No bears yet

Bill stopping for coffee

A very odd goat track that we found ourselves on complete with sharp rocks and undergrowth

Farmland

Pauline demonstrating morning tea

Paul pumping up Pauline‘s tyre

A little siesta after lunch

We are enjoying a rest day inTurku in south west Finland on the coast after riding for five days from Helsinki. The riding has been very pleasant as we cross through forests around lakes and through farmland. There are a few hills. I guess this is not surprising. And the weather has been very kind, although the day that got over 30 was a bit much.

We were able to cool off however in a beautiful lake 10 m from where we were staying. This is where bears might be. Certainly there were warnings up about them and although I planned what I would do if one broke through the window during the night, I did not have to execute the plan. Talking to Lady Al from Idaho, That was pretty fortunate as she said we would not have survived.

When we’re not riding, we are either stopping somewhere for coffee and cake, taking a breather, making sure everybody who’s in the group is in the group and has not been left behind, or we are checking navigation. This sometimes involves local people and that’s really good because we get to learn more about the country that we’re in as well. For example, the teacher told me a couple of days ago that Finland is no longer the poster boy for education in the world. That things have not kept up to scratch.

When we arrive at our hotel, we busy ourselves with laundry and possibly shopping for dinner if we don’t want to go out, and then we amuse ourselves with cards, and in one instance a dinosaur jigsaw. We also talk a lot. 

We’re having a lot of fun and we’re joined in Helsinki by Karen and Maureen Who had cycled the route along the Baltic coast. Michael will be joining us shortly in Turku to ride to Hamburg.