Goals for 2024 season

Another year has already started. I’ve been commuting by bike, but the motivation for cycling has been otherwise low. I still think as the summer creeps closer and it gets warmer I will get the urge to venture out. So I thought I would at least continue tile hunting by expanding the cluster close to Helsinki (within Hyvinkää-Hanko-Porvoo road). It would also be fun to take some cycling trips and maybe drag the teenager along. We will see how that goes.

Last year I rode around lake Saimaa during an event and there were some really nice areas along the route. So it would be fun to visit the Saimaa / Puumala archipelago to do some bike packing. Another alternative for a family trip is the Saimaa islands route. I haven’t really thought too much about cycling events, but I have signed up for running a half-marathon in May. I haven’t really jogged lately so it may be stretch, but hopefully I can pull it off. If summer goes as planned Turku Touring 200km would be in mid-August.

Other than that I will try to keep commuting and mixing it up with practicing my favorite sports (ice hockey, skateboarding, SUP-boarding).

Commuting bliss

I started working at a new company year and a half ago. The office is at the city center so I decided from the beginning that instead of sitting in the train or on the bus I would ride my bikes to work. Public transit would otherwise work fine, but it just takes much longer time and there is additional walking involved. During the summer I could usually make it to office in under 25 minutes and my best is under 20min. Now in the winter with studded tyres the ride is usually under 35 minutes and with an ebike now I have been able to drop it to 25minutes.

For me the biggest reason for commuting by bike to work is simple. I save time every day. Even if you calculate in the 10 minutes it takes for a shower at the office I can sleep that little bit longer. I usually wake up at 8, wash my teeth, put on my clothes and head out. So I’m usually at the office well in time for the first meetings starting at 9. Now on most days I have to get home to feed the kid and take him to hockey practice by car. I could of course drive to work too, but it is not really practical to drive to the city center because of the congestion and expensive parking. So instead I get to enjoy riding throught central park.

Season recap 2023

It was a good year in many way. I rode a lot and started a new tile hunting hobby. The goals that were set were pretty much reached and I experienced a lot of new routes.

• Riding around Lake Saimaa was fun, but next year I would rather ride the self-supported Puumala archipelago route instead
• I rode to work through the year and commuting was great for mileage (6100km+ now). Looking back buying an ebike was a really good idea for the snowy winter weather when you always need to be in time to work
• As far as other hobbies go both me and my son continued playing hockey so that is good. My popping and piano practice were on a break for the summer, but trying reinvigorate those now as they well suited for the dark gloomy autumn

Overall it was refreshing to commute all year around, the couple of social rides with buddies from work were fun and exploring weird places trying to get all the tiles (MS 21×21, MC 985+) was worth the effort.

Saimaa Cycle Tour 2023

During the COVID pandemic a new cycling event was started in Imatra, close to the border to Ruzzia. Saimaa is the largest lake in Finland and I suppose since it wasn’t feasible to travel to Sweden for Vättern Rundan the event gained popularity right from the start. Last Christmas I had some recreation money I had to use by the end of the year so I signed up for Saimaa Cycle Tour 2023. It is good to have some kind of a challenge to keep you motivated to train and the event was fun so in hindsight signing up was a good call.

Goals for 2023

I have tended to write something about my annual intentions. Last few years the goals have been somewhat towned down as far as cycling goes, but the important thing is they have been stated openly and there is a sense of accountability at the end of the year.

On the Archipelago trail: 2022 edition

After last year’s experience cycling solo in the beautiful Turku archipelago I was really keen to show the area to my family. Unfortunately we had a bit of a health emergency during mid summer and that threw a spanner in the works. I had already booked a cottage at the Brännskär island so we ended up going on an father-son excursion. The first part was planned to consist of fishing and cottage life. For the second part the idea was to do island hopping with ferries and road bikes. As it often turns out all in all the experience was fantastic. Despite the risks it was really pleasant to spend one on one time with a pre-teen.

Season 2022 in retrospect

The goals for the year 2022 weren’t all that ambitious cycling wise, but looking back I think I have to be pretty happy how things turned out. We got some health issues in the family during the summer, but I still got to ride ~4000km and do a lot of other things.

• I got a new job as an enterprise architect at a cool company and cycled 8km to city all summer
• I worked on learning new skills and at least my skateboarding got lot more stable
• Nicest experiences were cycling with my son the archipelago trail and 100km to Porvoo

We never got around to going paddling or overnight trekking. My piano note-reading and popping skills also still need to be honed during the winter. I got some stock in the company I work for, but I need to start looking into doing more investment now.

The only one thing I can hope for now is that Ukraine can kick some ass and we repel the orcs from Europe until they know how to behave. Slava Ukraini!

Review: White Aero Killer

I bought the White Aero Killer three seasons ago so it is probably a good time to assess how I feel about it now that I have extended experience with it. The first thing to note is that the bike I had in the end was very different from what I originally bought. I basically changed all the components so the only thing left was pretty much the frame.

Message to all russian nationals

There is very little we can do here in the western Europe to stop Russia from their abhorrent attack on a sovereign nation. It is the duty of russian nationals themselves to make it clear to those in power that the aggression can not be tolerated. There is no reason why anybody with a russian passport should not voice their opinion when people are dying in Ukraine. Keeping your mouth shut claiming to be afraid of potential harassment to self or relatives just shows there is even more reason to take to the streets. There is no time for dialogue when innocent lives are lost. Now is your only chance – future generations will judge you.

Slava Ukraini!

Goals for 2022

I’ve been publishing my yearly goals for a while now. I have treated them like most people treat their new year resolutions. I make them public and hope that my innate accountability helps accomplish things.

• A new job with brilliant colleagues that can push me to develop
• Learn a new skill (piano, skateboarding, popping, stock investment)
• New experiences (paddling trip, overnight trekking, new cycling routes)

It is bit of a mixed bag this time, but let’s see how this year turns out. I’m sure I will not have time for everything and that is fine. All I can hope is that the year will be rewarding in many ways.