Helsinki - Turku (Part II of the Going to Nordkapp wich became the Antwerp to The Netherlands to Germany to Finland to Sweden to Denmarktrip)

Helsinki - Riihimäki 84 km

The ferry port is located at 16 km from the city center of Helsinki it is a nice ride along a lake just follow the signs. Helsinki on a saturday morning doesn't seem to be a vibrant city except around the food market on the dock. However later at midday it was the Gay Pride and it gave some colors to the city. After a lazy morning I rode north towards Tampere. Around Vantaa I cycled on the cycle path going through the woods along the 130. Unfortunately At one point you reach the start of the motorway wich is parallel to the 130 and it can be noisy sometimes. After Nürmijarvï I rode directly on the 130 as there was almost no car. Long straight road and a bit boring sometimes. I slept in the woods 5 km before Riihimäki.

Arrival in Helsinki

Blue sky for the Gay pride unfortunately my first blue sky lasted until 2pm then rain resumed

Farm around Riihimaki cold drizzling rain

Riihimäki - Tampere 118 km

Same road as yesterday the 130. Not much to see but trees until Hämeenlinna where I had a nice café in a bakery right in the central square opposite the church  (the first good coffee I had so far, finnish coffee so far hasn't been very good. They make a pot the morning and serve it through the day, I asked once is it fresh brewed and the guy said "yes I made it 2 hours ago"). After Hämeenlinna the 130 goes through the lakes south of Tampere and is more interesting around Valkeakosky.

Stayed in a camping 4 km south of Tampere 17 euros

Wrong trail, had to turn back

Tampere -Ruovesi 98 km

Leaving Tampere I met Uwe a german tourer wich just came back from the North and happy to go home. He offered me a coffee and we shared a few tips.

Tampere is an interesting city with a strong industrial heritage. Needs a few hours to explore, a day would be great. I left Tampere following the road to Ylinen and Mutala then to reach Kuru I had no choice but to ride the 28 km on a big road the 65 with fast traffic, not advisable, the Finns are generally not cautious with bikes and don't allow you enough space to be comfortable on the road. After Kuru I followed the direction of Ruovesi where I found a nice camping near a beautiful lake. The road is very tiring with a succession of small hills. It rained half of the day and temperatures are getting really low 11 to 13 degrees with the wind on the big, I had to put on my winter clothes. Not so nice.

Camping Ruovesi 17 euros, very well located on a beautiful lake. 

I met Uwe leaving the camping. He just cycled around the Artic, obviously happy to leave Finland.

The wooden orthodox church of Tampere

An other lake under the rain

And more clouds

Ruovesi - Keuruu 75 km

Cycling to Keuruu was difficult under a heavy rain and cold weather around 11 degrees. The road is a succession of 12% hills. I am now stuck in Keuruu, all the roads going north are big with heavy traffic. I won't reach Nordkapp in time even going East. I need to reconsider my trip or it will be a disaster.

I met a Norwegian at the camp site coming from Hammerfest, he said "cycling in these condition is not a pleasure any more, it is like working, I give up take the train and I am going home" (he lives near Nordkapp, what an irony)

After 10 days of rain and a few half days with sun I  also had enough. I took the decision to find a train to go North to Rovaniemi and resume my trip over there as I can't find a nice road without traffic wich would bring me to Nordkaap in less than 2 weeks and hope to find more sun there.

Wild strawberries

On the way to Keuruu, a motorcyclist in the ferry told me that Finland was a flat country, I wish he rode a bicycle too.

Train station in Keuruu

In the evening I met Andreas who invited me to his cabin down at the lake. We shared a glass of wine some stories and a coffee the morning after. Andreas is Swiss but has some Finnish relatives, it was nice meeting him.

Having a morning coffee with Andreas before leaving Keuruu for Jyväskylä

 Small but interesting exhibition of paintings at the art museum or Keuruu. Keuruu has a nice wooden church and a few old wooden buildings like the train station and the museum.

Winter clothes

In the afternoon I took the train to the big station of Jyväskylä to catch a train to Rovaniemi but they wouldn't take my bike on the train because there was no more allocated space for bikes in the train. After checking the weather forecast I decided to give up the idea of cycling to Nordkaap and instead come back to Belgium through Sweden where the weather looked much warmer and very important dry. I took a bus with the bike to Turku and decided to take a ferry to Stockholm.

