Cycling across Finland

Lots of people have been asking about the cycling trip, I took across Finland this summer. To supplement the Herald article, I have included a slideshow and a podcast. The slideshow should give an idea of the highlights of the trip.( Click on it and it will enlarge ! )

The podcast is my reflections of the two week's cycling. I recorded it in a windy Zante with my husband and domestique. Click here to listen.

Finally, I have also included a copy of the whole trip plan with web sites of the places we stayed. It is the original document we used in the detailed planning of the cycle trip - please feel free to use it in the planning if your Baltic bike adventure.This is the Official Lesley Riddoch Press Trip Itinerary August 2008

As ever, I would be really pleased to hear your comments.

Comments

[John Marsh]

I think your Herald article on the Baltics went a bit too far in suggesting Finns, Estonians and Hungarians understand one another's languages. Having an Estonian grandmother, and a brother who worked in Finland, I can agree that Finnish and Estonian are mutually comprehensible, but the link with Hungarian is much less evident, dating back to the Finno-Ugrian linguistic roots of both. It is perhaps more like the link between Sanskrit and English; there, but no longer evident. And isn't English also a language with no grammatical gender?

[Craig Evans]

Hi Leslie,

Loved your photos and the podcast and have passed the website details on to my Finnish friend.

It all looks lovely and so much like Scotland could be if we work at it.

Best wishes,
Craig

[Alan Baillie]

Hi Lesley,

My wife and I also did a cycling tour of Aland last summer and thoroughly enjoyed it. We reached Aland by ferry from Stockholm and hired bikes in Mariehamn. Our itinerary was the Archipelago Tour described in the Viking Line brochure. I (almost) completely agree with your descriptions - but on the day we cycled back to Mariehamn there was a constant, strong, strength-draining headwind.

It's amazing that so little is known of Aland. The only British people we heard were a few in Mariehamn itself.

[Jari]

Hi,
I loved the headline "Across Finland" as I plan something similar: http://suomi2010.beta.nettisivu.org/

Please do keep on cycling and remember to wear a helmet at all times!