Helena and her summer bike (back when it was still summer).She usually looks happier than she does here.
The Kaustinen bike trail avoids a busy road crossing.(also when it was still summer)
My bike in front of Folk Arts Center where we have class.(taken more recently)
11/16/07, around 9am. We live in the second cabin from the left.Our neighborhood is called "Mosala,"
the same name as the rapids on the river behind our house.
Same view of Mosala, same day around noon.
Our cabin with Mosala Rapids on the Perhonjoki River in the background.Greetings from Finland!
I would like to open this Finmail with a moment of silence
The days are indeed getting rapidly shorter and chillier as the northern hemisphere takes its annual vacation away from the sun. Now, a month before the winter solstice at 63 (and a half) degrees latitude (here), the sun crests the horizon around 9:30am, traces a low arc in the often cloud-covered southern sky, and it starts getting dark again around 2:30pm. Before electric lighting, people in Scandinavia must have told a lot of stories during the winter nights. That is probably how the Kalevala (Finland's national epic poem) got to be so long.
The darkness outside makes the warm and bright instrument-building workshop all the more inviting. We continue to make good progress on our instruments. But before I tell about that (next time), I would like to tell about the bikes we ride every day and some of the adventures we have had with them. It all started in September with Helena.
Helena is our only classmate. All three of us were surprised that only three students were in this year's class. Usually there have been 10 – 15 students in the program. (Actually, there was a fourth student who left after a few days, apparently for religious reasons, Helena thought.) Eli and I had been looking forward to interacting with many classmates. We got over our initial disappointment quickly though. Helena is very enjoyable to work and socialize with, and our teacher has been very accommodating with our varying degrees of deficiency in Finnish. Helena is also a non-traditional student, which relieved our anxiety about sharing a classroom with young bucks and "perky gazelles." As you all well know, learning is a life-long adventure.
Helena is a fun Finn in her mid 40's. She is a very talented singer, and all three of her children are musicians. In July she moved back to Kaustinen (after living in southeastern Finland for 10 years) to be near where she grew up and where her family is. Her mother and eldest daughter (married with 3 children) live about an hour northeast of Kaustinen. Riikka (Helena's eldest daughter) was recently selected to be the church organist in their small town. (In Finland there is generally just one church in each town.) Helena's younger daughter studies music at the conservatory in Kokkola about a half hour north of Kaustinen. Her 15 year-old son plays violin very well and plans to start at the music magnet high school in Kaustinen next year. He and Helena live in the cabin next door. Einari is otherwise a motorbike-crazed teenager,
Well this email is about the other kind of bike. When we first got here, an abandoned-looking red cruising bicycle was leaning up out back behind Helena's cabin. Its rear tire was off the rim and the tire was full of leaves and muck. When Helena heard that I was interested in bicycling (from Eli), she said I could ride it if I fixed the flat tire. I had been planning to swear off bicycling for a while after getting my fill of bicycling fun in France, but here was a broken bike... and such an easy fix! I couldn't help myself. Helena has a new, fancy bike with gears that she rides every day. The red bike is her winter bike. It has studded tires for better traction, and a coaster brake (the kind where you pedal backwards) so it still works in snowy conditions. A lot of Finns use winter tires on their bikes, and you can buy the studded tires in the local grocery / department store that resembles Pamida. I fixed the bike, and soon I was cruising back and forth to our classroom building on Helena's winter bike.
Noticing my interest in bikes, Helena mentioned a few days later that Riikka (her eldest daughter) had an even older bike in her yard that she was not using. It was not as pretty as her winter bike and the brake didn't work, she told me, but if I fixed it I could ride it while I was in Finland. I figured either the coaster brake would be easy to fix, or the wheel might need to be junked. So I said I would look at it. That weekend Riika was playing in an organ concert in her town, and I went with Helena. I was amazed at the sounds I heard coming from the organ; Riikka is very good – similar to organists I heard play while I was in college at Gustavus. I hope I will get to hear her play again and that Eli will get to hear her play too.