Antwerpen - Helsinki (Part I Going to Nordkapp)

From Antwerp to Venhorst 140 km

Winter is coming. The last 2 months have been cold and wet. I was anxious to leave and waited for a good weather window it lasted 3 hours then the first drops of water fell as I was cycling along the canal  Schoten - Turnhout. A great cycle path along a narrow canal surprisingly used by big barges with a few cafés along but they were all closed when I needed them. Turnout is a small city but quite pleasant with its little harbour. I kept following the canal for an other hour then took the N 284 to The Netherlands in the direction of Lemel, the ride was pleasant but as soon as you approach Eindhoven it becomes quite industrial. I decided to go around the city of Phillips (been there before and wasn't impressed) I passed a military airport and followed Lieshout then following farmers roads and potato fields I reached Venhorst I stayed in a camping in a farm with all facilities, on top of that I was the only customer. However it stormed from 9pm to 5am and I have been frequently awaked by the thunderstorm. Price for a biker 12 euros

To Turnhout

Court of Justice Turnhout

Venhorst to Hengelo 134 km

After yesterday's ride wich was very flat, I was happy to feel some variation of altitude, not tremendous though, this is the Netherlands. My first stop was in Gennep a Dutch village then I went to Kleve in Germany, I passed an impressive Commonwealth cemetary a remembrance of the 2nd World War. Kleve is a big city ordinary german, nothing caught my eye. After a couple of hours I crossed the Dutch border again and reached 'S Heerenberg were I had lunch. Interesting village with a beautifull castle and it claims to have the oldest garden of The Netherlands. The cycle path brought me to a lake near Doetinchem but it was too cold for a swim.I reached Hengelo and the Hampshire hotel were Irene joined me for 2 days. Hengelo is not a remarkable city but we were lucky to be there for the Street art festival. We went to Enschede (10' by train) and visited the Rijksmuseum of Twente where they had a Gainsborough display.

Potato

Gennep

The results of the Grunewald battle

Hengelo - Hannekenfärh 68 km

An other canal almost abandonned but great to cycle along, thriving with life and a few historical beacon like the dropping weapon area of Denekamp during WW2 from there the weapons were distributed in Twente by the Dutch resistance, you can also visit a small water lock to release the water of the canal in a river with a nice instructive movie. In Nordhorn I followed an other canal Ems - Vechte, very nice ride on dirt roads along a military base wich is also a nature reserve, to Hannekenfärh where I found a camping the heaven of mobilhomes and Dwarfs but they had 100 square meters reserved for tents. I called a grumpy old man wich didn't want to open the gate for me as I was interrupting him during the qualifying match to the quarter final (Germany won). Price 6 euros including a 8 minutes hot shower. 

Street art festival in Hengelo

Almelo Nordhorn canal

Dropping site monument

Hannekenfärh - Cloppenburg 100 km

I kept following the canal to Lingen where I had breakfast. Nothing special in Lingen. Actually nothing special today, I rode through farm lands potato, corn fields, grain of some sort avoiding the road 213 to Haselünne then to Cloppenburg adding 30 km to the distance. Ride was quite flat unfortunately the rivers are over flooding in some parts and a storm chased me from 4 to 6 pm I still had an other 15 km to ride for a camping wich might be as flooded as the road I was riding I was socking wet so I gave up and found a hotel the Diekgerdes for 55 euros a night incl. breakfast.

Rainy day again

Oooops !

An other Black forest

Cloppenburg - Zeven 128 km

Sunny morning at least until 1pm. Not much to do in or see in Cloppenburg I left in the morning and followed the 213 to Wildeshausen traffic wasn't too heavy and the cycle path next to the 213 was good. The city has some charms with a small historical center after all it is the capital of the Oldenburg district in Lower Saxony. After a well deserved coffee I went to Bremen passing Harpstedt and Heiligenrode (nice village). The south arrival to Bremen was nice along a few rivers, I followed the official cycle path. Bremen is an interesting city with a medieval feel. Leaving Bremen from the north was a bit difficult though and not as nice as the south. I arrived late in Zeven, nothing much except a monastary and a nice camping. 10 euros.

Zeven - Itzstedt 125 km

Took the road to Heeslingen then Buxtehude. After Buxtehude, the road along the river Este is very nice with a new kind of architecture, the hamburger style may be. I enjoyed the ride to Moorender passing the cherry trees fields. Unfortunately after Moorende it takes 2 hours to pass the harbor from the south and that is not nice at all. Lots of traffic and building around it looks like they are rebuilding the port, new bridge and infrastructured made me lost the way. I would have known I would have taken a train to avoid the port of Hamburg. Hamburg is a big city and not extremely bike friendly despite the cycle path. It is designed for cars in a hurry, lots of honking. It is worth spending time in Hamburg though. The North ride to go to Itzstedt was nice, big cycle path.

Itzstedt - Travemunde 70 km

After a few kilometers I reached Lübeck, one of the highlight of this trip so far. I really enjoyed this city. I chatted with some people in the street and they seemed more relaxed than in Hamburg. Lübeck is a Hanse city. They have a nice Globetrotter shop where I bought some gaz and camping food. I then followed the cycle path to Travemunde wich is also a pleasant harbour city. To walk on the beach though you have to pay a tax...

Travemunde - Helsinki 29 hours on the ferry