Kalkkivuori

This could be my last ride of the season, so I decided to have assured fun going to Kalkkivuori again. This is definitely my favourite area so far. I went to the same paths again, so rather than describe the route I’m going to highlight the best paths and spots.

It had been raining heavily the day before, so the soil was soft and muddy even though it looked dry. Thanks to proper tires and my growing experience I drove more confident than ever, beginning to accelerate in curves, controlling some occasional slides. I didn’t fall a single time. The bike doesn’t feel so heavy after driving it fully loaded in Iceland. It was my best day in Finland.

The “U” formed by Mukulamäentie and Suurniityntie is really a great area for off-road motorcycling. These roads are nice forest paths with some gravel and good views. I took another picture of the spot with rocks covered with moss, that you can see below.

The best part of this area is not Mukulamäentie and Suurniityntie, but the multiple semi-abandoned paths that start from them and are not in Google Maps. Check out the screenshot of Geo Tracker below.

For example, the picture below was taken in this location and shows a path with grown vegetation including branches, which was also muddy and slippery in some parts.

Forest path near Suurniityntie (Hyvinkää)

The best path was actually the one that starts in this location. It was covered with vegetation, sometimes slippery and so uneven I even hit the ground with my skid plate. It was long and I could have continued further; but I turned around because I was going deep in the forest and I got worried of getting stuck. Unfortunately I was so excited and concentrated with the driving that I forgot to take a picture of the best part, but here is the beginning:

Forest path near Mukulamäentie (Hyvinkää)

I went through Iso-Kairintie again. It’s really a great curly road to push the limits with some controlled sliding. This time the vegetation was so grown that I could hardly see the lake.

As mentioned, I think this was a perfect ending for the season. I will soon store my bike and hopefully I will have the time to start telling you about Iceland before I forget too many details.

Yes, the motorcycle season is over but I still have trips to tell you about. After the success of my trip to Ylimmäinen, I used Google Earth to search for more forests in the surroundings and Kalkkivouri looked very promising. Indeed, I found there challenging paths in a gorgeous forest, similar to the best of Niemenjärvi and Keihäsjärvi.

I’m not going to explain you again how I got there, nor I can give you a detailed description of my route. All you need to know is that I took every open path I found in the area limited by road 132, road 25, Korpiharjuntie, Livinkyläntie, Suopellontie and Kytäjäntie. I was mostly going around the outer part of the forest, since all paths to the center were closed by barriers.

I first went along Rauhaniementie, Itä-Vihtijärventie and Löytlahdentie, which are main dirt roads to access the cottages and a nice camping by Vihtijärvi lake.

It got much better when I took Iso-Kairintie, a very challenging path of stones similar to Källängintie in Sipoo, but this is longer and has great views of Iso-Kairi lake.

The sun doesn’t get high at this time of the year and visibility was a constant problem during the day. Trees and branches make zebra shadows on the ground that make it very difficult to spot stones and holes, like in the picture below taken in this location. They can hit you like flashes of light that prevent your eyes from getting adjusted. Despite wearing sunglasses, I could barely see a few meters ahead when the sun was right in front.

I was enjoying myself and, as you can see in the grass marks of the picture below, I missed this curve but was able to stop before crashing or falling. It’s not the first time I go off the path and I always wonder if it is because of me getting mentally blocked rather than actually reaching the limits of the bike or the road. Maybe I could have stayed in the trajectory if I hadn’t got afraid of sliding on the gravel. I would have definitelly tried if there wasn’t such a good escape in the outer side. In any case, I always try to keep the balance between fun and safe.

That day I discovered a new type of very deceiving path conditions. Much of the soil looked dry but was surprisingly slippery. What happened is that there had been heavy rains followed by sunny days that created a thin layer of dry soil over mud. I realized this when I noticed the tracks left by the tires were darker than the rest of the soil. Unfortunatelly I don’t have any picture to show you this, but I photographed some poodles in this location.

Another peculiar condition of the day was the amount of leaves due to the Fall season. The picture below was taken in this location, where I found the most beatiful spot of the day with different kinds of trees and rocks covered with moss. I stopped there to rest and listen to the wind waving the trees.

The slippery conditions put me in trouble when climbing this slope in the picture below.

Slope near ? (Vihti) — Path west of Solttila (Vihti)

The day wouldn’t be complete without getting into high-grass paths, like in the picture below taken in this location.

At the end I took Astrakan south to reach road 25 and went back to Helsinki. Astrakan is a wide gravel road.

Kalkkivuori is another great area for off-road motorcycling, and so must think the two KTM riders I crossed there. Besides them, I didn’t cross any other vehicle or pedestrian, but never assume nobody is around the corner. Kalkkivuori combined with the nearby forests of Niemenjärvi and Keihäsjärvi could make a perfect long day that I definitely must have next season.

Tag: Kalkkivuori

Kalkkivuori 2