EcoTrip 2001

Introduction

See the introduction page for more information about Ecotrips in general, and for a couple of other Ecotrip reports.

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.


Heikki Maitilainen in Nagu Heikki Maitalainen and his brand new Leitra 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.
Terho Eskelinen's home-built delta trike 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.
Bert, our journalist Alan, our photographer 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 septet that launched EcoTrip 2001 One of our yellow dancers in action 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.
The limestone quarry at Hessund Classic old door at Hessund 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.
??? with his electric-assisted bike. Note washing-machine control panel :-) MIG welder motor on ??'s electric-assisted bike 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 :-)
Vincent Fox and his AVD-manufactured recumbent This is the British contingent, Vincent Fox. Vince rode a two-wheeled recumbent originally designed and built by AVD, the Windcheetah people.
Johannes on his Street Machine GT in Nagu 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.
A masterly running repair to a broken mudguard support The classic barn near where we lunched 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.
The luncheon table at the farmhouse, before we attacked Frank taking seconds of a truly wonderful salmon chowder 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.
Veli-Matti Vuorensyrjä with his Bike-E 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.
My Greenspeed GTO in Nagu OK, so I can't resist - this is my beautiful Greenspeed GTO, ready to roll in Nagu.
The only other Greenspeed, a home-built GTS The only other Greenspeed, a homebuilt GTS 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!
A truly evil trike seat 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.
Old church and graveyard 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 :-(
Church near Iniö, Bert in foreground Church near Iniö 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.
Front view of church near Iniö A wall hanging at the school in Iniö 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.
Dinking Bert on a Greenspeed GTO 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 :-)
Getting into felting 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.
Pekka felting This is Pekka working on his design.
Alex' grandson rolling his felt behind him 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.
Pekka finishing off his felt 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.
Karl's finished felt Johannes' finished felt Someone else's finished felt Someone else's finished felt
Some finished felts.
Robert Gyllenberg providing musical accompaniment Robert Gyllenberg provided sweet musical accompaniment to the felt finishing process, while his son provided the clown act and general acts of derring-do.
Waiting for the ferry at Houtskar Waiting for the ferry at Houtskar There was a while to wait at Houtskar, so the time was put to good use over a few drinks.
A group photo at a ferry terminal The local media wanted a photo op, so we all lined up at a ferry terminal. I'm the large guy in red :-)
a nice house, somewhere on the Archipelago Just a nice house, somewhere in the archipelago.
A hut by the sea A hut nestled cosily by the sea.
Taking a break at a kiosk An ice-cream break! Forwarned is forearmed - don't buy the aniseed-flavoured ice-creams, they're bloody awful.
Heikki's Leitra, centre of attention at Nagu 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.
A procession of HPVs... The view from the rear on the last day, as the trikes lined out somewhere on the last leg.
Motorbikes at Nagu. Do these people look happy? Two motocyclists at Nagu. Do these people look happy?
Our bikes on show at Naantali The bikes and trikes on show at Naantali.
The view out to sea, on the way to Naantali A sea view on the way to Nanntali.
A little bay, on the way to Naantali Another sea view on the way to Naantali.
Our write-up in the local paper 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.
Esko riding no-hands 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 in the Blue Peanut, alias Son of Perspirator 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.
Another solar boat, Aurinokvene, and its creator, Jorma Ponkala 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.
Pekka and Onni in action Father and son - Pekka and Onni in action.
Robert Gyllenberg's son, up a tree Robert Gyllenberg's son, up a tree.
An idyllic scene along the way - water, sea and sun An idyllic scene along the way - water, sea and sun.
A rural Finnish scene A rural Finnish scene.
A sea view A sea view.
Two charming Finnish sheds Two charming Finnish sheds.
Solar boats moored at Nagu Two solar boats moored at Nagu. The one on the left is Olli Kuusisto's "Solveig".
The solar boat Solveig, moored at Nagu The solar boat Solveig, moored at Nagu Olli Kuusisto's solar boat Solveig, moored at Nagu.
Robert Gyllenberg, trumpeting us into Korpo Robert Gyllenberg, trumpeting us into Korpo.
Robert Gyllenberg, trumpeting somewhere in Finland Robert Gyllenberg, trumpeting somewhere in Finland.
Johannes and Terho waiting for a ferry Johannes and Terho waiting for a ferry.
Bert in her Wendy-House Bert in her Wendy-House.
A witch! A witch! A witch! A witch!
The last meal of the trip - cabbage soup! The last meal of the trip - cabbage soup! The last meal of the trip - cabbage soup!
Vince tucking into dinner on the last evening This is Vince, tired but happy, tucking into a snack on the last evening.


Counter graphic readers. Last update: 10 November 2002, Karl Auer kauer@biplane.com.au