Well today was supposed to be a really relaxed start to the trip with nothing too hard. Destination was going to be Oulu with maybe a little extra if the wind was in the right direction.
Had a good start as the directions from the both the Oulu and Kemi tourist board was simple. There is no official bike path they said so just follow the main road.
Ok but do you know how unpleasant it is to cycle with trucks the size of a supermarket whizzing by no more than a meter away!
Turned out the tourist board (both of them) don’t know crap about the road from Kemi to Oulu as actually I reckon a good 50km of the 100+km route is on either cycle/cycle friendly roads.
Only problem is that I missed one of the turnoffs and went on a massive 27km detour the wrong way. Now that doesn’t sound much but on a bike that’s an hour of effort and I was quite mad with myself when I realised just how far I had gone wrong. Next year I am getting a GPS!
The cycling was actually fast (main road) but pretty non eventful with nothing particularly fantastic on the way to see. Lots of trees and a few nice rivers but essentially was just a big road.
Lunch was at a pizza joint manned by the inevitable immigrants who seem to the be the only ones willing to man crappy restaurants on the side of obscure roads or in crappy towns in Sweden or Finland.
Time I got to Oulu I was ready to stop for the day but nothing seemed worth stopping for so I carried on to Kempere where once again I found a “gem” of a place to stay. Guess if was the old artillery gun parked in the car park, the 1980’s decor or maybe the fact that the tables have Christmas place settings in July, but hey at 30€ I am not complaining. Shame that you can’t get a proper shower for this price, reminds me so much of the $1 a night hotel I once stayed in when in Vietnam. The lady who ran the place hardly spoke any English but her side kick was Swedish and I could at least order some food which she cooked to perfection.
So here I am writing this while eating some salmon and watching Bladerunner. Life is good
3 comments:
Nice ride :)
GPS you say? Finally! :D
GPS: I. Told. You. So. :) Don't bother getting a GPS tho, you'd get what you need with an iPhone, especially with this app: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/motionx-gps/id299949744?mt=8
(Don't listen to Bodil! ;)). The GPS is better, since all the maps are downloaded up front. (I confess, I am too lazy to click on the link.)
The new shirt looks comfy and nice Steve :)
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