Sometimes you just need to get out and ride. You know that feeling? I could tell it was in the air when we realized we could carve out a week in July. You feel it too? The longest days of the year are waiting for us… and the main course will be TET Finland!
And then this crazy idea popped into my head: what if we mixed up day and night, ditched the "normal" sleep schedule, and just rode non-stop? We’d crash for a short camp somewhere around the middle of the night, take shorter breaks during the day, and squeeze in some power naps then. Add to that cooking surprisingly fancy meals over the fire, swimming in lakes, and those massive fuel tanks on our bikes… Sounds like my kind of recipe!
So… how’d it go? Wild. Like, 6,000 km wild, with 470–570 km per day just on the TET. Would I do it again? Probably not — but as an experience, totally worth it. The memories? Straight-up magical.
Here’s the travel journal I “accidentally” found in my pocket. Did this really happen, or is it just the sleep-deprived fever dream of a brain running on fumes? :-)
Day 1 – Riding bikes, asphalt everywhere, lots of people.
Day 2 – Riding bikes, still asphalt but way fewer people, big lake and a ferry at the end.
Day 3 – Riding bikes, finally nice — gravel instead of asphalt, wood instead of concrete.
Day 4 – Riding bikes, everything’s gorgeous.
Day 5 – Riding bikes, everything’s gorgeous, plus reindeers show up.
Day 6 – Riding bikes, everything’s gorgeous.
Day 7 – Riding bikes, everything’s gorgeous and totally empty, feels like a desert.
Day 8 – Riding bikes, everything’s gorgeous, mountains rise at the end and the sea stops us.
Day 9 – Riding bikes, just heading back, hit asphalt in the afternoon.
Day 10 – Riding bikes, kinda boring ’cause it’s asphalt again, end the day with a ferry ride.
Day 11 – Riding bikes, get off the ferry, head home — lots of people, concrete, and noise.
P.S. Greta broke two records — 630 km on the TET without refueling and cracked triple digits on the speedo! Is she turning into a Mercedes diesel wagon??? :-D
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