13th FinLine skating event will be skated in July 2004.
From the beginning, this annual event has been targeted for regular
recreational skaters. The first FinLine in 1992
was a three-day skate from Jyväskylä to Helsinki. Nowadays FinLine
usually consist of five days of skating. This gives more possibilities
for participants to have time together and see more Finnish small towns
and villages in the evenings.
Day
trips have usually been between 50 and 75 kilometers. This kind of trip
can be skated easily by any "Sunday" skater because we will have whole
day for skating on FinLine! You do not need to skate alone - as there
are three or four groups of skaters, you will find a suitable skating
speed and break interval.
FinLine service driver takes care of the luggage and
the refreshments. On last few FinLines there has been even a full-sized
bus with us that makes it possible to have longer breaks whenever you
want.
FinLine atmosphere is something that cannot be explained with any number of words -- visit for example FinLine 2003's photo album and try to find out what we mean!
FinLine 2004 route goes from Kajaani to Kuopio via Kuhmo. It will be about 310 kilometers and the day-trips will be something between 50 and 75 kilometers.
This
kind of route in the wilds has nice contrast with our last
FinLine. We skated FinLine 2003 in the busiest Finland, from Turku to
Kouvola -- this time we would have to kick away packs of wolves on the
road.
Honestly speaking, instead of wolves we will see huge wild forests and long roads without any villages -- something that must be seen. There is no better way to see the nature than FinLine. We are just skating though the forests and the service car and accommodations take care of the boring things.
FinLine
has usually been skated in the first week of July. This year we travel to Kajaani on Sunday July 4th. There will
be five skating days, so we are going to travel back from Kuopio on Saturday July 10th.
| Date | Program (subject to change) |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun |
4.7. |
Arriving to the city of Kajaani |
+ skating in Kajaani in the evening |
|
| Mon |
5.7. |
Skating Kajaani - Sotkamo |
41 km |
+ possibility to skate to the top of Vuokatti hill |
| Tue |
6.7. |
Skating Sotkamo - Kuhmo |
58 km |
|
| Wed |
7.7. |
Skating Kuhmo - Nurmes |
76 km |
|
| Thu |
8.7. |
Skating Nurmes - Nilsiä |
77 km |
|
| Fri |
9.7. |
Skating Nilsiä - Kuopio |
55 km |
+ farewell party in Kuopio in the night |
| Sat |
10.7. |
Leaving the city of Kuopio |
+ skating in Kuopio in the morning |
|
We have
have foreign skaters with us for many years, especially from Germany
and the Netherlands. You are very welcome to join FinLine 2004! If you are interested to attend, contact finline...katukiitajat.fi for more information immediately. You may still ask for possibility to join FinLine 2004, even the sign-up period has ended. It is worth of it!
To start FinLine 2004 you need to pay Street Gliders' annual membership fee 25 ¤ and the sign-up fee of FinLine 2004 (20 ¤). Note that hotels and meals are arranged by Street Gliders but they are paid directly to the service provider. 200 ¤ is usually enough for hotels and meals during FinLine. In addition to this, you will probably like to have some beers (or other refreshments) in the sauna or in a local restaurant after the day-trip, etc.
Probably the largest cost for you will be travelling to Finland as the FinLine week is usually cheap compared to the normal prices of Finnish hotels. We can help you in selecting connections and accommodations (if required) for your FinLine trip to Finland.
FinLine skaters are not insured by Street Gilders.
Please check carefully that your insurances cover inline skating in
Finland. Even small stumbling may require doctor's help. Helmet must be worn when skating on FinLine.