This report is from Ecotrip 2001, which took place on August 16-19, 2001. Rather than rehash the route, this report is just a series of pictures from the ride, in no particular order, and with little attention to layout :-) It's all in frames, so it takes an age to load, too.
These are all scaled (and mostly cropped) versions of much larger photos - if you want the full size photo for any reason, drop me a line. Likewise if you can supply names to faces or locations for any of the photos that are missing them, or corrections, please let me know.
A familar face from last year was Heikki Maitelainen, who arrived in his brand new, canary-yellow Leitra, with a stunning rainbow hologram strip and a disturbingly organic fibreglass seat. Heikki rode it 200km the day before to join us, and rode it 200km home, heading off in the evening of the last day - ready to start work at 7am the next day. |
One particularly interesting machine was Terho Eskelinen's home-built delta trike. Some of the engineering solutions were a bit odd - the extra sprocket in the drive train for example - but the beast could keep up a good clip with Terho powering it. |
Among the new faces were those of our official journalist, Bert, and our official photographer, Alan. They'd arrived very late the previous evening, long after the rest of us had hit the sack. The accompanied us the whole way, occasionally riding this or that bike or trike, sometimes driving Alex' car. Noone seemed too sure where the reports and pictures would ultimately appear, so let me know if you see us reported somewhere! |
The acrobatic troup from last year entertained us again, to the tune of a very strange song called "Oops, I did it again". Two yellow-clad sylphs performed a sweet little dance, and down on the very edge of the harbour a septet played classical music. |
This time, the arrangements at the quarry at Hessund outside Pargas came together. We were treated to a short presentation about the quarry, limestone and the company quarrying it, and then tucked into a very satisfying meal, sponsored by the quarry. It seemed a bit odd that the EcoTrip was sponsored by someone who'd dug an EXTREMELY large and EXTREMELY ugly hole in the ground, but there you go - Finland, land of contrasts :-) On the right, a classic old shed door from one of the museum buildings at Hessund. |
One chap had created an electric-assist using the motor from a MIG welder, a pile of batteries in his panniers and a washing-mashine control panel mounted on his handlebars. Truly a thing of beauty and a joy forever :-) |
This is the British contingent, Vincent Fox. Vince rode a two-wheeled recumbent originally designed and built by AVD, the Windcheetah people. |
This is Johannes, from northern Bavaria in Germany, who rode his orange Street Machine GT (made by HP Velotechnik). This picture was taken in Nagu. |
On the third day (I think) we lunched at a charming farmhouse. This (right) is the barn, in classic Finnish style. The farmhouses were at the end of a sandy track that proved a bit wild for some of the two-wheelers amongst us. One of the casualties was Johannes' mudguard support, shown here after rubber-band surgery. |
On the left, the luncheon table at the farmhouse prior to our attack. On the right, Frank ladling up a second serving of the truly superb salmon chowder we ate, accompanied by a sweet, caroway-flavoured crispbread. Probably the best meal of the trip. |
This is Veli-Matti Vuorensyrjä, the proud owner of the only Bike-E to make the trip, standing by his steed. I had a go on it while waiting for a ferry somewhere, and found it exceptionally easy to ride, and exceptionally stable. Turning required a very positive steering action indeed. It's easy to see why this bike is a favourite "first recumbent" - there is absolutely no problem just riding off on it. The seat can be adjusted fore and aft very easily, allowing the bike to be fitted to practically any rider in seconds - also a rarity among recumbents. |
OK, so I can't resist - this is my beautiful Greenspeed GTO, ready to roll in Nagu. |
This home-built kit Greenspeed GTS was the only other Greenspeed on the ride besides mine. It was very well-made, and distinctively different with it's larger rear wheel and simpler boom design. The bulb horn was very effective, too! |
