colors. And my microphone with the wire mostly doesn’t work! I need to find my wireless mic -it has much better sound quality. Here’s video from yesterday:
Riding with 2 different cameras!
3 times in this movie there’s a cut from Osmo Action to Insta 360 when you should “understand” that this is the same place, same time and same ride. But if you don’t get it… It doesn’t matter! You can still watch the video. Maybe I can adjust the cameras so that the picture will look more similar? And maybe I need to make more “sharp cut” to make it more obvious. And the battery of Insta360 lasts much longer than DJI Osmo Action!
Every now and then there is a question which navigation system is the best for Adventure riding? I don’t have the correct answer but here are some features to check. Especially if you want to ride TransEuroTrail (Finland). I’ve been using Garmin GPSmap 62, Garmin Montana 600, Last summer Samsung Active Tab 2 & Osmand App and now I have Garmin Montana 700. I did a testride with both of these navigation systems attached to my motorcycle. I also had my camera (DJI Osmo Action) attached to my helmet -this I didn’t have in a very long time. And Rode Wireless Go II microphone was connected to my camera and the microphone itself was inside my helmet. Here is the video:
I’m not saying which one is better. They both have some cons and pros. Samsung Tab can be a little bit tricky to keep the batter fully loaded. It is very delicate part of the tablet this USB gate where you should connect the charging wire. I was using the magnetic type of wire where there is an extra connection just after the plug that you should push to the USB gate. The power that comes from my motorcycles alternator is not quite enough to keep the battery 100% loaded all day. But in novemeber when we were riding 9 hours it took only about 30% of battery power… So I could easily ride 2-3 days without recharging the tablet. It has also a small problem about the maps. You can get along with them but they are not as accurate than the maps in Garmin Montana. Every now and then I was little bit confused with Osmand maps. Why this track or that road is not on the map? Garmin Montana 700 biggest drawback (so far) is that you can’t change the thickness of the saved track’s line on the map! This makes it little bit tricky to see the line on the map that you should try to follow. The strangest thing is that it was possible in Garmin Montana 600!! (And also in Osmand App!) There are a lot of other devices and other apps to use. Especially this whole Apple -thing! I know nothing about them. But for android this Osmand is very good choice because it’s free or it’s not expensive to buy (full licence) where you can have unlimited amount of downloads (maps). I hope this helps you to choose a good system that serves you the best!
Week after our very nice November ride we got the first snow! And soon there was more and more coming all the time… At the best there was more than half of meter of snow on the ground. And it was also very cold all the time. -Until Christmas! In Christmas week it was over zero temperatures and even little bit of rain every now and then so almost all snow melted. And then again the last 2 days of the year it was very warm. On NewYears Eve we had +5° So I decided to go riding!
And while I was riding little bit of TET route I was hoping I could find a spot where there was no ICE. And I found…
I don’t have spikes in my tires so I can only ride on tarmac or in soft snow. I’m not that big fan of winter riding… But ofcourse if the weather is ok I can go. Next ride in 2023!
We’re actually going back in time to September 25th when I was riding with my friend Lauri from Karjalohja to Muurla direction. This was one of the best rides this year!
Here’s the video of that days ride!
But after about 150km’s My bike wasn’t running properly anymore! The idle running was ok but when I tried to twist the gas it started banging and didn’t take more rpm’s. My friend behind me said that there is gas smelling. We had some tools and we opened my airbox to check if the problem is there? It wasn’t… So I decided to give it a try and that was the correct decision because after few km’s I was able to ride normally…
Trying to give more GAS!
So we were able to ride the whole day but the problem didn’t disappear! One friend of mine took the bike and I asked the he would do “full service” in the same time as he was trying to find what was the problem. He had the the error reader so he just plugged the tablet that was connected to my bike and we got this:
The Speed sensor (RPM) is actually the same than so called crankshaft position sensor that gives the signal to the ignition. So it was no wonder that the engine didn’t run properly anymore. But was the sensor broken? Or was the problem somewhere else? After the engine cover was taken off from the right side it was easy to see what was the problem! The whole sensor was covered with some small parts of metal or metal dust. I had done the last oil-change already more than 2 years ago (and 8000 km’s) so it was a good warning about what happens if you don’t do service often enough! After new oil (Motul 5100 4T 15W-50), new oil-filter, new spark plugs, new air-filter and new coolant water my bike was running perfectly again! So no sensors were broken.
