Winter Cycling in Oulu and Helsinki (Finland)
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- Опубліковано 30 вер 2024
- [Ep. 985] To learn more about winter cycling the Finnish Cycling Embassy organised a Winter Cycling Masterclass in Oulu and Helsinki in February 2023. This a video report about that event. More information in the blog post: bicycledutch.w...
Videos like this one are proof that cycling is a viable mode of transportation under different weather - or terrain conditions. Oulu is a well-known example that should be highlighted again and again.
Looks like a great bicycle tour!
I don't know any Finnish, but I like that you took an effort to pronounce all the names in Finnish. No idea if it was done right, but kudos for at least trying!
As a Finn, I give it a rating on the strong end of "close enough" 😁
It was clearly a real effort to pronounce them correctly. It doesn't sound like a native, but a person who has heard the name and does their best attempt to say it the same way. Well respected.
Thank you so much for this video, it was great to have you here in #Oulu! 🤗
What kind of clothes do you wear, especially how you keep your hands warm?
@@jannetteberends8730 Good quality winter gloves! If they are wind- and water-resistant, they'll retain the heat your hands naturally radiate in any type of cold weather. :)
@@jannetteberends8730 This is my first year if winter cycling in Finland and I wear basically the same what I would wear if I went downhill skiing, but a tad lighter outer layer. Helmet, gloves and if it's snowing, goggles too. Usually a long sleeved breathable shirt and a t-shirt on top of that, lightly padded jacket. A set or two of long underwear pants + cargo pants. One should probably wear wind or rain proof pants but I like my cargo pants :D
Tldr; you don't really need much clothing, you warm up nicely when cycling.
@@jannetteberends8730 For the most part, the same clothes as you'd wear walking. Wind-proof winter gloves keep your hands warm. I use relatively cheap pair of leather mittens, and they are warm in any weather (I've used them down to -25C). If you don't want to use helmet, a beanie is a good choise. If you use a bicycle helmet, a tubular scarf (or two) keep your head warm (it starts to feel a bit cold in temps below -15C). Locally I've seen some people use downhill skiing helmets and goggles, which will keep your head warm, keep the cold wind and snow off your eyes, and provide much better protection for your head overall. Probably a good choice for cold weather, or if you travel longer distances.
I ride year-round here in Toronto. OMG, to have such great infrastructure ~that is maintained year-round~ would be paradise! If our friends in Finland can do it. . . Great video!
Protected cycle lanes are necessary and make it safe to ride a bicycle.
Every city needs to do more to provide safe, protected bike lanes and trails.
L'Italia sotto questo punto di vista è da terzo mondo, sono già stata investita tre volte.
I'm sad that Helsinki is investing in non protected one way bike lanes a lot in the centre, even when there is space for better solutions :/. The suburbs of Helsinki are really good though
My father recently visited Finland for a business trip and when he came back, told me in amazement how every town and city, no matter how big or small, had fantastic, well designed and adequate infrastructure for transportation. That it seemed almost impossible that everything would be so clean, well maintained and just plain useful.
I love the projected traffic signs. That's brilliant.
I cycle in winter too... in Sydney, Australia 😂
I wish the cyclists gave a shit. They ride in dark clothes without the mandatory head lights and reflectors in the dark without looking anywhere and not giving a shit or knowing anything about the traffic rules. Not even the cops care.
Kudos for your pronunciation of Finnish names. Well done!
I hope there was at least one person from Canada there!
There was, from Montreal!
@@BicycleDutch That's great!
As a Montrealer, I would also go when I have the chance!
Winter isnt a obstacle, its a excuse for lazier cities.
Damn Finland is awesome, I will visit there one day!
Heel erg bedankt Mark! I'm so glad to see folks cycling in winter in Finland and the wonderful bike trails and roads there. I'm here in western Canada cycling on my trainer, working up a sweat wondering if I should just put on some extra clothes and take my bike outside in the rain on the 'wet' coast in the rain forest. Ahh well, soon enough.
Does it matter if you get wet from the sweat anyway
"Kids even go to school early in the morning at minus 20 degrees"... I'm all out of excuses now 😥
Hey! I’m from the Netherlands and we have learned to cope with very different cycling conditions in one winter for instance rain, frost , snow, melt, frost, rain again 😂frost. This seems to mee te most challenging fact for maintaining cycling paths.
But, on the whole, in my village the main car and cycling infrastructure is being dealt with ok. Not grand but not bad either.
It’s when you go on foot you have to worry. I learnt from my parents that every house occupant as a courtesy, has to keep her footpath clean. Sadly, that tradition has almost vanished. Even more sadly, winters are becoming shorter and less snowy here.
Untill 2007, every house owner was required by law to keep the walkway in front of their house snow- and ice free.
Since 2007 the municipality is required to do that. But ofcourse they have no means!!
We don't often have snow anymore, yet both me and my neighbours still keep the walkway free of snow and we sprinkle some salt. Makes life for the postman easier 😀. Seems we are a dying breed Blueroom..