One of the ownerless trikes was clearly designed by someone with very particular tastes, as this closeup of the seat shows. Alan managed to power this horror for several kilometres before it was loaded back onto the trailer. |
Somewhere in the middle of nowhere, this sweet little wooden church sits peacefully with its neat graveyard. That distinctive shingle pattern is a scaling artifact, sorry :-( |
This is a stone church near where we stayed on Iniö. The evening that we stayed near here, I borrowed Johannes' Street Machine GT to see how two wheels felt and ended up riding around the front of this church. A lady tending the plants along the wall thought it was the funniest thing she'd seen in years. |
To the left, my photo of the church at Iniö. To the right, a tapestry that hangs on the wall of the dining room where we stayed. |
The rack on a Greenspeed GTO is rated for 40kg, but it quite happily carried Bert's 56kg from the school at Miramasku to the pub about a kilometre away. Probably invalidated the warranty, though :-) |
And now for something completely different: On the second last day we were introduced to a bevy of witches, who in turn introduced us to the gentle art of felting. We were all given a mat of carded wool and a bag of colored carded wool swatches, and spent a happy hour or so being creative. |
This is Pekka working on his design. |
When the designs were finished, we wet the mats with detergent and water, and rolled them in thick plastic sheets. These rolls were then put onto makeshift axles (dowels) which we attached to the backs of our bikes with wire. We then dragged them behind us, bouncing and rolling for about 15km. This is Alex' grandson on the white Berkut. |
The final step was to finish off the felt in those places that weren't yet thoroughly felted - with more detergent water and plenty of elbow grease. This is Pekka finishing off his masterpiece. |
Some finished felts. |
Robert Gyllenberg provided sweet musical accompaniment to the felt finishing process, while his son provided the clown act and general acts of derring-do. |
There was a while to wait at Houtskar, so the time was put to good use over a few drinks. |
The local media wanted a photo op, so we all lined up at a ferry terminal. I'm the large guy in red :-) |
Just a nice house, somewhere in the archipelago. |
A hut nestled cosily by the sea. |
An ice-cream break! Forwarned is forearmed - don't buy the aniseed-flavoured ice-creams, they're bloody awful. |
Heikki's bright and shiny brand-new Leitra was the centre of attention at many stops. This is a fairly typical group of admirers, this time in Nagu. |
The view from the rear on the last day, as the trikes lined out somewhere on the last leg. |
Two motocyclists at Nagu. Do these people look happy? |
The bikes and trikes on show at Naantali. |
A sea view on the way to Nanntali. |
Another sea view on the way to Naantali. |
We got written up in the local paper! Alex' grandson leads in the right-hand picture, taken as we rolled out of the Kaarina small boat harbour. The smaller picture at top left is Heikki's Leitra with the hood up. |
One of the advantages of a lean-steer, front-wheel drive, pedal-steered trike is that you have both hands free. This is Esko taking full advantage of this feature on Hipparion. |
Onni rode this boat-like trike almost the entire distance. Even though actually built for someone's wife, Onni fitted it perfectly. It has an electro-assist system. I don't know if it has a name, but I think of it as the Blue Peanut or Son of Perspirator. The final version will have a transparent top cover, but that wasn't ready at the time of the ride. |
The solar boat Aurinokvene and its creator, Jorma Ponkala. The boat is a very beautiful thing, covered in solar cells. That flat white protrusion on the front is a rear-view mirror. See the web page at MIT for more information. |
Father and son - Pekka and Onni in action. |
Robert Gyllenberg's son, up a tree. |
An idyllic scene along the way - water, sea and sun. |
A rural Finnish scene. |
A sea view. |
Two charming Finnish sheds. |
Two solar boats moored at Nagu. The one on the left is Olli Kuusisto's "Solveig". |
Olli Kuusisto's solar boat Solveig, moored at Nagu. |
Robert Gyllenberg, trumpeting us into Korpo. |
Robert Gyllenberg, trumpeting somewhere in Finland. |
Johannes and Terho waiting for a ferry. |
Bert in her Wendy-House. |
A witch! A witch! |
The last meal of the trip - cabbage soup! |
This is Vince, tired but happy, tucking into a snack on the last evening. |