Still riding OffRoad!
Later this autumn it would be nice to make one challenging riding day with some of my friends. And since there is still many tracks and paths I didn’t ride in Salo area… I made a track for me to check some new places.
I’m sorry but I’m not sharing this gpx here -not even as a picture.
There’s definitely some places that can be much more challenging after the rain. Now it was dry everywhere.
I decided to test if it’s really true that I might not enjoy riding any more?!?
I was riding a day and I was trying to find the kind of tracks that I usually enjoy the most. These are the OffRoad tracks that are not too difficult… I checked few new ones from the map but I didn’t make any route beforehand.
I made about 100km’s… Like this!
I started with riding in the forest without any paths -it was full Off Road!
And my route went by an old copper mine (Orijärven kuparikaivos)
And ofcourse I made a video about my day:
And YES! I was enjoying the day a lot! Gonna do it again soon!
I got surprising email few days ago!
It was from HMK ry who is primarily responsible for organizing the 2026 Päitsi. This year the “Päijänteen ympäriajo” (Race around Lake Päijänne) is held for the 90th time!
And this year the route of the race is first time offered also as a GPX -file and HMK was asking help from me! “What would be the easiest way to make the file?” -They asked.
First I answered that using myrouteapp.com or osmand.net is maybe the easiest way but if they want to have some additional info on the file it must be done by Basecamp software.
Then on second answer I offered myself to be the one to do it! And the answer was YES, please!
So I got the route of the race as a pdf -file and I just used the myrouteapp to make the first raw-version and then I was fixing the file on Basecamp. I added some smaller roads/ tracks that were missing from the raw-file and I added the starting places of the ET stages as a POI to the file.
So I didn’t make the route for this years race… But I made the gpx -file for the racers who wants to follow the route with the GPS device!
I’ve been riding Adventure and Enduro about 10 years. TET Linesman of Finland I’ve been now 2,5 years.
The more I’ve been riding the more it is not clear to me where you can ride and where it is not OK?
Finland Roads and Traffic act says that it is OK ride to ride on the road -It is not OK to ride outside the road (OffRoad). But the problem is about the fact “What is the road?”
But I also have quite clear thoughts how it should be! What the road owners should do…
We have quite many possible traffic signs and they should use more of those!
Like I’m saying in the video: The amount of road users is getting bigger and bigger (OffRoad car drivers, ATV riders and adventure motorcycle riders) so it is obvious that the private forest roads cannot stay unused forever. If you don’t want other road users there you need to put the traffic sign to your road!
On august 17th I bought a new enduro bike! This time I chose BMW G650 XChallenge! It has the same 1-cylinder 650ccm Rotax-engine than in many many other bikes. It is known to be very trustful and you don’t have to make service all the time.
I rode the bike from Lappeenranta to home and I really was enjoying enduroriding again!
During this autumn I’ve been riding few times with friends also and I’ve had videocamera with me. Here are some nice videos:
This was 2nd of september. We were riding mostly quite big roads/ easy roads so everyone could join the ride!
The roads in Kiikala area are very nice!! You really can enjoy the speed and essence of Finnish nature and adventure motorcycling!
This one is from Vihti/ Karkkila/ Lohja area (Rausjärvi). It is also a part of Trans Euro Trail route that I planned last spring. In this video there is a scary moment in 06:45 when a car comes from the yard straight in front of me! Luckily I had enough time to ride aside!
In the end of september we had a little bit different ride. This time mostly OffRoad. This was already in the beginning of the day… The most difficult parts! I can say that I was sweating like a pig… or a horse!
This path is quite well known route in Vihti. Not too difficult, almost quite ok for ordinary roadbike too.
This is one sandpit near Lohja. There is also nice small pond and we are riding around it two times.
And the last route is an old railroad (without rails) in Pikkala. The railroad was built by Russians when the area was part of Russia after the WWII.
In this video there is short break to take pictures under the bridge and then riding over the log. This log is not that difficult anymore…
Yesterday it was local Ducati dealers season start with the possibility to take a ride with new models of 2017. I was interested mainly about this new Desert Sled and its OffRoad possibilities.
But the bike is big! When you sit on it, you’ll not feel it could be an easy ride in a difficult surface. It is also very heavy bike! It’s over 200kg with gasoline in the tank. And with roadsize tyres it could not be enjoyable ride in a rocky or very soft (soil & mud) surface!
Riding in the streets with it the experience is much more nice! The engine has nice power from the low rpm and the suspension is nicely stiff even with the heavy guy like me.
The same suspension feels too tight in the offroad and it has no settings to change.
The bike has tyres that gives you an idea that it would be a nice ride in unpaved roads. And it could be like that as long as the road is in good condition. The worse the surface of the road gets more uncomfortable this bike is (I think). The whole bike is more like a show off to your friends and other riders -so that they could think you’re somekind of real adventure rider. But you’re not.
Engine is soft and it has no soul. Where’s the spirit of Ducati V2???
It was actually already before easter when I got the offer from my Honda VFR1200X Crosstourer. After trying to sell it so long time I was quite happy with offer I got from Bikeworld. But I had to wait over 1 week for the delivery of the new KTM 690 Enduro.
This photo was taken only 10km’s after I bought it and already I’m offroad!! Ok it’s only like 20 meters away from the pavement but anyway that bike really invites you to make turns away from the road.
My way home (normally about 30km’s) turned in to 90 kilometers of gravel roads and some little bit illegal roads. I even found some nice and interesting places.
Here’s the route I rode yesterday (few places I couldn’t add to the route since googlemaps doesn’t allow it).
The real offroad places (forest etc) are still snowy or at least very wet so for now I’m staying mostly on the gravel roads. But luckily there are lots of those here in my area!
GoZa Mite 