Reflections on the First Week of the trip: Helsinki to Turku

Wow, it’s crazy and amazing that the journey has begun, and it definitely hasn’t fully sunk in yet honestly. It’s a surreal feeling to be embarking on this adventure that I’ve been dreaming about for the last two years. I just want to start by thanking everyone for the amazing support and encouragement so far, and express how grateful I feel for being in the position to be able to attempt an adventure like this and for all the help and guidance, wise words, important suggestions for safety and feasibility, and loving support I received in the lead-up to the trip. It means the world, and I’ll be carrying all of the support and energy with me along my journey.

But finally, and at the same time way too quickly, the day actually came, and still feeling somewhat unprepared but also so ready to start the adventure, I began riding from Helsinki on Saturday, June 1st, 2024. The day started off a little hectic, with troubles strapping all my luggage to my bike, and needing to improvise a new method. But, thanks to some extra straps my dad had given me, the set-up worked, and I was prepared to begin. But, another snag came within the first 3km of the ride, as I rode from my friend’s apartment to the main Helsinki cathedral for a picture. When I reached the cathedral, I asked a woman to snap my photo, but immediately I realized air was spewing out of my back tire. I had to awkwardly take back my phone and lay my bike down in the crowded square to fix my first flat tire of the trip. This was my first time using tubeless plugs (since I’m using a tubeless set-up), and I was a little worried as I pushed the sharp instrument deep into my tire, but, in the end it was a simple process to plug the hole using the rubber plug and seal the tire. I pumped up the tire and thankfully it seemed to hold. Thanks to these mishaps, my timing was perfect to meet two friends at the cathedral for another heartfelt goodbye over some Subway sandwiches. Then, I took another look back at Helsinki, and the city I’d lived in for two years, with many ups and downs, then looked forward and started pedaling.

At least I got the picture in the end.

The first stop was only about an hour from Helsinki in Espoo (a town just to the West of Helsinki). My Brazilian friend from our master’s studies in Jyväskylä invited me for her baby shower party that same day, and I wanted to congratulate her on their own exciting new life adventure. Before the party, though, I had one more goodbye with a close friend whom I had been staying with during my time in Helsinki. I held back tears as we said our farewells outside the metro station. Then I pedaled fast to the baby shower, as I was already a couple hours late. But, there’s no rush for a Brazilian party, and everyone was still in great spirits, eating homemade food, and sharing stories amongst the very international group. After gorging myself on all the snacks offered at the party (I needed to store up some calories for the days to come), and chatting with some of the friendly party-goers, my Brazilian friend quieted everyone and invited me to tell about my trip: that I was going to ride my bike from Helsinki to Cape Town. And I had my bike outside the party with all my stuff and I would be leaving straight from the party! Everyone went crazy asking so many questions: “You’re biking to South Africa from here?!” “How much stuff are you bringing?” “Do you have enough pages in your passport?” “What gave you the idea to do this wild adventure?” But everyone was so encouraging and excited about the trip. At one point the whole room was speechless, not sure what to say or ask next. Before I got back on my bike to officially begin the trip, everyone from the party came out and we took some lively pictures together, and I even received a “very Brazilian” tradition of choo-choo (see the video to witness the wacky greatness). Then, with a lot of cheering and excitement, I mounted my bike and started riding away from Espoo and truly away from Helsinki. After one wrong turn and awkward loop-around, I was heading along the coastline to the west, destination Turku. I really couldn’t imagine a better and more fitting start to the adventure. Thank you to everyone that made it so special!

Whoop whoop! Thank you all for the energy and support!

Getting sent off with a fun Brazilian tradition: Choo Choo!

