In terms of weather this has been the best winter in Finland in years. The last two winters have been severe with record snowfall. Last year we got permanent snow already in mid November. This winter has been exceptionally mild, with no permanent snow in the capital area yet. Many will disagree with me, but I love this weather. It feels like an autumn that goes on forever. Every passing day of mild wet weather robs the inevitable cold and snowy Nordic winter of another 24 hours of the misery it brings.
Anyhow, today was Xmas Eve, which in itself is a pretty rare day to have Fall conditions on in Finland. I hadn’t been on a mountain bike for almost five months except for two downhill sessions. I guess I did my fair share in the summer, with four weeks of mountain biking in Finland and Scotland. Today I was back in Teijo, riding in excellent company. We hadn’t been here in over seven months.
Photography for this image by TKS-1
The ride was dark and cold with excellent trails. We had ridden all of these sections before and were taking it easy. There had been a big storm a few weeks back and the trails were blocked by fallen trees here and there. Also, it was very wet and that made it feel just like Scotland…with slippery tree roots. Stupidly I had left my Sealskins back home.

I had a hard time getting into the ride, and was slipping around, even managing to crash. I had been riding bikes with engines for the last five months. Everything with the mountain bike felt alien and….slow. After warming up though, it was great despite the ever increasing rain. After two hours we were soaked and cold. It was time to head back to civilization and take part in the normal Xmas festivities.
Merry Xmas everyone!