Greetings, Finnish riders!
First, apologies for English in this “other languages” thread, but I don’t speak Finnish. I’m a long-distance rider from NYC (have been on four tours throughout Europe: EUT, NUT, AUT and MUT) and am thinking of planning a tour next summer (2009) heading north through Finnish Lapland.
Any recommendations or tips for what to see/avoid would be most appreciated. If you know of any resources with good cycling maps of the area, that would also be very helpful.
I’ve head about nasty insect infestations in the summer: is that true, and if so, are there summer months/places to avoid such a fate? My window of touring is any time between June 1 and August 30, 2009 (ideally for about 2 or 3 weeks).
Thanks in advance for any suggestions and help!
-John
http://www.karttakeskus.fi sells cycling maps and there is one on Lappland. Their stupid website won’t allow direct links, so you need to click on the Union Jack (top right) and then on the left side: Maps of Finland -> Cycling Maps and on the second page you’ll see GT 6 for Lappland.
With that timeframe you should come as early as possible or as late as possible, or you’ll land in the middle on mosquitos. A few cans of DEET is a good idea anyways.
Beware of long distances. There might be no restaurants, stores or accommodation within a day’s distance on a (uni?)cycle. The nights can be cold, so you’ll need a good tent and sleeping bag.
Rovaniemi is your most probable starting point, since there is an airport. From there you may want to head northeast towards river Teno. Another choice could be towards the outstretched arm of Finland to Kilpisjärvi. Lake Inari could be an interesting destination as well. Southern Lappland is actually quite flat, so you might want to take a bus to ease the boring start. I haven’t toured there so I can’t really help.
Thanks, Petri-
I found the page, and will look into which maps to purchase (I may try to cover other parts of Finland as well, combining uni and other transportation to maximize variety and scope. I’m hoping to stay in lodging (as opposed to camping), so will investigate a route that includes some form of lodging along the way. I expect to ride anywhere up to 100k a day (a bit more if necessary, though 70-80k would be about ideal).
Yeah-- I do hope to avoid too much flat, so I’ll be keeping an eye out for hilly/mountainous regions.