I didn’t actually begin riding until around 9pm from Espoo, but thankfully still had an hour or two of Finnish summer sun to light my way. After an hour or so of riding, I found a nice camp spot near Suvisaaristo and set up for the night. After a wild day, I was excited for a nice night’s sleep in the calm Finnish wilderness. The Finnish wilderness had other plans for me that first night, though, and just as I was laying my head to sleep around 2am, a huge flash of light jolted me awake and a loud boom ruptured the night’s silence. I peered outside my tent and saw two or three more nearby lightning strikes with the thunder seeming to get closer and closer by the second. At first, I sat in my tent a bit dumbfounded, as it wasn’t raining, and I had never seen weather like this in Finland, so I couldn’t believe my eyes and ears as the lightning approached. But with one of the louder booms, I snapped out of my incredulity, and realized I was in a very bad situation – in the forest, near a bunch of tall trees, with my steel bike leaning against a nearby tree, completely vulnerable… I had seen a cottage nearby my camping spot when I arrived, and in a frantic rush, I threw on my pants and shirt, grabbed my phone, and booked it for the cottage. The storm had closed in incredibly fast, and on the way to the cottage, I came as close as I every want to get to a strike of lightning, as the sky turned blindingly bright, and the thunder roared immediately like a gun shot. I screamed, genuinely fearing for my life a bit at this point, and sprinted to the front porch of the cottage. My whole body was shaking as I slammed my hands on the front door, pleading that someone was home, but no answer. Thankfully the front porch was covered by a roof, and gave some cover from the rain that began pouring down. No one was home at the cottage, so I just stood trembling, my body plastered as close as I could get it to the wooden walls of the house for (I was hoping) as much protection as I could manage. Finally, after having a call with my parents and letting them know my crazy situation, both the storm and myself began to calm down. Once the rain had stopped, I moved my tent and all my things underneath the porch for some extra cover and mostly to comfort my own head. I will remember forever a moment sitting just outside my tent at 3am, with the flap of my tent draped across my face, feeling completely exhausted and emotionally drained, and watching the sun begin to rise again over the Baltic sea before I had even fallen asleep on the first night of the trip. I realized fast that pursuing an adventure like this will force me to confront the rawness and wildness of life head-on, and in that moment I wasn’t honestly sure if my head or my emotions were up to the task. But eventually, I laid down in my tent and finally fell asleep.

Before and after the crazy lightning storm.

The beautiful house where I had set-up my tent in the front porch.

Sunrise over the Baltic sea at 3am on the first night.

The next morning the sun was shining and, funnily enough, the family who owned the cottage showed up just after I woke up, and we had an initially awkward first meeting, having to explain why I had my tent set up directly on the steps of their front door. But, after explaining myself and the dramatic night, Robin and Kira were so understanding and kind, and were actually really interested in my trip and following and supporting my journey. They also told me all about their own lives and history of their beautiful cottage, which was the summer cottage of famous Finnish architect Karl Lindahl, and built by him in 1912. Robin had spent all of his summers there since he was a child. They even graciously gave me a tour of the cottage, which had beautiful interior design and a perfect blend of the antique style with modern touches, and kept the enduring spirit of the original Lindahl cottage design. I was so grateful for their hospitality and kindness, and it was such a lift to my spirits after the challenging night. I thanked them profusely, and we snapped a picture together before I began riding again towards the west.

Lovely meeting you Kira and Robin, and thank you for being so kind and understanding!

The next few days went by a bit as a blur. The time was mostly solitary, with a lot of wild camping and solo biking through Finnish forest tracks. Some highlights were the mountain biking trails and riding on the rocky shoreline in Kopparnäs, and meeting Jesse (a fellow bikepacker out on a short 5-day trip) outside a café and chatting all about our bikes and trips and the merits of adventure. I enjoyed the camping and testing my new equipment, getting in more of a flow and routine with the trip, but the solitary days definitely started to feel lonely. It was also a strange balance, as I was working on my PhD at the same time as beginning my bike adventure, and we needed to re-submit one of our papers on that first week of the trip. So, my lifestyle over these days was sleeping wild and remote in the Finnish wilderness, often by a lake or the sea, then breaking down camp, biking to a nearby café, and setting up my computer to work on our paper for a few hours before getting back on the bike and pedaling into the wilderness to set up camp and begin the cycle again. A true digital nomad lifestyle! It was a tough balance, and I sometimes felt as if putting so much time into the PhD work was taking away from the adventure, but on Thursday, June 5 we submitted the revised version of our manuscript, and now just need to hope for a good decision from the journal. It could be my first scientific paper of my PhD, so fingers crossed!