Early this year I paid my deposit to join this big adventure motorcycle event. But soon I got a phone call from the person who is one of the organizers… And I was asked to join as one of the “group leaders” to make this event possible to happen. And of course I said “Yes!” Moto Adventure Days is pretty much similar than any other adventure motorcycle event all around the world. This year it was the second time they arranged it and it was already many times bigger than last year, There was more than 180 participants and the event was sold out quite early in the spring.
About 9.30 PM tuesday evening
I started my ride on tuesday evening to Jämsä. It would be about 240 kilometers and I was choosing many times smaller roads. So I was in Himos only after it became dark. After Kuhmoinen I was already riding only the main paved road because it was dark. This was my route:
Route to Himos on tuesday evening
On wednesday all the teamleaders had some practise at Haaralankangas motocross track. We were testing quite many different things about riding enduro but it was too hot! After 2 hours I was loosing my concentration and after 3 hours I simply had to stop riding!
Uphill startSteep Uphill start
We had routes in 5 different categories: Black, Red-Black, Red Technical, Red Tempo and Blue. Balck route was mainly offroad even with swamp and other wet parts and then the categories after were easier and easier. Blue being mainly simple wide gravel road. I was one team leader for Red Technical routes and my team number was 16!
The event itself started on thursday when all the riders started to arrive to Himos. And on thursday afternoon about 15.30 we started the first group ride!
First ride in MAD 2022
I had one 1250GS Adventure that was stuck in the loose sand part in the beginning. But after that we didn’t have any problems. Route was the best of all three different routes I was riding. It had so many different kind of surface to ride! Second time riding was on friday morning 8.30 AM.
Second ride in MAD 2022
On this ride there was pretty much no problems at all! Third ride was on friday afternoon after 3PM
Third ride in MAD 2022
From this afternoon ride I remember that it was very hot! And that in the end of the route I made the water crossing… which was very nice experience! I have low adventure boots so I got a little bit of water inside but much. It looked deeper when I was watching the others riding there… Saturday morning was the next ride. 8.30AM!
Fourth ride in MAD 2022
On this ride there was mainly quite big bikes. All of them were much bigger than mine! The last ride of the event was on saturday afternoon. I was changing the route quite a lot… Mainly because I wanted to make it shorter.
Last ride in MAD 2022
The routemasters had been doing excellent work! These routes were super nice and fun to ride. Thank you again from me as a team leader and I think all of the riders are happy and grateful too! I can only hope I will be a team leader again next year. This was so perfect experience! I was riding back home (or to Espoo) on sunday with 2 friends. Route was pretty much the same that I was riding few days earlier. Only in EVO area we made a little bit exploring… Like this:
Exploring in EVO
In EVO
This was Great and Amazing event. I hope to see you all again in 2023!
Surprisingly june and july were moths (in the middle of the summer) and there was almost no riding at all. But when august came… It was on again! August started with “Tour de Karis” -kind of ride around this village where I live.
28 minutes video of riding in Karjaa – Snappertuna area
And quite soon again I was riding. This time to the north side of Raseborg city. I was especially interested about this road: Malmitie – Malmvägen. It looked interesting on the map and it turned out to be even better!! (in the video it’s from 4:45 to 09:15)
Malmvägen and some offroad
Then on 7th of august I did a ride with friend. That turned out to be excellent tour from Veikkola all the way to Kisko. Best parts were in Fiskars forest and then on the north side of Kärkelä Ironworks area. First Järventaustantie then Ruonankorventie and then Ahvenlammintie. Great Roads! And I made my longest riding video so far (38 minutes!).
Long ridingvideo!
