Ruska - Ride across Finland 2018

Interested in an event going across Finland, unsupported? Ruska the ride across Finland will happen for the second year in 2018.

Here's the info page and newsletter subscribtion. That page will also be updated when there's more to tell. Here's the similar page about 2017 with more info, and here's some pictures of that.

I'm not the organiser of this event, just spreading the word. I do know the organiser and I will most likely be there riding, again.

I rode the inaugural version of the event this last September. It was pretty small but well organised, very small entry fee. I think there was 18 starters, 13 finishers. A few checkpoints, otherwise free route. The rules are basically the same as in the Transcontinental Race, but this is not actually a race. There's a time limit and everyone finishing before that are listed as finishers, though the finishers also get a consecutive number, in the order they finish, that shows how many finishers there has been before him/her, including previous years.

The checkpoint locations will vary every year, while the distance is about 2000km or a bit less and the time is a about eight days. Lots of nice small quiet roads through forests, fields and fells, there's thousands of lakes too. Riding across Lapland in the north is rather extraordinary for a road ride, as it's pretty remote and wild, you'll see more reindeers than people. Some will ride it as quickly as they can, I rode the first edition in under hundred hours, while some take it as a tour. Nevertheless, that distance in eight days with possibly challenging weather is not easy. A great adventure and would be good training for future ultra events too, as this teaches you to plan your day and daily distances, with not too many possibilities to eat or sleep indoors at. But there is enough.

The name of the event, Ruska, means autumn foliage.

#ruska2017 and #ruska2018 on Twitter and instagram.

That little thing there on the left is indeed a reindeer.