CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
285 km from Pello to Pello, about 4 h 56 of riding. It goes by way of AVASAKSA Aavasaksa, PERRA-VAARA Perävaara, TORNEA Alatornion kirkko and back through PERRA-VAARA Perävaara. It crosses from Sweden into Finland - carry ID and check the toll rules.
Just north of the Arctic Circle, in the valley of the Torne river that forms the border between Finland and Sweden, stand some of the stations of the Struve Geodetic Arc. Between 1816 and 1855, the astronomer Friedrich Georg Wilhelm Struve and his teams measured a chain of triangles from the Arctic coast of Norway to the Black Sea, more than two thousand eight hundred kilometres, to determine the exact shape of the Earth. The arc is now a World Heritage Site spread over ten countries, and the points in the Torne valley, with names like Pullinki, Perävaara and Jupukka, are marked by drill holes and cairns on the hilltops.
Read the complete PULLINKI Pullinki write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
PULLINKI Pullinki is where the day begins. Next is AVASAKSA Aavasaksa.
Aavasaksa is a wooded hill rising above the Torne river on the Finnish side of the border with Sweden, near the town of Ylitornio, just south of the Arctic Circle. It is a modest height, around 240 metres, but it has a remarkable history. In 1736 and 1737, a French expedition led by Pierre Louis Moreau de Maupertuis came to the Torne valley to measure the length of a degree of latitude near the pole, and their observations helped prove that the earth is flattened at the poles, as Newton had predicted. Over a century later, Aavasaksa became one of the points of the Struve Geodetic Arc, the chain of survey stations running from Norway to the Black Sea, inscribed by UNESCO in 2005.
Read the complete AVASAKSA Aavasaksa write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
AVASAKSA Aavasaksa comes up about 46 km into the recorded legs. Next is PERRA-VAARA Perävaara.
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.
Read the complete PERRA-VAARA Perävaara write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 106 km into the recorded legs you reach PERRA-VAARA Perävaara. Next is TORNEA Alatornion kirkko.
Two countries share this river valley, and two currencies, and, curiously, two clocks, since Finland is an hour ahead of Sweden. Tornio on the Finnish side and Haparanda on the Swedish are twin towns divided by the Torne river, and the line between them is a short bridge. The big grey church of Alatornio stands on the Finnish bank a few kilometres upstream, a stone building from the late eighteenth century, in a region where wooden churches are far more common. The Torne itself flows free of dams, one of the great wild rivers of Europe, and every spring its ice breaks up in a spectacular rush.
Read the complete TORNEA Alatornion kirkko write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
TORNEA Alatornion kirkko, about halfway. Next is back through PERRA-VAARA Perävaara.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete PERRA-VAARA Perävaara write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through PERRA-VAARA Perävaara sits at 170 km, about halfway. Next is back through AVASAKSA Aavasaksa.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete AVASAKSA Aavasaksa write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through AVASAKSA Aavasaksa comes up about 241 km into the recorded legs. Next is PULLINKI Pullinki.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete PULLINKI Pullinki write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
PULLINKI Pullinki closes the day.
PULLINKI Pullinki → AVASAKSA Aavasaksa is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
AVASAKSA Aavasaksa → PERRA-VAARA Perävaara is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
PERRA-VAARA Perävaara → TORNEA Alatornion kirkko is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
TORNEA Alatornion kirkko → back through PERRA-VAARA Perävaara is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through PERRA-VAARA Perävaara → back through AVASAKSA Aavasaksa is 60 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through AVASAKSA Aavasaksa → PULLINKI Pullinki is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.