This is great! And people apparently cycle in Minneapolis, Minnesota, year-round, which also has substantial winters.
This is correct, and our city does a decent job of keeping the network clear and connected, but I am still really jealous of what they show in this video. Hopefully we take more steps in this direction.
I was in Helsinki two weeks ago. The main problem I saw is that they did remove the snow from the bike paths in the city center, but not from the sidewalks. So what happened is that many people where walking on the bike path..
Well, I live close to the city centre and the bicycle lanes aren't very well plowed because they plow the fresh snow once and then bigger car lane plowes leave heaps of snow on the bicycle lanes, that isn't removed. Another problem is that the leftover snow melts and freezes into ice. If it were removed or plowed somewhere properly there would be no water to freeze
@@xWood4000 mmhh that sucks. My experience is only from one evening and a busy morning so I haven’t actually seen that much of the city. I hope they improve the situation sooner than later.
Thank you for this video! I hope to get Oulu some day to see it myself :)
As i always said if i could there.... New Delhi full of mass...
Wonderful video sir keep sending us..
Regards
Richard james
New Delhi, Indian
I note that the plow was just a plain old John Deere, not some fancy, specialized machine. No need to spend a ton of money on your equipment fleet.
Ice road truckers on TV, in Oulu, its ice road cycling, walking, skiing, and skating. Was skating there last week.
Build it and they will come. Good with more bike lanes, bad with more car lanes. simple as that.
Thank you very much! Yeah if bicycle infrastructure is maintained, it is possible to ride even at far below zero
Every time I see a video of Oulu I immediately think “oh, that just looks like a University”. Imagine if cities planned like Universities.
No need to imagine. Lots of cities do. And some countries do it properly on a national level.
2 of my university classmates did go to Oulu University for their exchange programme (on a side note 1 of them found fishing thru a hole in the frozen lake surface the most memorable, although she also caught a cold then)
Wonderful. Canadian politicians could learn a lot from Finland.
Wonderful to see that cycling in winter (safely and comfortably) is possible!
The way everyone was tacking pictures of the snowplow hahaha
I love it. This proves, that you can cycle at any type of weather, any type of terrain, done by any type of person if the infrastructure is there.
when you get to your destination, you can say you’re Finnish riding
And you use winter tires on your bike of course.
Never done that in my 54 years in Finland. They are not necessary
Depence of style of bike and riding, but not like must have thing
@@Kerppu68 I clearly hear spike noise in this video
@@the_udmurt So you do. But I have never used them
Well, yes and no. You don't need studded tires, if the maintenance is decent, but you shouldn't really use slick tires (or something that completely loses it's grip in the cold). The regular bike tire (with some grooves) is good enough if the maintenance is good. More agressive treads are better, especially if the maintenance is decent (but not great). Studded tires tend to provide the best grip, but are not really needed unless the maintenance is bad (similar to how chains or spikes are not needed for cars if the maintenance is decent).
If you run slick tires (or something else not suitable for winter riding) during summer, you might as well get the best winter tire you can buy, but most bikes have tires that are super good enough for winter driving, if the condition of the cycling paths is even remotely similar to the condition of most roads.
In the video you can see, that some people do use studded winter tires, but others (like Pekka Tahkola) do not. Also notice that most people do not wear helmets.
I feel like even the Netherlands can learn a thing or two here!
Such as?.
Like what? We don’t get snow like that in the Netherlands. We get a light dusting of snow maybe twice a year, if at all. It’s getting less and less common with climate change.
I just wish we had half the bike lanes in the states
"You may think you know cold until you've faced a Russian winter! I ride my bike to work every day, maneuvering through snowdrifts and icy paths. This routine not only energizes me physically but also boosts my mental well-being. Check out the video of the toughest day in my 2023/2024 commute here: ua-cam.com/video/bNTSzMUMxTk/v-deo.html
Not necessarily conservative nor liberal, but just plain smart thinking.
Very interesting story! Thanks for this! And you have wonderful voice-over there! 💖
That's great. Wish I could bike safely in winter.
So its possible to cycle in winter if you have plows that leave the correct amount of snow on the ground.
I've tried cycling in Denver and a patch of ice caused me to instantly fall down and badly bruise my hip.
Use studded tyres for winter biking. They can be a lifesaver, literally.
Thank you for the lovely video.
You sure seem to love Raksila.
What about traction, Mark? Even plowed those paths still look helemaal glad.
They're not slippery at all. A lot of bicycles even had normal tyres (no studs) and that worked just fine.
@@BicycleDutch Whoa!
Hard packed snow is easy to ride on.
Packed snow has surprisingly good grip. Normal tires have no issues with it unless you try to push the limits of grip
Yeah, packed snow has very good grip, and the small grooves produced by the teeth of the plows make it even better. Much better than wet leaves or grit on asphalt. With studded tires, the grip on packed snow is better than the grip on wet concrete/stone (at least in my experience/opinion).
