I`ve actually caraged my cbr already for this season, but this weekend my wife took my car and our dog and went to a tupperware-meeting at her relatives and I was left home alone (asked me if I wanted to go.. suure, I said, Do they make like undertails, belly pans or giant pints? ) Got a sarcastic smile...

Anyway, it`s just a matter of time when it starts to snow here, or at least go below freezing, and my bike`s insurance cuts at the end of october, so this was THE last chance to go trippin` this year. I was a bit late cause all the leafed trees have dropped their leaves already, so the pics I took are a bit on the grimm side, but I think they show a bit of what kind of scenery I have here...

The route I took is named the "lake päijänne -scenic route" that many mid-european tourists opt to take when travelling towards north. It deviates from the E75 road that starts from somewhere in Spain and ends in northern Norway, thus travelling through Finland the whole way from south to north. The round trip along the scenic route and back home via the E75 is 128km (about 80 miles). The weather forecast said earlier this week that Sunday`s going to be sunny and warm, and saturday should give short showers of rain. Turned out to be the other way round, but I`ve already decided to go, and go I will...

I was a bit worried about the performance of my bike, because it haven`t had a service yet in my time. The plugs are pretty worn so it doesn`t give full power in rain, the chain is worn to the brink of failure and the clutch is emitting this rolling/dragging sound like there`s a bad bearing somewhere, like I posted in another thread just yesterday. My worries proved to be in vain, cause the bike performed beautifully and smoothly the whole trip, prolly cause it had plenty of cold air to gasp (the bike`s temp cauge stayed at +8c (46,4f) the whole trip) Actually the only thing I had to look out for was the farmers that were plowing their fields with their tractors and bringing wet mud to the pavement in their wheels, so I hav to be really careful not to ride into a slip-mine after a steep corner.

And now, to the pictures:


The route`s first official stop at the side of a pretty little lake.


The Hopeasalmi bridge from below...


...and above.


The Vuoksensalmi- bridge from the old ferry port. This is one of the five bridges that replaced the ferries of this route not ten years ago. The last ferry was taken to a scrap yard a few years back after rusting away in the pier for several years.


The teeny little town of Luhanka, and It`s churc at the other shore. Man, o, man, what a sight this is in the summer, at a windless evening, when the silhouette of the church is being reflected from the surface of the lake, across a crimson sky.




The church of Luhanka up close. (est. at st.michel`s day, 1893)


An outdoor-museum displaying the life of crofter-peasants in the 18th. century. The buildings are in fact really from that era, and at their original places.

That`s all folks! I was actually planning to visit the Tainionvirta- river, and the Virtaa- power dam too, but at first my camera run out of memory, and then it started to rain pretty hard. The daylight was fading fast, so I decided to head back home and open a stiff porter. Not a particularily bad decision... Well, that was definitely the last trip this year. I can`t wait to get to photo the Pulkkila-ridge route next spring that I drive to work every day. It`s somewhat of a spectacle too.

All and all, it was a pretty chilly and wet trip, but I`m really glad I went. The next thing to do would propably be to strip the bike, give it the proper TLC it needs and remove the wheels and powdercoat the rims during the winter...

 

Thanks for sharing, really great pics.

 

Nice post Mattson! Really beautiful countryside & sights. Thanks for those pics. Really enjoyed seeing them. Glad you had a good ride & relaxing time.

Really like your bike's color scheme. Also, I bet that tail box mount really helps out for gear, etc, when using for long trips.

 

Like the others said, thanks for sharing Mattson. Beautiful scenery, lovely roads.
I like the sound of the E75. Spain to northern Norway. Now that would be a ride and a half.
Take good care of your baby over the winter. She'll be better for a bit of TLC in the down time.

H

 

Thanx for the kind words! The winter`s coming fast and as I said, it`s a bit grim round here at this time. Can`t wait for next summer and some lakeside sunsets. Makes great pics!

That`s actually, in my opinion, the best color scheme I`ve seen in an F2. And it`s in a suprisingly good condition too. Practically no fade and just a minor scratches. Pity I don`t have the box for that tail rack. Didn`t come with the bike. Gotta keep my eyes peeled for a used one. Not really a big fan of riding with a backpack...

 

Awesome , great seeing your part of the world man !

 

Thanks, man! Nice to get some feedback. It`s really hard to catch the ambience of a certain location into a single photo. No matter where u take it, it always seems to be missing something. Especially when my father-in-law is an award winning nature photographer, and after I have been looking at the photos he`s taken, it always comes to the point where I get back home, start the computer and start to delete the non-usable pictures. crap(del)...crap(del)...crap(del)...crap(del)... Well, as they say, practice, practice, practice... As I said earlier, I`ll get some photos of the Pulkkila Ridge, and the Vääksy and Kalkkinen- canals next spring when I get the ol`gal back out. Seem to have some kind of a fixation towards water and bridges, although I can`t say I`ll enjoy boating...