The bicycle riders drank much wine, and were burned and browned by the sun. They did not take the race seriously except among themselves.
-- Ernest Hemingway

Moved bicycle shops in greater Helsinki area. In Finnish and Swedish.

Bicycling sites

Ken Kifer writes from bicycling lifestyle onwards.

Sheldon Brown is more concentrated on technical issues of bicycles.

Bicycling life promotes cycling as a normal means of transportation for everyone.

Velorution is a weblog of all things bicycly.

Commuting

Most of my commuting and utility transport is on a bicycle. My commute is 6.1 km, which is sufficiently short for the possibility of skating or running as well. Our office has excellent facilities for having a wash, even by Finnish standards which are that you can. We have two saunas for commuters warm every morning in addition to the more typical showers.

My primary bike is my 2004 Nazca Fiero recumbent. It is fully commuter equipped with fenders, rear rack, and full suspension. As the slicks are 32-406 and the studded winter tyres are 47-406, the rear fender has to come off for the winter. The brown mush ends up all over the back of the seat and whatever I have on the rack, but at least the rider is protected.

The older 1997 Rossin road bike still sees occasional use. If there is a lot of fresh snow and the plough hasn't cleared the bike track yet, with its 23-622 tyres, no fenders, or rack it survives slightly better than the small and wide tyred recumbent. If the miracle happens I want to participate in UCI regulated sport, it is the bike I would have to ride. I had to put some filling in the front dropouts to give the studded 32-622 tyre enough clearance, though. No chance of getting a studded rear, so it handles poorly in very slippery conditions.

I no longer use my girlfriend's ATB for much else than going to the supermarket, because she rides to the train station on it all year around. With a studded front and rear it copes with suburban winter perfectly.

The latest addition (finished 2005-06-22)) to the stable was building a fixed gear bike from an old five speed I bought at a police auction for 4 euros. The wheels were shot and it had a women's saddle, but the other parts were serviceable. I expect this to cover much of my short-distance bike travel from now on.

The first yearly commuting statistic (from 2004-04-05 to 2005-04-01) indicates 76.5% cycling and only 9.2% commuting using petroleum based products. The data begin on 2004-04-05 because before that I took the bus pretty much every day because of my knee injury and the fact that roller skating wasn't possible yet.

C is for cycling, R is for running, S is for skating, B is for public transport (mainly bus in my case), X is for getting a ride on someone else's motor vehicle. The exclamation marks are blown tubes and the like. There's a separate tally for them.

 MoTuWeThFr
04-05SSSS 
04-12 SSSS
04-19SS/BB/SBB
04-26SSSSS
05-03SS/BB/SCC
05-10CC/XBB/CC
05-17CC/XB/C S
05-24SC/XS/CSC
 vacation
07-05CSCC!S
07-12CCCCC
07-19SCSCS/R
07-26CC/SR/CCC
08-02SCCCC
08-09CCCCS
08-16SCB/RCS
08-23CC/XB/CCC
08-30CCCCC
09-06SCCCC
09-13CCCCC
09-20CCBCC
09-27CBCCC
10-04CCCBC
10-11CC!CCC
10-18CCCCC
10-25CCCB/CC
11-01C!C!C/B  
11-08B/C  C 
11-15C!CCCC
11-22CBCCC
11-29CCC/BB/CC
12-06 CCCC
12-13CCCCC
12-20CC
12-27CCCBC
01-03CCCC/B
01-10CB/CCCC
01-17CCCC!C
01-24CCCCC
01-31CCC/RR/BR/C
02-07CCCB/RC
02-14CCCCC
02-21CCCCC
02-28CCCCC
03-07
03-14CCCC/RR/C
03-21CCCC
03-28CCCC
04-04CCCCC
04-11CCCCC
04-18CCCCC
04-25SCCCC
05-02CCCCC
05-09CCCBC
05-16CCCCB
05-23CCCCC
05-30CCCCC
06-06CCCCC
06-13SC
06-20SSCC
06-27CCCCC
 vacation
08-01CCC
08-08CCCCC
08-15S/CBBB/XB
08-22BBBBC
08-29CBBBB
09-05BBBBB
09-12CCCCC
09-19CCCCC
09-26CCCCC
10-03BCCCC
10-10CCCC!C
10-17CC!CCC
10-24CCCCC
10-31CCCCC
11-07CCCCC
11-14CCCCC
11-21CCCC
11-28CCC
12-05CCCC
12-12CCCCC
12-19CCCCC
12-26
01-02CCC/BB/CC
01-09CCCCC
01-16CCCCC
01-23CCCCC
01-30CCCCC
02-06CCCCC
02-13CCCCC
02-20CCCCC
02-27CCCCC
03-06CCCCC
03-13CCCCC
03-20CCCCC
03-27CCC
04-03CCCCC
04-10CC
04-17CCCC
04-24CSCCC
05-01CCCCS
05-08CC/XS/CCC
05-15CCCCC
2004-07-08 Blown rear tube. Walked 2 km back home to get a new one because didn't carry a spare.
2004-10-12 Got my recumbent and started using it instead of the road bike.
2004-11-01 Fell on black ice, despite suspecting black ice on the corner and being extra careful.
2004-11-02 Put a 32-622 studded tyre in the front of the road bike and use it until I can find studded 406 tyres.
2004-11-15 Put 47-406 studded tyres on the recumbent.
2005-01-20 Fell while trying to negotiate a car tyre track in 10 cm of fresh snow. No injury or damage.
2005-10-13 Rear tyre split for several centimetres, walked 1 km back home and swapped bikes.
2005-10-18 Put studded tyres on the Solifer.