25th May - A Finnish entry to Scandinavia

My alarm rang out at 5am and it was daylight outside, I wondered what it would be like later in the week when i was so far north it never actually went dark.

This morning’s early start was necessitated by an 07:30 ferry departure from Tallinn to Helsinki, prior to that I had to get up, load the bike, take the keys of the apartment to a drop off address and then get to the port.  All went smoothly and pretty much on time we set off, just as the forecast rain started to fall over Tallinn - a sign of things to com perhaps.

True enough, a couple of hours later as we moored in Helsinki, it was chucking it down.  It was also Saturday morning and the city was busy already so I dispensed with any thoughts of a ride around the city itself and picked up the highway signs to head north.

The highway allowed some miles to be put to rest relatively quickly, albeit unpleasantly.  There was a lot of traffic and with the continued rain the spray was horrendous, luckily the new gear I had brought for this trip (Rev-it Poseidon 2) was living up to its claims and not letting in a drop, though it was getting a little chilly, so I stopped for a coffee and comfort break.

For some reason I was enjoying the wet weather highway miles in Finland much more than the hot and sunny ones in the Baltics - weird!  The positive impression continued when I went to the loo in a service area - the Fins had thoughtfully provided a shelf to put ones helmet on as well as a nice view out of the window.  Things were looking up 😂

After a couple of hours riding  I left the highway and headed north east towards the Russian border.  I was heading for an area of Finland renowned for its lakes - their lake district if you like.  In particular  I planned to ride along route 62 which runs from Imatra through Puumala to Mikkeli.

Despite the lousy weather, the area and the road lived up to its reputation.  

The area is unlike anything else I have seen.  Whether it should be thought of as a land mass with thousands of lakes or a water mass with thousands of islands is perhaps debatable.  There are alleged to be around 55000 lakes of more than 200 metres width in the region.

The road is curvy and  undulating making a very enjoyable ride as it  snakes around the land masses until it can get no further,  then it crosses the water via a bridge or simply a raised  road built through an area of shallow water.

The land is never more than a hundred metres or so above the water level, I climbed up at one high  point to get a better look.

There were some lovely looking propeties nestled in amongst the many coves and islets that the geography provided.  Many of these were set up as holiday cabins and I imagine that this area would be very popular in the summer momths - though I cant imagine it ever getting busy as it is so vast and its easy to escape the traffic and people.

Away from the waterside the road provided a relaxing ride which, when the rain abated a little, could be fully appreciated. 

Tomorrow is a another long run and also forecast  to be rain most of the way - but lets hope the sun breaks though a little.  If things go according to plan I should be crossing the arctic circle late afternoon.