Perävaara is a modest hill in the Swedish Tornedalen, a little north of Haparanda, and it is one of the points of the Struve Geodetic Arc. Between 1816 and 1855, the astronomer Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve and his teams measured a chain of triangles stretching from Hammerfest on the Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea, over two and a half thousand kilometres, to determine the exact size and shape of the Earth. The survey points were marked on hilltops, church towers and rocks, and the surviving ones in ten countries were listed by UNESCO in 2005. At Perävaara, the station is a small marker on the summit, with a sign explaining its place in the chain. Struve's neighbours on the arc nearby include Jupukka and Pullinki, both a short ride away.
The Tornedalen is a borderland with a character of its own. The Torne river forms the frontier between Sweden and Finland, and the people on both sides speak Meänkieli, a Finnic language recognised as a minority language in Sweden. Haparanda and Tornio, its Finnish twin, are practically one town split by the border, and you can cross back and forth without noticing, except that your watch jumps an hour.
The riding is long, straight and calm, through forests of pine and birch, across bogs and past farms along the river. The road north up the Torne valley towards Övertorneå and Pajala follows the river with long, flowing bends, and the scenery is serene rather than dramatic. Watch for reindeer on the road: they belong to the Sámi herding communities and they stand their ground. Moose are also common.
The Arctic Circle is just to the north, and in June the sun barely sets. The light at midnight is strange and beautiful, soft gold over the river. The mosquitoes, unfortunately, also appreciate the season, so bring repellent and a net if you plan to stop in the forest. Autumn, with the birch woods turning yellow and the first northern lights, is short but spectacular; winter is for snowmobiles, not bikes.
For fuel and food, head to Haparanda or Tornio, which have everything you need, including big supermarkets; Haparanda even has a large IKEA, a slightly surreal sight at the top of the Baltic. Further north, stations are sparse, so fill up before you go.