Mountain biking, camping, and PhD working?!

Around 9pm on Thursday, I was standing beside the road trying to decide where to camp for the night, when a woman on an e-bike passed me and slowed to a stop. We quickly chatted about all the stuff on my bike and what I was up to, and she saw right away that I didn’t have a place to sleep that night. Without hesitation, she offered me to stay at their summer cottage about 2km down the road. I happily agreed and we cruised down to the cottage by the seaside. It was a very barebones Finnish summer cottage, with no electricity or running water, but for me it was luxury. I learned her name was Annika, and I thanked her as she drove back towards their own home just a few blocks back up the street. In half an hour, as I was making my dinner, Annika returned with her daughter Erika to check in on me and bring some home-made carrot bread and hardboiled eggs from their farm hens. It was so kind, and I was struck and grateful for the gift. I heard a bit about their story and told about my big adventure plans, and then we decided it was time to go to bed around 11:30pm. Laying down in a proper bed was magical, and I immediately passed out. The next morning Annika even invited me up to their place for breakfast, and I sat with her, Erika, and Annika’s husband Rick eating bread and cheese and cucumber and drinking strong coffee while we chatted about their plans for the day and they gave me great recommendations for things to see throughout Kemiö. After breakfast they even offered for me to take a shower (which I gladly accepted, hoping I hadn’t been too stinky during breakfast), and showed me around their family farm. It was great to get a short peak into their cozy farm life in southwest Finland, but I also saw that maintaining the farm is a lot of work. Annika works as a school teacher, and she told me she goes to work during the school year to take a vacation from the farm work. As I saddled back onto my bike, I felt so grateful for their openness and kindness, without asking or wanting anything in return.

Thank you Annika, Erika, and Rick for so generously opening up your cottage and your home to me. I appreciate it so much!

That afternoon I met again with Jesse that I had met outside the café on the third day of my trip, because he messaged me that he lived close by, and we arranged to meet up again since he had finished his own bike trip. It was great just sitting and drinking coffee from his new wilderness percolator (neither of us really knew how it worked, but the coffee tasted ok), chowing on snacks, and talking across all kinds of topics, from climate change and veganism to social media and mental health and how to live a good life. It felt really easy to chat, and seemed like we had very similar values and philosophies. Jesse had a pretty rad story of his own, having been both a professional downhill mountain biker and rock star when he was younger, and now being an accomplished wilderness photographer and all-around outdoorsman. This day was great, and was exactly what I needed after the lonely last days of solo biking, wild camping, and scientific work. It was so cool to meet such wonderful people and make new friends already through the journey!

Awesome meeting you Jesse, and looking forward to sharing our new adventure stories when we meet again!

The final days to Turku were spent riding through Kemiö, the largest island (on the sea) in Finland. I spent one night in Högsåra, a separate small island with a nice sand beach, and the next at Ekniemen Huippu, the top of a rocky hill with a big viewing tower and laavu (small wooden shelter) at the top. Then, on Sunday, June 9th, I arrived to Turku, after 466 km, 4,793 meters of climbing, and 9 total days on the bike. Over 1% of the way to South Africa!

Adventures from Högsåra and Ekniemen Huippu.

Made it to Turku!

It was an interesting start to the adventure, with quite a mix of joyful, fun, and heartwarming moments, mixed with lots of solitary, lonely, and just a bit boring periods as well. I think I started to get a sense of what pursuing this dream and living this adventure will actually feel like, and it certainly won’t be without its challenges and doubts. But no question, the moments that stand out to me the most from this first segment, and those that have brought me back to the purpose of this adventure and why I’m doing it, are the people I met and new friends I made. Robin and Kira, Annika, Erika, and Rick, and Jesse thank you all so much for showing me such kindness and opening up your homes, lives, and stories with me. I hope to meet many more friendly and caring people like you through the rest of the adventure, because these are the moments and memories I’m sure will stick with me well after I stop spinning the pedals. From Turku, the adventure continues to the Åland islands, and I can’t wait to explore this totally new archipelago world and share the stories that unfold! Until then…

Pedal with soul – Max