Fantastic update, thanks for sharing
Cycle now in Helsinki. 20 sentimeter snow. Only mainroads are properly cleaned from snow. 28.3.2023 Especialy camera areas.
Well done oulu!
Geweldig het lijkt wel Almere of Amsterdam ❤
Zou graag daar fietsen🤗
Snow maintenance is easier in a winter climate that stays cold. And cycling is easier too, you don't really need studs for cold dry snow. The worst kind of winter is the kind the has constant snow-thaw cycles. This creates icy rutted streets, that are hard to maintain.
It's not the temperature, not even the rain, it's the wind
Not really, the most dangerous thing to cycling (or any trransportation really) is quickly changing weather. Because when you're unprepared you can get into more accidents more easily.
Jep
Headwind both ways?
You've got to know what you're doing under those conditions.
Looks like a great place. Inspiring. Thank you.
Yes it is as you can get winter tyres for bicycles.
Where do i sign to live there 😂😂😂😂😂
Oulu looks like winter heaven for cycling! When it snows too much in the Pacific Northwest USA, we get to bike with cars in the road since it's the only plowed area...
In Oulu they plow the bike paths sooner than the roads since that's more important. It takes much more snow to slow down car traffic than it takes to make cycling very difficult with a normal bike.
Thanks Mark, good stuff!
Really good finnish!
I can imagine proprietarily wider tire profiles on all bikes , just like winter tires for cars , that may ad more grip and thus safety , why stick to what is usual hitherto?
Actually winter tires are typically narrower, atleast in the Nordics. They dig through the snow thus providing more traction. You can also check out winter tires on rally cars and see that they are narrower than the ones used on dry asphalt.
Any chance you could do another edit of the same trip that covers how they actually achieve the cyclability? The current edit is more a log of the event’s schedule instead of report of your learnings (and therefore less insightful).
Your other videos are great, so keep up the good work!
You completely missed it apparently, but I start with that information after a brief introduction of the city (and only then you get more information about the event).
(0:56) "Most of the city’s expansion took place after 1960. Because Oulu has had a bicycle master plan since 1971 most of those expansions have separate cycle ways or rather a completely separate cycling network, of over 950 kms of cycle ways.
Oulu does have a lot of car traffic, but cycling can safely take place, thanks to the excellent winter maintenance of those protected cycle ways."
In other words: Having a network of separate cycleways that you maintain well in winter, that's how you achieve cyclability.
This is what's lacking in Helsinki, but that city (5:12) "is determined to improve the cycling conditions by closing gaps in the cycling network and by working on the complete overhaul of the winter maintenance."
At 3:55 you see the snowplow at work on the cycle path, with a close-up of the fine-toothed blade they prescribe to get the correct surface finish.
How do they keep their fingers from falling off? No matter the gloves my fingers die at -5C.
Maybe your gloves don't block the wind well enough? I have no problems with the fingers. The toes are more problematic for me even though I ride with regular winter boots, but walking for a bit gets the blood flowing and then I'm good again.
Winter gloves. My personal choise are leather mittens, but honestly anything that blocks the wind should work. Just make sure that the gloves are not tight, as it may restrict blood circulation, making your hands colder. Also, air is quite a good insulator. Mittens are warmer than lobsters, and lobsters are warmer than regular gloves. All of these provide enough control to break and change gears without any problems.
Sturdy skiing gloves, but there are also mittens for your handles or even electric gloves that keep your hands warm.
Suomi 💪 Sisu 💪
Very nice.
Often the snow is not plowed all the way on bike roads and you are basically riding on cobble stones. Bikes are shaken apart.
You can be riding on snow on the bike way while cars get nice show free roads to drive on.
I prefer well plowed snow on the bike path over melting it with salt, especially when riding with winter tires. The snow rides so smooth and silent.
@@jattikuukunen Not when the temps get slightly warm and road users start carving features into the snow or you try to ride and it's just pudding. Then the temp drops again and you have an absolute nightmare of a road surface. It's only smooth if the temperature is stable and the maintenance is regular.
@@difflocktwo yeah, it's a bit more difficult when the temperature alternates between positive and negative celcius. That's when studded tires are not a bad idea.
@@jattikuukunen Car roads seem to be just fine though. Also after snowfall it seems car roads are prioritized so you end up having to cycle there anyway.
@@difflocktwo Yeah, except in Oulu where they chose otherwise.
Electric fatbike and studded tires, with enough clothing, and you are on your way.
Or just any old bicycle, gloves and a wool beanie
@@jkoepis depends on who is riding the bike 😄 at my age not anymore old bicycles, especially when there is more than a centimeter snow on the path...
@@Troobeli69 those electric fatbikes don’t mind if there’s 20cm of snow, they go just about anywhere 😄
@@jkoepis absolutely true, even if the rider is fat size too lol. But imho better choice than choosing your car to drive those few kms to the grocery shop etc.
@@Troobeli69 absolutely
Why unit helsinki and oulu? There is more than 600 km between us....we live in north of finland and thankfully we have snow.....helsinki is just...just...