Why this ride
A 120 km round trip from Korpilahti - roughly 2 h 39 in the saddle. On the way it passes Experimental House, Aalto Campus and back through Experimental House.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
PUOLAKKA Oravivuori and Aalto Campus
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 120 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 39
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. PUOLAKKA Oravivuori
Finland's lakeland is a country of water more than of land, and Päijänne, the second largest lake in the country, runs south from here for over a hundred kilometres in long, island-dotted fingers. Oravivuori, Squirrel Hill, is a forested rise near Puolakka in the Korpilahti district, now part of Jyväskylä, and the lookout on the hill gives a wide view over spruce, pine and the shining lake beyond. The label points to a hill rather than a monument, so think of it as a place to climb, look and breathe.
Read the complete PUOLAKKA Oravivuori write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
PUOLAKKA Oravivuori is where the day begins. Next is Experimental House.
2. Experimental House
Alvar Aalto built himself a summer house here on Muuratsalo, an island in Lake Päijänne's northern waters near Jyväskylä, and called it the Experimental House. He began it in the early 1950s, and the idea was literal: the walls of the square courtyard are patched with dozens of different bricks and tiles, laid out as samples to see how they weathered through Finnish winters. It is a low whitewashed building with a courtyard open to the sky, and it sits between the pines and the water. Nearby, in Säynätsalo, his town hall of dark red brick is a gem of Finnish modernism.
Read the complete Experimental House write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Experimental House comes up about 41 km into the recorded legs. Next is Aalto Campus.
3. Aalto Campus
Alvar Aalto grew up in Jyväskylä, and the city wears his work like a signature. The university campus on the hill of Seminaarinmäki is one of his great achievements, designed in the 1950s around the older buildings of the teacher training college that had stood here since the nineteenth century. Red brick, timber, copper and glass, arranged around a sloping green with tall pines, it feels less like an institution than a village built for thinking. The main building, with its grand stair and lecture hall, the library and the sports hall all carry his particular mix of warmth and rigour. Walk around and you notice the details: the door handles, the light, the way the buildings follow the slope.
Read the complete Aalto Campus write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 60 km into the recorded legs you reach Aalto Campus. Next is back through Experimental House.
4. back through Experimental House
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Experimental House write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Experimental House, late in the day. Next is PUOLAKKA Oravivuori.
5. PUOLAKKA Oravivuori
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete PUOLAKKA Oravivuori write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at PUOLAKKA Oravivuori. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
PUOLAKKA Oravivuori to Experimental House
PUOLAKKA Oravivuori → Experimental House is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Experimental House to Aalto Campus
Experimental House → Aalto Campus is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Aalto Campus to back through Experimental House
Aalto Campus → back through Experimental House is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Experimental House to PUOLAKKA Oravivuori
back through Experimental House → PUOLAKKA Oravivuori is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.