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Cycling has a way of sneaking up on people. A lot of folks begin their love affair with bikes through commuting, which turns to road riding, gravel, and beyond. One such person is Kamil, from Finland, who found bikes through this utilitarian path but is now using his Pelago Stavanger as a veritable all-rounder…
Follow bikepacking guide Timo Veijalainen as he takes Kona Ambassador Erkki Punttila and former Kona Factory DH team rider Antti-Pekka Laiho on a wintery two-wheeled adventure through the magical landscape of Kiilopää in Finland Lapland’s Urho Kekkonen National Park.
Join Manon Carpenter and Christian Stenvall on a four day bike-packing trip to the highest point in Finland – Halti (1324 m) – in the very north of the country, up above the Arctic Circle.
If you’re an aspiring framebuilder, buying all the proper equipment ain’t cheap. Luckily, the community is very supportive and in Finland, Konga Bicycles has offered up a number of free framebuilding jig files, all in DXF and STP format. Of course, this is a great resource, offered for free, but Konga is also taking donations, so be sure to help out if you have the means…
Sending high fives to the cyclists in Finland for this one!
“YV-leiri is a bike touring and camping concept ideated last year on Finnish online cycling community Yksivaihde.net. Since then people have packed their bikes and gathered around campfires almost every other month and the next camp is already being planned. The idea is not a group ride but just agreeing on the location and people keep popping up there with their tents, hammocks, sausages and beers all from their own directions.
A slingshot competition has been held many times but otherwise there are no has-to-do’s, agendas or anything forced. Just breathing the fresh air and doing anything you want in the wild.
Last weekend a group of eight guys spent a spring night in Porkkala. Ice and snow were almost totally gone and sea was open. Check the awesome sunset on the video “Overnighter in Porkkala”‘
I can’t imagine what it’s like to ride a bike in Finland, much less in the middle of winter. Luckily, this new video from Kona gives a little insight into what it’s like to cycle in arguably one of the most cycling friendly places on the globe. With over 1,200km of bike paths, the cyclists of Finland utilize their bikes as a means of transportation, regardless of the weather…
Here’s a nice and simple video from Finnish framebuilder, Konga Bicycles.
Photo by Kim Heikkinen
I’m sure most of you are over winter, waiting for the snow to melt, the trails to dry and the temperatures to break the winter layers. At least some people are having fun in the snow. Check out more of Kim’s photos here.
I absolutely love Finnish death metal and I can now add Krypts to the rank of Claws / Hooded Menace, Unholy and Amorphis. This band creates such an enveloping sound that they very well may be the new, true arbiters of death in Finland. The torch of heaviness has been passed and with the buzz surrounding this new album, they’re doing a hell of a job.
Enter the metaphors: Krypts’ sound is a dying behemoth, flailing its limbs before death. It envelops you like a breached submarine as it topples into an abyss, seconds before crushing you like a tin can. Their riffs crawl like a venomous centipede out of decaying corpse and the percussions thunder like the drums of an ancient, subterranean cannibal race of rats.
That’s how menacing Krypts’ highly-anticipated album, Unending Degredation is. Over four years in the making, this album represents the hard work of a band that made its name by crawling from the crypt to the pit. Simply listen to “Inhale” before “the Black Smoke” surrounds you. Like their death doom brethren, some tracks linger. “Dormancy of the Ancients” and “Beneath the Archaic” are as slow as a swarm of maggots, devouring a carcass.
How else are you to describe death metal? Just look at the fucking artwork. Are you not scared shitless? As dark and foreboding as their sound may be, Krypts brings a smile to my face and a tear to my eye. Maybe 2013 won’t suck for death metal after all? Check out one track from Unending Degredation below and pre-order the vinyl direct through Dark Descent.
These oversized tubed, fillet brazed, steel track machines have caught my eye. Antti Konga builds these bikes in Finland, which explains the name, Rata, which means “track” in Finnish. Antti doesn’t have a website yet, so check out more photos of the KONGA Rata track bike here. Really loving that set!
Man, I really gotta make it out to Helsinki for the Bicycle Film Festival one year. Can someone book Hooded Menace to play the after party?
I scooped this one off Affinity’s blog. Sinda Jukka is a long-time Affinity supporter and he just sent Jason these photos from an afternoon at the track, where the locals raced to celebrate 60 years of the Käpylä Olympic Velodrome in Helsinki.
Grain is good. See the rest of these lovely photos here!
Photo by Kim Heikkinen
This is one of many great photos shot by Kim in Finland. Such a great shot man! But that’s the norm for Kim’s photography. If you’re not familair, see the Related Posts below and check the rest from this day out here.
Photo by Kim Heikkinen
Sweet, sweet lord from the ground below. Kim’s LOW built up quite nice. Check out the full set here. Praise to the Finnish doom metal set!