The next day I got a good look at the bike – as promised, it wasn't pretty. The front wheel was rubbing on the fender and frame (fork), and the spokes were so rusty I didn't think I would be able to straighten the rim. Fortunately my bike tools had ended up in Finland with me (more due to chance than planning as I had sorted my PBP gear in a sleep-deprived stupor). To my surprise, I could adjust most of the spokes. I got the wheel to stop hitting the frame, but it was still pretty bent. The coaster brake's only problem is sometimes it engages by itself when I roll the bike backwards (as when backing out of a bike rack). The brake has always stopped the bike so far. I put new innertubes in the tires, needed or not, and soon I was cruising around town on my very own (borrowed) rusty, one-speed brick-red beauty complete with fenders and rack. I'm sure all those with whom I shared the PBP adventure would look away!
I adjusted Helena's winter bike for Eli (at Helena's encouragement) and soon we were cruising around town together. Actually, I think these one-speed bikes are underestimated as a training tool. I spent several evenings and weekends exploring the surrounding forests and neighboring towns, and on some rides Eli and I rode together.
One of the unpleasant things about riding outside of town is the stench of the fur farms which are scattered along rural roads. A mink farm smells about ten times more pungent than the dogyard in the spring. The effect these farms have on water quality is a concern. The EU regulates fur farming heavily and recently passed legislation requiring that the animals' cages be enlarged (but not by much). There have been protests to halt fur farming, including one appeal from Pamela Anderson to the Finnish government. http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=3302835
On the other hand, fur farming has been practiced in Scandinavia for at least 500 years, and many people derive a part of their income from small-scale operations. Last week, we got new neighbors. Eli found out that they are from Estonia, here in Finland to skin mink during the fur harvesting season. Who can begrudge them the opportunity to earn some Christmas money for their families or money to pay their winter heating bill? I haven't seen any Finns fighting them for their jobs -- I'm sure it is quite unpleasant. So there are two sides to any argument. I guess people protest because we think we are living in a more enlightened era.
Bicycling in Finland is otherwise pleasant. Drivers are courteous to cyclists, especially in town. Bike paths are wide, well-lit, and plentiful (on both sides of Kaustinen's main street). When I ride on the roads outside of town, drivers give me plenty of space when they can. However, most road shoulders are about two inches wide, and the traffic lanes are not too wide either. Twice I have elected to hit the ditch on busy roads when a truck was coming in my lane and there was oncoming traffic. Mostly though, I have been able to bicycle on low-traffic roads, some of which are gravel. I have not seen any other cyclists out on the roads. Call me crazy!
Fortunately for me and my bike-repairing hobby, I have been pleasantly surprised at how inexpensive and readily available bike parts are. I recently replaced the hand grips, pedals, and chain on the old bike for about $15 total. I could even buy a pedal wrench at the grocery store and it only cost 5 euros. Otherwise, many things in Finland seem expensive. For example, bananas cost about $1.40/lb, and Eli and I don't go out for a beer very often (about $7).
Fortunately for me and my bike-repairing hobby, I have been pleasantly surprised at how inexpensive and readily available bike parts are. I recently replaced the hand grips, pedals, and chain on the old bike for about $15 total. I could even buy a pedal wrench at the grocery store and it only cost 5 euros. Otherwise, many things in Finland seem expensive. For example, bananas cost about $1.40/lb, and Eli and I don't go out for a beer very often (about $7).
When I got back from one ride (a leisurely 90 km), Helena and Saija (our teacher) acted as though I had gone to the other end of the moon. When gas costs 1.35 euros per liter (about $9 a gallon), people do not drive their cars that far just for fun. So I am very glad that a lot of Scandinavians ride bicycles, even though bikes are considered in-town transportation.
I saw the first snowflakes on that ride about a month ago. Don't let the pictures on the previous post fool you -- it has not been sunny very often. In the past month, I think I have seen my shadow three times. When the wind blows from the north we get a nice, dry snow; otherwise it rains. So the roads have been messy and we have been thankful for the fenders on our bikes. (Kiitos, Helena) Yesterday was the first day we could not see any grass. Eli started walking to class again this week so Helena can ride her winter bike. Even though the locals say that in recent years they have not been able to ski until January, I think we will have better luck this year.
We have heard that it has been rainy in Minnesota too, and we hope you get good snow early this winter. Here's a little sunshine ☺☻☼♪♫ for each one of you and the things you do to leave the world a better place. Thanksgiving is not celebrated in Finland, and it almost escaped my notice that many of you are probably preparing to celebrate the most American of holidays (or have already done so by the time you get around to reading this message).
Happy Thanksgiving!
Take care and have fun!
LynnAnne and Eli
LynnAnne and Eli
