June 19: Helsinki to Sysma - 173 km

Got a later than planned start. However, the good side of this was that I had enjoyed a relaxed breakfast and leisurely start to the day. As had become the norm, leaving a metropolitan areas took time as I negotiated the many turns and traffic lights. However, the Finns have it worked out: bike paths run parallel to the busier roads and though a hassle to keep crossing back and forth following the path it was treat to be on a road for ‘non-motorised’ vehicles, though my opinion on this soon changed.

I quickly discovered that Finland was not as flat as I remembered, and although my speed was reasonable it seemed painfully slow compared to what I had expected – a Tallinnesque 25+ km/h average. This was not helped by the continual head wind that was causing my knees to ache once more. However, the forests and hills made the ride more interesting than the flat lands. I set me sights on reaching Mantsala and then Lahti.

I had quite possibly the worst meal of my trip in Mantsala (purchased from a supermarket): meat (??) sandwich, packet of crisps and a packet of 6 mini-doughnuts (though I could only manage three). They did not even sell Coke. Outrageous! In Lahti I stopped for a break and ice cream – despite the wind it was reasonably hot. No sooner I had tasted my first spoonful of Mango and Melon than the clouds darkened, the wind grew stronger and it started to rain!

I could not find the Sibelius music hall and other ‘attraction’ that the local man had directed me too, and following the brief detour into a local park where I finished the remaining doughnuts (even bad-tasting ones have calories) I pushed North. Despite the increase in wind I really enjoyed the terrain once I reached Vaaksy: I was surrounded by water and forests, as one would expect in Finland, and it was stunning in its simplicity and timeless beauty. The only problem? Surrounded by all this water, there was nowhere to buy any / re-fill water bottles.

I was only 35 km from Sysma but the headwind and hills had taken their toll and it seemed like an interminable distance. Lene SMSed and said she had just entered Sysma in the rental car. Great – she could bring me water. Buoyed by the knowledge that my H2O source would be replenished I turned the power on. We met just less than 20 km from Sysma and I re-stocked. (Why had I not arranged to have support on the previous 18 ride days? This was great.).

I rolled into the campground at 20:30 and found Lene talking to the proprietor. She asked how far I had come. “75 or 100 km?” “One hundred and seventy…..five” I replied. “Oh”, came the response, “75 -100 is what most people do”. I wanted to say “no half day’s for me” but resisted. We scrambled around for the right denominations of money – for whatever reason the landlady did not have the key to the till, her husband was in the sauna, and therefore she could not give change.

That done, and with ice lollipop in hand, we made camp near the water. We were the only tent campers that night. Lene had outdone herself and bought pizza and we ate it on the jetty while we watched the sun set - at 10:45 pm. After that we ate the various foods she had bought en route in the kitchen area provided. Then tiredness overwhelmed me.