Bike holiday in Czech

jak se tu rozvinul tuten finsko-cesky thread, vzpomel jsem si na clanek ze staryho singletracku o jezdeni v helskinkach. tady je orcko:

heaven in helsinki (singletrack 04/12)

Ian Corfe was stuck in Helsinki for a week, but thanks to the universal brotherhood of the bicycle, discovered that there's far more to Finland than expensive beer and meatbaLLs. New York isn't the only place with a Central Park and the locals always know the good trails – even if they can't always find them first time. I'm sitting in a sauna, cold beer in hand, recovering from one of the best rides I've had in a few years. Nearly all off road, and completely within the limits of a capital city. Singletrack, slick-rock, and shore style stuff were all a part of the ride, even ‚dirt jumps‘ crafted from the remnants of winter snow and deserted by snowboarders. It was springtime, yet we came across only a handful of puddles in the whole ride. Fellow riders were numbered similarly. We could ride pretty much any trail we fancied, and the sheer number of inViting dirt ribbons branching from the side of the main pathways hinted at weeks of exploring before familiarity was reached. The sauna is a genuine Finnish one, and I'm in the heart of Helsinki. It should have been a terrible time. I was in Helsinki without a bike for a week, at a time when the trails back home In Bristol were bone dry and I had been riding three or four times a week I was resigned to waiting a long ten or so days before getting back to the familiarity of local trails rendered super-fast by unseasonable dryness. Then a chance came up to borrow a bike and take a ride through Helsinki with Tuomo, a guy I'd briefly met for a few hours the last time was in Finland. I Jumped at it, wondering what kind of riding would be available In a major urban area. In a strange way I was also looking forwards to a ride uncluttered with the normal routine of a ride at home. I should explain here. I've been cycling off-road for years now. I've accumulated so much kit, including numerous bikes, that most rides Involve logistical operations corporations would quake at, simply to get me out onto the trails and riding my bike. Which bike, what clothes, which sunnles, what tyres, which lube, what spares to take. Then the sun goes In for ten minutes and I change my mind again. It's not always as bad as this, but there is so much clutter, technology and equipment that It sometimes gets in the way of a ride. Even with a fully rigid singlespeed I still have to choose the right socks… Anyway, that was all out of my hands Someone else's bike, a borrowed pair of trackie bottoms, a tee and Jacket, my Etnies, woollen gloves and the socks I was wearing. No expectations, just anticipation of a new experience. I turned up at T uomos's place in the afternoon, pretty good weather though the temperature was not much above zero. The bike was better than I'd expected, a decent XC frame with suspension forks and cable discs. T uomo was on a nice midrange Kona. We manhandled the bikes down the lift and saddled up. The ‚Wheeler 5900‘ [me neither] was a bit small with a short seat post and pretty narrow flat bars, a shock from the wide risers I've used for years. But, hey, it's a bike, I'm riding a new place on a sunny Sunday. The SPD pedals matched with my trainers were more worrying, as was the somewhat flat rear semi slick, but I put these out of my mind as we hit the gravel tracks leading from the tower block. A couple of sharplsh turns on loose gravel warned me of the tyres limits, small talk in English leaving spare parts of my brain to concentrate on not stacking In the first 100 metres. Then, „Here's the first downhill“, a shortcut down the grassy bank to cut a couple of switchbacks, fairly steep and with a few rocks and tinY dropoffs to catch the unwary. UnconsCious movements kick in to ensure I get down still on the bike, a qUick grin at my guide says ‚while It was no problem, it was fun‘ and we're back on gravel heading for the first woods of the ride.
The residential areas outside of the very centre of Helsinki are mostly lightly wooded Not with regimented rows of trees guarding pavements from the road [though main roads do have these!. Neither are they manicured parks of carefully placed and planted trunks. Instead, seemingly natural stands of conifer and silver birch, often only a few trees in width, are still enough to Isolate housing from main roads. They also give an impression of being in a far less densely populated area than IS the caseMany of these stands of forest are around areas of rock outcrop, perhaps because with the light demands on land for building, It'S easier to leave them where they are and bUild around them. Regardless, they allow progress to be made towards the north of the city by connecting numerous small areas of woodland and rock, following half seen trails, and occasionally venturing onto the road to skip a commercial area. Once among the trees, It'S time to take potluck on the trails. These areas of woodland are not owned or regulated by anyone. From the pOint of view of a Helsinki resident, they're simply there. Which means any way of getting through them is valid and more Importantly, legal. So you take your pick, follow It [or branch off if a different direction looks more interesting) and take what it throws at you until you hit the other end. We aart and dive along barely visible tracks in the pine needle strewn floor, popping out In the open to climb a moderate rock outcrop before braving small dropoffs on the way back down into the woods. I'm wary of the rear tyre, and keen not to fall off when T uomo pulls out and alms a previously unannounced camera, so I go for a ‚bum on tyre‘ approach rather than a ‚mini-huck‘. The bike's size and the short seatpost help too, even if I avoid the steepest bit. Then out onto the road, or mostly the cycle path. These are great, they seem to be everywhere alongside major roads outside of the very centre of the centre, they're wide, they don't stop and start every 50 yards, and pedestrians tend to stick to their half. unlike back in Blighty A few dodgy moments, partly when I forget which side of the road they're driving on, partly when Tuomo leads us though ‚no entry‘ or one way bits [„Do you know what this sign isT "Yes!