The winter is coming.
I just got a new winter cycling cap. Woollen earflaps and all. Also, the wind has turned. Gone are the days of warm(ish) southwesterly breeze. The gusts from the north are here.
While there might have been one or two negative tweets about the weather from our riders on the road, the wind has been favourable. Until now. It is blowing from the north from now on. Usually, especially during the warm months, in the southern Finland, the wind blows from the south west. In the fall, the warmth often ends with a weather front that brings a northern wind. That seems to be happening right now again, the summer is gone. And the further north you get, the more likely it is to have a wind from the Arctic Ocean and the colder it gets.
The weather has led another to find his achilles heel. Eemeli Huhta will be heading home.
Finding shelter
After a couple of rainy days, even the ones usually prefering to stay outdoors, seek shelter. The towns offering accomodation are sparse, so many are going to end up in the same places for the night, like Janne Villikka and Mikko Kainu. Some get there earlier, others arrive later. Sleeping only a few hours would be enough, but staying a bit longer is attractive, to dry your gear and wait for the sun to come up. Maybe eat a good hotel breakfast.
Control 2
There is no mandatory or otherwise obvious route between the start and finish of the control 2. The first point is on the top of Kivesvaara (sounds bad, I hope you’re all safe out there) and the second point is in Poukio. You can either take a short detour on paved roads, east or west, or head straight on the shorter unpredictable gravel road. Janne Villikka chose the asphalt while Mikko Kainu was adventurous enough for the gravel.
Tracker issues
The tracker isn’t updating everyones location too often. Mathias Müller is somewhere up there close to the riders furthest up north, though his dot hasn’t been updated for almost two days. There has been some other gaps with data too, so be patient.
Day one report: https://www.randonneurs.fi/ruska-day-one/
Day two report: https://www.randonneurs.fi/ruska-day-two/
More information about the event and route: https://www.randonneurs.fi/ruska-ride-across-finland-2019/
Link to list of participants and their twitter/instagram: https://www.randonneurs.fi/ruska-2019/