On last saturday, 28th of June, I participated in the biggest mountain biking event in Finland, Tahko MTB.

The race was my first big “marathon” event. I took part on the 60km (just over 37 miles) route, the most popular class. Other classes/routes were 25km, 45km, 120km (75miles) and 180km (112miles). (Btw. on the longest race, 180km, the participants have to apply in advance to get a permission to ride - you have to somehow prove that you can ride that distance in requested time limits!

Syväri Lake and the race-ending downhill at the background (click for larger pictures):

Marathon races are mostly concidered quite untechnical. Tahko MTB is a exception to that rule: about 1/3 of the trails are fairly technical, maybe 1/3 some easier single track & fire roads and the rest is gravel roads/asphalt. The amount of roads has been increasing through the years though. This is a bit sad but on the other hand, the area developes all the time (lots of new construction) and the organisers have to somehow deal with the growing rider figures - it is not easy to figure out how to let some thousand bikers onto the same narrow trails and avoid bigger “bottle necks”.

Hectic feeling at the Start, photo Jonna Keskiaho (used by permission):

Still, the above fact leads me to my only complaint: as a first timer I wasn’t quite sure about how to deal with the different “tactics” and how to divide the power onto different sections etc. My only “tactic” was to maintain steady pace and not to rush it too hard on the first third of the course. This was a slight mistake. The start was divided into three groups and I was in the second group (the biggest one, with riders who aimed at around 4-5h end time). I should have maybe gone to the first “hot” group or, optionally, sprinted into the lead in my group and tried to maintain a good position for the trails. I didn’t do this and after the start’s (quite long) road sections was kind of forced to ride the more technical trail sections in a long line / “traffic jam”. My bad. This lead to a feeling that I rode slow where I am usually relatively fast (technical single track) and faster where I usually take it easier (roads / mellow sections through the “real” trails).

Kinahmi Trail, can you dig this? Photo: Touho Häkkinen (used by permission):

I guess that all is also a question about the riding style / personal character. I once took part in Finnish Enduro race where the idea is to race timed short(ish) technical sections, ranging from about three minutes to around 15 minutes, and the transitions between the sections are not clocked. That was fun as hell and I think I might get into those later on again. (Note that the British term “enduro” means pretty much what we call a “marathon” here. The Finnish “enduro” is totally different animal, based on the motor bike enduro races)

Anyway, the event organisation was top quality, the weather was nice (although the trails were slippery from the previous week rains), the views quite stunning (a bit of a suprise), people were having fun and the best trail sections were super-duper-good. I especially remember one long downhill which started a bit more technical then changing to more even, very fast single track. I got lucky and was able to ride that particular downhill mostly by myself and got only chased by a guy just behind my back. I was just having fun and tried to took air on every possible bump etc. The guy behind me was on some “normal” full suspension trailbike (and me on my hard tail 29er). After the downhill trail we got into the gravel road and slowed the pace down a bit and the guy was asking “does the big wheel really go THAT well…?”. Well, I guess it was either the bike or the fact that I was having those rare “flow” moments where you just ride as fast as you can and totally feel in control with the bike (ok, let’s not get too “zen” about riding and whatnot but I guess you know the situation…in a way you are totally focused and totaly relaxed at the same time! Good powder skiing comes to mind as a comparison)

(And, yes I can totally recommend the 29er bikes, especially for taller riders. But let’s not get into that too much at this post. Let’s just say I dig the concept, eventhough it is definately not for all riders)

Slippery when wet…photo by Touho Häkkinen (used by permission):

All in all Tahko event was a very positive experience. I guess I might even to train some for real next year and try the 120km option - just to get to ride the emptier trails in peace on the second loop, heh (the route consist of a 60km loop, and 120km = two rounds on the same loop).

And yes, if you are interested the results can be found here. (Click for “hae” with empty fields and you get all the results at once. Btw. check out the time of the winners…those guys are fast!). My time was a modest/average 4.45 for the 60km. But who cares really, I wasn’t there to win anyone but myself. And after all I got the feeling that I might even ride a bit faster and/or longer, which is good if you think motivation to participate in the next year’s event!

And at last but not as least; this guy’s bike, see below - Surly Karate Monkey 29″ Fixed Gear, 32-18 gear ratio, front disc brake and 100mm of front suspension. And yes he rode the 120 km route. Talking about dedication, skill and pure crazyness!

PS. Special thanks go to fellow riders Touho Häkkinen and Jonna Keskiaho for excellent pictures and the permission to use them. Check out for more here.

See you on the trails..The fixed gear guy and all the others on single speeds inspire me to just go out and ride - it is all about the ride, not the technology and gear IMHO…

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