I asked Komoot for a gravel ride today. I was looking forward to seeing some Finnish countryside away from the Eurovelo trail and expected some nice quiet back roads.
Well Komoot delivered in spades. About 40kms of paved road and a bit more of dirt roads that wound their way past lakes and over every possible hill between Ingå and Salo. It was absolutely epic. It had sand, it had mud, it had a few completely overgrown tracks that took me past some wonderful lakes and forests, I saw deer (I assume thats what they were) and there were friendly locals as well.
It’s berry season, so along the way, people were out foraging for berries in the forest. It reminded me of parts of Asia, and I love the fact that it’s possible.
When I rolled into Salo at 5pm, I saw the local Espresso House which is a chain that I’ve only seen in Finland. It’s like Starbucks only you can drink the coffee. So, I had a late second breakfast of coffee and a pastry while collapsing in a comfy chair.
The campground was about 5 or 6 kms south, so I loaded up with some food for dinner and breakfast and got going.
The campsite is really nice, and set beside a lake. It has a kitchen area but the power went out as I started to cook, so I went back to the tent and fired up the Primus. Dinner was pesto pasta with mushrooms and fresh tomatoes. I hesitate to say it was yum.
However, something that I had eaten, either in Salo or at the campground didnt agree with me. Later that night, I had waves of nausea which resulted in an emergency exit from the tent and that beautiful dinner being heaved up in amongst the pine trees.
Double layer tents aren’t a lot of fun when you know you’re about to puke and you’ve got two separate zips to negotiate. It could have been disastrous but luck was on my side this time.
I went back to bed but didn’t feel much better at all.