“ he grins!. We make small talk about his Job and the place he's about to move Into [he's not a Helsinki native and hasn't got on with blocks of flatsl then dash across a pedestrian crossing on red Like In the states, you can be fined for ‚Jay-walking‘, but the police rarely bother. I suspect ‚jay-cycling‘ might be marginally more serious, but no-one's around. Our next dose of offroad IS in the Taivaskallio Park. This loosely translates as ‚sky rock‘, a reference to its height in comparison with surrounding areas. On the scale of molehill-mountain It'S closer to the former, but still enough to need to catch breath at the summit We make our way up compacted gravel hairpins [„Like the Alps?“, „Yep, Just like Le Tour“) to the top. The commanding view afforded was noticed by the military, so the remains of gun emplacements covered in graffiti litter the high pOints, though they also provided for a small concrete lake that looks far prettier than it should. A couple of slow SpinS round the lake for a photo op then we're whizzing down 100 yards of singletrack, built up from the ground like the route at Betys-y-Coed. It has few turns and runs out after 30 seconds, but It'S another variety of terrain, another I didn't expect to encounter. We loop round to the top again so I can take photos this time, keen to get proof I didn't dream it when I look back on the ride in the UK. From here we pick another ghost of a trail seemingly at random from the array in front of us, follow it between the conifers and over or around small rocks, sometimes fast and smoothly, sometimes more slowly where it seems steeper or more technical. Again, the whole wood is small enough to fit in a [large, stately home sizedJ garden, but it takes a few more minutes to hit the roads again. The next ten minutes are spent on cycle paths, but mostly because, while of where we are… We're aiming for the stnp of green that runs down the centre of the small peninsula Helsinki is on, nicknamed ‚Central Park‘ by the residents. While the real Central Park IS certainly a breath of fresh air for Manhattanltes [„Look homeboy, real trees"J the Helsinki version is a lot less tamed and far more rewarding for the MTBer We realise the road names morph silently with each junction even though the road heads in the same direction, find our bearings and go looking for ‚man- made‘ trails. I'm not certain what these will be. I've spent a couple of days in Bristol putting in some spadework on the Timberland Avon trail. and ridden my share of Coed y Brenln, Afan Argoed, Cwmcarn and the like. I have a feeling that this isn't what we're looking for, but relate my stories of ‚putting something back Into the trails, man‘ and explain we have to do something In Bristol because of the nearly year round mud. The snow cover has Just disappeared in the last week here, so I'm not certain the winter nding experience is qUite the same. Certainly, we don't need metal studded tyres just to get across Clifton Suspension Bndge in JanuaryScreech. I've only just noticed that the brakes are the wrong way round, Euro style, grabbing“ handful to avoid overshooting the turn into the woods Then I notice the Scandinavian Shore Just off to the left No real attempt at concealment, but no-one seems to care so long as you stay away from the equestnan centre and trails (but these are so sandy you'd be stupid to try!. The plank and log ramps and corners look moderately tame, and none too long, as we cut through the trees towards them One of the two alternate exits has a big drop though. Walking up with the bike to trackstand 6ft up in the air for a photo I realise where the fear comes from. I can't even get gOing back down the slope to the start, wobbling across a moderately wide bit and scaring myself siLLy. And there are more bits the harder we look for them, higher and crazier than this by some distance. We don't even walk these. From here it becomes a blur of half glimpsed trails leading who knows where as we follow our noses through the tree lined cOrridors. The rock outcrops are how I Imagine Moab to be, steep but gnppy gOing up and with plenty of weathenng to provide natural obstacles to nde down or Jump and drop off Sometimes It pays to check the landing as we career to a hall at the top of some fair sized falls A quick detour and two or three smaller drops equal the height loss and we're back on track. We spend an hour or so, and barely scratch the surface of even the ObVIOUS, visible slngletrack Frequently we pop onto a larger trail through the forest only metres from bUildings. or the mainline Helsinki railway as It exits the city centre ten or more lines abreast, having seconds previously been totally concealed from the outside world Dirt Jumps In one corner look fun but no-ones playing. Similarly, the icy remains of a winter double for the boarders at the bottom of a sharp hill [which is made more easily accessible with a ladder] show tyre-marks, but none look too fresh. Maybe next time.. Soon ItS time to get back to our better halves, so we follow barely defined trails In roughly the nght direction until wearrive at one of the larger gravel paths, near some recognlsed buildings, and just like that we're back In an urban area, hopping up and down curbs and weaving through benches, cars and no-entry areas. It's two minutes back to the flat and we're in the sauna shortly afterwards, talking the talk as you always do at the end of a good nde. The heat IS Intense [though its not steam fiLLed to the pOint of non-visibility – that's not the traditional way\. and my cold beer warms in minutes. I chuck another ladle of water on the coals. and reflect on some great riding. „Kip piS [cheers\. T uomo'“

Hm, fine offer:) Are slovak bikers also accepted ?