Cycling on Michael’s Domain

Bicycle parking on the Viikki campus

Mon, 31 Jul 2023 00:00:00 +0000

We have new bicycle storage spaces in Viikki, about 400 of them. While this sound good at first, let’s look at the details:The access-controlled parking spaces are subject to a fee. I assume it is still “allowed” to park your bicycle outside these access-controlled spaces. However, the Flamma text seems to implicate that all parking on campus areas requires a permit: “There is a fee for parking on all Helsinki campuses.” ( https://flamma.helsinki.fi/en/group/tilat/pyoraily-pysakointi-ja-julkinen-liikenne ). This could have been written a bit more clearly, but I guess the writer had (only?) cars in mind.The Flamma article claims that 36 free-to-use bicycle racks were also installed in the non-heated, outside space in the underpass behind Biocenter 2 (which used to be the gathering space for electric and electronic waste). Yes, but that possibility existed before and has been used before. It’s right next to the smallest (48-rack) access-controlled parking space, the only one where I finally spotted a bicycle. Using the access-controlled parking makes sense if you have an expensive bicycle. If you do, you likely don’t care about the yearly 30€ fee either: expensive bicycle parking for the rich. You pay for your parking via an app. I installed the app on my phone but did not pay the 30€/year fee. Why not? I have two issues with the fee:

Winter cycling is not for the faint of heart

Sat, 10 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Helsinki planned to make private car ownership unnecessary by 2025 . In the image, you can see reason no. #534 why this won’t work: The streets and pavements are kept snow-free in winter, but the bicycle roads are made for storing snow and parking cars. Cycling to the city center is always a pain, but in winter, it’s only for suicidal masochists. About every 50 meters, you encounter an obstacle that requires utmost alertness and creativity to bypass unharmed. Helsinki city center is dying as a result of Covid-19. Good so! The less I have to visit it, the better. The cycling conditions South of Sörnäinen are prohibitively appalling, with the only exception of the 1.3 km long baana between Kiasma and the edge of Ruoholahti (where I rarely need to go). Transport and food are the two biggies when it comes to the responsibility of the individual for global warming. Consequently, Helsinki - a pioneer in sustainable urban development - will increase ticket prices for public transport next year to encourage people to switch from car to bus or metro.

Cycling to the airport

Thu, 14 Oct 2021 00:00:00 +0000

The Helsinki international airport is located about 14 km North of our apartment. Actually, the airport is not located in Helsinki, but in its Northern neighboring city Vantaa. Already on my last conference trip before the pandemic I had decided not to use the taxi, but instead to cycle to the airport. This was easier said than done for two reasons:1. There is not dedicated parking space for bicycles at the airport. The whole concept of an airport seems to be built on the premise that nobody ever cycles to the airport. I was asking the Finnavia customer service and they suggested the bicycle parking space of the Hotel Hilton Airport .2. While there are plenty of bicycle roads, the road signs are so infrequent, wrong or missing, that it is impossible to find your way without using the navigation app from your mobile phone. The situation gets worse if you make the trip in the dark which is almost guaranteed since most of the planes leaving to and arriving from continental Europe do so in the early morning or late evening.However, I have cycled to and from the airport three times by now. Every time I try to find my way without the Google Navigator, and every time I loose my way. One problem with the voice navigation is that the Google navigator cannot pronounce any Finnish road names. Another problem is that Google maps are simply not kept up to date. Due to the constant construction, many of the suggested routes are impossible to ride. And it’s not fun to stop every 500 meters and pull out the phone from my pocket, rip off my gloves in order to use the touch screen, which does not react properly because it is raining cats and dogs.The problem with missing and wrong road signs on major bicycle roads is apparently wide spread. A similar impossible area to navigate for cyclists is the Helsinki Central Park. If you know Finnish, you can read about it in the daily newspaper Helsingin Sanomat ( https://www.hs.fi/kaupunki/art-2000008227424.html ). The story is about the futile attempts of a Finnish politician from the Greens Party, who tried to cross the Central Park by bike. Despite millions of Euros being poured into updating the park’s road signs, help from the indigenous population is apparently necessary to make it from one side to the other without getting lost. I always calculate 2 hours for the 14 km ride, which would be enough for me to make it even by foot - provided I do not get lost. I have not found the bicycle parking space of the Hilton Hotel yet. I will have another try next time…

Kilometrikisa

Fri, 08 Oct 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Kilometrikisa (“kilometre competition”) is a cycling competition for workplaces, which aims to encourage bicycle commuting and cycling in general. Team members record their daily cycled distance on the website https://www.kilometrikisa.fi and the team with the most kilometers wins. Additional prizes are raffled between all participants (I actually for the first time got lucky this year and won a free massage at UniSport ).There is a summer competition, running from May to September, and a winter competition (“talvikilometrikisa”), running mostly throughout January and February. Do not ask me why there are no spring and autumn events. I have been riding throughout all year for the last decade, with the exception of winter 2012/2013, because I broke my leg when cycling home from work. For me, October, November and December as as good cycling months as January and February. Actually they are better because due to global warming they tend to be snow-free in the recent years. If you commute early in the morning, before the snowplough has removed 30 cm of fresh snow, you know that you will get stuck many times, even with the 57-622 Schwalbe Ice Spiker Pro tires.My performance in this competition has collapsed since my lab moved from Biomedicum in Meilahti to the Biocenter 2 in Viikki, because my commute has shrunk from 14 km/day down to a meager 4.5 km/day. I still score very high on the list when it comes to the number of cycling days (109 for the last season), but according to the cycled distance, I am just slightly above average (place 58 with 1031 km). Our team (“Helsingin Yliopisto”, University of Helsinki) placed 143th this year in the competition for big workplaces.I am always wondering whether the total amount of cycled kilometres and the number of participants are increasing over the years, which should be the case if we are serious about combatting global warming. The first kilometrikisa event was held in 2014, so there is enough data to see trends. Unfortunately, the website does not give this information. It would be possible to scrape it and calculate it from the individual results, but I have enough other things to do atm. Maybe sometime in the future.

Cycling during the Finnish winter

Tue, 05 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Finally, snow has arrived in Helsinki! So far I was using my summer bicycle and it does not look nice. My daily commute has only perhaps one kilometer of dirt road, but during the mud months, that’s enough to undo any cleaning in a few seconds and to remove any lubrication from the chain. The mud months are nowadays in Helsinki at least three - thanks to global warming: October, November, and December. Cyclists who advise cleaning one’s bike weekly have just too much time on their hands… Most of the bicycles that are sold are not really built to be used all-season and I am still looking for something, that is really low-maintenance also during the mud months. And I am getting worried about the amount of chain lubrication that I distribute into the environment. I have heard that some cyclists are using biodegradable chain saw lubricant, and I will probably try that out.