MrKiwi's Road to and from VIM 19

[MrKiwi]

Saturday 3 June

Today I enjoyed some gravel and off road riding with Jyrays and Bogdan.

[MrKiwi]

Sunday 4 June
Today I set out on my own to ride around Gotland at my own pace and stop where I wanted to take photos of things that interest me, sights I don't usually see in NZ.

I'll let the pictures do the talking















Typical Gotland roads and countryside



I'm intrigued that the Churches here sometimes have wooden roofs











Centre of Visby



A nature reserve (small Island in the background)

[MrKiwi]

And of course, Jyrays has already posted the video of some of our gravel riding.  Hope you enjoyed watching it. I certainly enjoyed riding with Jyrays and Bogdan. Thank you guys for a blast.

[MrKiwi]

More than likely this is my last VIM.

I have enjoyed the two VIMS I have managed to get to. I especially value the friends I have made and the hospitality you have all shown me. Thank you.

As we ride from Gotland today I still have a lot of adventure left on this trip with Bernard, Kitty, Mense and Lidy.  This trip is a trip of a lifetime for me.

Safe travels everyone as you head home, I will remain in touch through this forum.

[MrKiwi]

The next part of our trip post VIM 19 begins.

To Russia we go.

Monday 5 June we arrived in Stockholm and settled into the campground at around 9:00 pm. The sun was still in the sky, which for this Kiwi is an unusual sight. 11:00pm and this is about as dark as the night is going to get...



We headed away from VIM19 late in the morning and headed for Visby. On the way we stopped for Kaffe, the old shed and cart caught my attention.




Outside the old Visby Wall by 1:00pm we had time to kill before catching the ferry. Bernard and Kitty decided to walk around the town while Mense, Lidy and I decided to ride south to the bluffs along the coast, then to a beach and back to Visby via an inland route.


The old city wall



The bluff lookout looking back towards Visby.


WWII bunkers

[MrKiwi]

Wild flowers by the coast - Blue weeds, Echium vulgare



Finally we arrived at the ferry, along with lots of other bikes.


Then to the camp ground at Bredang, Stockholm.

I found a way to fight off the mosquitoes 

[MrKiwi]

Tuesday 6 June, a national holiday in Sweden.

We are in Stockholm until Wednesday night, so today was catch a train into the city and walk around the city centre.  It was a warm day, reaching about 22 degrees and very sunny. For this Kiwi, a decent day.

Some pics from the day are below.

Eating ice cream



We meet on the way into town two ladies dressed in northern Swedish costume.



Narrow street



City vista



Meeting Alfred Nobel 



Royal Stables (?)



Friendly inhabitants

[MrKiwi]

Wednesday 7 and Thursday 8 June.


Wednesday we left the campground late morning to head into Stockholm. On the way we went to a motorbike shop so I could replace my helmet. I purchased an Icon, a brand I had not seen before.


I had purchased the day before an early 60th birthday present (my birthday is not until November so this is really early), a GoPro and fitted it to the helmet.





The weather turned for the worse after leaving the bike shop and as we headed into the city centre traffic mayhem reigned supreme. Bernard, Kitty and Lidy went to a museum while Mense and I beat a track to a cafe to hang out and dry out over the afternoon. The weather had improved by the time we caught the ferry, heading overnight to Turku.


A few pictures of the ferry trip.

















[/size][size=78%] [/size]

[MrKiwi]

Arriving in Turku about 8:00am it was grey and lightly raining.

We suited up in our wet weather gear and headed Hameenlinna. About half way there we stopped and reconsidered our options, it was now persistent rain. We recalibrated our GPS's to the fastest route to Helsinki and set off.

For me, riding at 120km/hr in heavy rain was a new experience. Our legal limits in NZ is 100km/hr.

The motorway made light work of a heavy riding and by early afternoon we were in our accommodation for the next two nights drying out.

Tomorrow the four Dutch riders take a day off their bikes and head into the old part of Helsinki city centre. Me, I'm hoping to set my TomTom GPS for a round round and do a days riding to the countryside and back.

Maybe I will have some vidoes to post.

Here is one - riding onto the ferry (I obviously have a bit to learn about taking videos with GoPro)

[Skye]

Royal Stables (?)

Actually Swedish parliament but understand your thoughts.. 
Not everyone has all horses in the stable..

Thanx for a nice and describing tour so far, we all reading it but without a descent keyboard it is always difficult to answer

About the Icon helmet. American brand. Got clothes from that company, nice looks but nothing last forever. Think the helmets are better but... AFX is a brand, that have equal stuff, half the price. Quite chocking that you bought it in Sweden, I've imported it from US, price the half..

Once again, thanx for the report. Midway..

[MrKiwi]

Thanks Skye.

Yesterday was a blast. The sun came out    and the four Dutchies went into Helsinki for the day. They ended up catching an air show.

Me on the other hand, I was keen on more riding so I took the day to ride up to Pulkkilanharju and back. I put the TomTom on create a fun route and followed it for the day. I turned off motorways and spent the day riding back roads and gravel.

Some pics and a video

[MrKiwi]

Old stone church



Lovely back roads to ride



I saw the church spire in the distance and rode over to it. Was not disappointed, I like this building.



Farm buildings



Tranquil - Pukkilanharju

[Skye]

This was Lahti 3 months ago, hosting world ski championship

[MrKiwi]

Before we head into Russia, I took the opportunity to again do my own thing today. I left earlier than the others and rode slowly, stopping often to soak up the sun and the Finland atmosphere.

No videos today.

I also didn't take a lot of photos, I chose to look, see, smell, feel and absorb.

Tomorrow it is back to group riding as we ride into Russia.

Pics from today

A church

Found at


The route took me to Artjarvi, Routsinkyla, Pernoo and just short of Kotka for our night's accommodation.



I enjoy taking photos of derelict buildings






Love the country side in Finland








Bug eyes 


Met another transalp rider. His bike is a 1995, and like mine has very low miles on it.




He did tell me his name, but I found it unpronounceable.  We had coffee and a long talk, I enjoyed the conversation.

[size=78%]


 

[/size]

[MrKiwi]

I followed a road that run beside the Kymi River that runs into the Baltic sea at Kotka.












Near to where we are staying I came across this old wall. I haven't yet googled it to see what it is, looks old.