I did a day trip to Porvoo and its southern islands with my friend Jaytee. He drives a 2012 Kawasaki Versys with road tires, so most of the trip was on asphalt. I have a 1996 Honda Africa Twin, but I will tell you about “her” in another post.
The route went mostly between forests and some fields, with occasional sightings of the sea, swamps and rocks. Nice scenario but it eventually became repetitive.
From Helsinki we headed east through the 170, a busy main road with few curves. Things got interesting when we took the 1541, 1543 and Emäsalontie south to Varlaxudden. The view on the bridge to Emäsalo is really nice. Emäsalontie is good biker road with continuous curves and slopes. Just be careful with the cyclists and pedestrians you will likely cross.
Varlaxudden is a great place to take a bath, sunbathe on the rocks and grill some food. If only we were prepared…
We took the 1543 back north and to Porvoo. A really worth-visiting city with a river, many wooden houses and an old cathedral. It was a hot day and I was boiling in my motorbike pants and boots, but we found some relief eating by river in Wilhelm Å. It was full and took one hour to get served (we were warned), but the food was good.
After lunch we took the 1552 south, but we missed a turn and ended in Virvik Golf course. This gave me the opportunity to go off-road through Rånäsintie to Rånäs, and then the northwest track back to the 1552 where I met Jaytee again. That was one of the best off-road paths that I have found in Finland, if only it were longer…
We then followed the 1552 south to the end, which is also a worthy road with many curves and slopes, but not as good as Emäsalontie. It also goes through a more populated area, so you are more likely to encounter traffic, cyclists and pedestrians. Again, exercise caution.
Before reaching the end one must cross the sea between Sirmo and Sundön on a shuttle boat.
The shuttle is free and crosses continuosly, but I’m not sure it’s worth the wait to do 7 more kilometers of the road. At least it gave me the chance to go off-road again through Eidiksentie, which was almost as good as the tracks around Rånäs.
We then decided we had enough and went back home north through the 1552 and west through the 170.