Aalto Works and Verla Groundwood and Board Mill

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Aalto Works

   Lammi lies in the lake country of southern Finland, in the Häme region, about a hundred kilometres north of Helsinki, and its fame rests on two things: a lake landscape of unusual calm, and a beer. The beer is sahti, a traditional Finnish farmhouse ale brewed from malted barley and rye, flavoured with juniper rather than hops, and filtered through juniper branches. It is cloudy, sweet and surprisingly strong, and Lammi is considered the capital of sahti, with brewers who have kept the tradition alive for generations. A glass, if you can find it, is worth trying, though not before riding.

   Read the complete Aalto Works write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Aalto Works is where the day begins. Next is PORLOM II Tornikallio.

2. 2. PORLOM II Tornikallio

   Tornikallio means tower rock in Finnish, and it is a common name for a rocky hill with a view. Artjärvi and Myrskylä lie in the rolling farmland where Uusimaa meets Kymenlaakso, a landscape of small lakes, red barns, rye and oat fields and patches of spruce forest, drained by the Porvoonjoki river on its way to the Gulf of Finland. It is gentler than the lake district farther north, and it has a well-worn look, with old wooden farmhouses and village churches painted white or ochre.

   Read the complete PORLOM II Tornikallio write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   PORLOM II Tornikallio comes up about 88 km into the recorded legs. Next is Verla Groundwood and Board Mill.

3. 3. Verla Groundwood and Board Mill

   A mill in the middle of a forest is a strange thing to find in Finland, until you remember that the forest was the point. The Verla Groundwood and Board Mill, in Kymenlaakso in south-eastern Finland, was built in the 1870s beside a waterfall, where the river provided power and the surrounding woods provided the raw material. It made groundwood pulp and cardboard until it closed in 1964, and what remains is one of the best-preserved examples of a small wood-processing village in the world, which is why UNESCO listed it in 1996.

   Read the complete Verla Groundwood and Board Mill write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 169 km into the recorded legs you reach Verla Groundwood and Board Mill. Next is back through PORLOM II Tornikallio.

4. 4. back through PORLOM II Tornikallio

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete PORLOM II Tornikallio write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through PORLOM II Tornikallio, late in the day. Next is Aalto Works.

5. 5. Aalto Works

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Aalto Works write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Aalto Works. That is the ride.