Next week we’ll have MAD (Moto Adventure Days). It’s now second time this event is happening in Finland and I’m one of the guys riding in front of some group, doing so called “punainen tekninen” routes. These are mainly big and small gravel roads added with some challenging tracks and trails. Here is the description in Finnish: Harvaan liikennöityjä metsäautoteitä, polkuja ja kapeita yksityisteitä, joille ei välttämättä kannattaisi lähteä henkilöautolla yrittämään. Vastaan voi tulla pehmeetä hiekkaa, sepeliä, helppoja vesistöylityksiä ja muuta hauskaa. Toki välillä ajetaan nopeampia sorateitä. Sopii jo kokemusta omaaville kuskeille. Kuivalla kelillä pärjää hienosti karkeakuvioisilla kumeilla, mutta kostealla suosituksena nappulat. See you there!
I’ve been the Linesman of TET Finland now 1 year. Been making quite many updates and I thought it would be a good idea to show people how it is made? (The update) I don’t remember who made the original Section 5 (From Turku to Räyskälä) to connect Turku harbour with the main route -Sections 1 & 3 (From Helsinki to North)? But even as it was very good addition to the TET that time it didn’t serve as a “real adventure route” because too many parts with paved road. I really wanted to make the update! I didn’t know the gravelroads in that are too well so I knew I had to go and make a ride there also. But I made the “raw version” first and I tried to make as good as possible so that there wouldn’t be too much searching for better alternative when riding!
Ylijoentie, Salo
This was the first place to check! It turned out to be very good “short cut” in the area where there was a little bit paved road. Now there isn’t.
Wiurila Manor, Salo
This was second place I wanted to add to the route. TET was already going very close to this manor but since there was quite long part with only paved road I could add just a little bit gravel road and this amazing house/ area. Wiurilan Kartano
Meyer Yard, Turku
This place I knew. I just needed to check it one more time that it was easy to reach from the route. It’s the Meyer shipyard in Turku but the viewing place is in “Playa del Raiso” -on the other side of the bay. Very easy to make quick visit! After this I was finally on the part of the TET that I wanted to update. Route between Naantali and Räyskälä. First there are may villages with medieval (or very old) stone church. This is one of them:
Askainen Church, not actually a medieval church
After Askainen and Mynämäki you are finally entering the area with mostly gravel road. First the route goes towards Kurjenrahka National park and from there it goes to Somero direction. The whole Section 5 looks like this:
Section 5 (with the main route on the right)
I found 1 more interesting place on this route! There is outside swimming pool in Kyrö Village, entrance fee is 6€.
Kyrö swimming pool
The whole Section 5 is 450 kilometers. It starts from Siuntio, goes through Raasepori to Salo, then to Paimio and Turku, Then to Naantali. Then it turs back to east and goes to Somero and Räyskälä (In Loppi). I didn’t need to change the route almost at all -there was only 1 place where the route went straight through the yard and another place where was “Private road” sign. And ofcourse I made the video about this crazy day. Enjoy!
New cafeteria/ motorcycle meeting place Cafe Lättis was opened few years ago. It has become very popular and if the weather is nice there can easily be 100 or even 200 bikes on sunday afternoon.
Last august we had the first ever XR-meeting there and we had even 12 or 13 BMW S1000XR bikes in the same time!
8th of August 2021
This cafeteria has homepage in facebook. They are quite active there and sharing new pictures and updates very often! This summer when I’m riding with my enduro the distance to to visit Lättis is quite long. But if you just make the route it can be made easily. This time the route was excellent!
Best ride so far this summer
The route from Veikkola Neste to Cafe Lättis was like 150 kilometers. I found trails that I did’nt ride before and especially the trail that starts from Suopellontie (Karkkila) was excellent!
In the map the route looked like this!
On the west side of Cafe Lättis there is one landowner who doesn’t want bikes or cars to ride through!
So you need to ride to the paved road of Rautakoskentie! It seemed there was al lot interesting trails on the west side of Lättis so gotta go exploring there again!
Go - Za 