I was planning to do a bicycle bikepacking trip to the Outdoor Expo held in Riihimäki, Finland. The original plan was to ride the approx 60 kilometers to Riihimäki area and sleep in a tent or a hammock for the night and then on the next morning ride to the event venue, enjoy the event and then ride back to the capital area.

As part of the planning I contacted the exhibition organizers and asked if there is a safe bicycle parking and some sort of a luggage storage or cloakroom service to store my gear for the duration of my visit to the event. – The answer was “no”.

Was considering my options and would it be…
a) …safe to leave my bike and gear on the bike near the entrance of the event without supervision.
b) …carry the panniers and stuff with me inside the event area for the visit.
c) …skip the idea of the bikebacking trip and drive to the event in a car.

I decided the option c sadly. Kinda shame that the event won’t support bicycling as a part of the “outdoor” part of the expo.

The parking for visitor was arranged some distance away, but there were busses that rode non-stop from the parking to the event area and back, hauling people for free of charge. Tho the parking itself costed 7 € per car.

General feeling when entering the event area after couple candy and ice cream stalls.

One of the bestest and cutest thing that was in the event area was one of the first things that I stumbled upon. Behold: mini-donkeys!

They were brought into the event by SatuAasi’s stable (fi) that provide different kind of activities with these and other donkeys.

Went to see them later again and they were feeding. 🙂 If you go on a hike with these guys, they can carry their own food and maybe some gear or a child, approx 25 kg or so each

The defense forces were also present in the event. You need to understand (or google) the term “sotkun munkki” to understand the car and the queue.

They were showcasing some vehicles and gear and one could try on some combat vests and helmets, throw on the equivalent of a full pack of gear or try some skiing on the grass with real winter skis and boots. – I was told that the best time for the track was under 10 seconds or so during the first day of the event.

Some camper vans for the more rugged trails.

Some modern bow hinting gear.

Test shooting range.

And some more traditional bow hunting.

Some handmade traditional bows.

Custom made for a customer. I heard that some parts of this custom made bow were animal bone from a previous successful hunting trip by the person who had placed the order.

They really didn’t bother to talk to me, nor let me test any of the bows, but I think it was this shop: http://www.j-bow.fi/j-bow/J-Bow_by_J.Kaunismaki.html

Scandinavian Outdoor had brought about all of their tents out.

Fjällräven and Hilleberg were out there with many models and some others.

Abisko Lite and Akto were on my check list as I do need a new decent winter tent for solo trips.

Saddly no-one brought Helsport, nor NorTent tents to the show. Would have loved to see tents like the Fjellheimen Superlight 2 or the Vern 1 and some others from those brands.

There was also a familiar looking van parked in the park.

It was Kim the Hobosapiens Öhman themself.

I’ve been following Kim’s videos and adventures for some years and was nice to meet them live in person at last and see the current van they travel with.

Had a chat about the life itself and about some adventures and mishaps and the Yeti and Jetboil gear.

Ski mountaineering gear and winter adventure gear in the summer event draws my attention very much.

Had a nice chat with these people as they do some arctic adventures, but also padding with kayaks and packrafts.

Joutsen was also present with their down gear.

And they had the second best thing in the whole expo: the shipping container chilled down to -12 decrees Celsius. It was there so people could test their sleeping bags and clothes, but for a person like me it was a heaven to just sit in there for some 5 minutes without any winter gear and cool down.

The “big blue shop” was also there. And they had one of the bestest offers of the whole expo: a bottle of water, with or without bubbles, 0,99 €. – In an event like this one easy pays 2 to 5 euros for a half a liter bottle of water, so 0,99 for one was a bargain.

Svala has some very nice underlayer mesh clothing. People who sweat a lot will understand why.

Vaude had also brought out some tents. Known for their eco-friendly attitude and decent prices they tic many boxes for many European hikers and campers.

Their Adventure mk.2 and…

…the Lizard series were interesting and new thing for me.

They also had some sleeping bags, mats and backpacks for show and sale.

From the food department I need to bring up the Estonian company of Food Force.

They manufacture freeze dried food for campers, hikers and the military. And the prices aren’t bad, nor the taste. – Slava Ukraini!

Even tho the Kuivalihakundi was there also with their hot-naga and scorpion chili flavored beef jerky, I decided to give a try for the Riipisen Riistaherkut as they also had a new chili flavored beef jerky. – Not as hot as the naga, nor near the flames of the scorpion, but a good taste and structure. Solid product, would buy again.

Was also interesting to see Ursa Astronomical Association in the event expo hall. They even had a small planetarium tent in the back corner.

Speaking, or not speaking, about the optics…

I’ve been looking for new binoculars for hiking as I destroyed my previous ones when leaving from Möhkö. – Free tip: do not put things on the roof of your car, when loading the car. – Yes I left them there and they fell from there in a speed around +80 km/h. – And no, they didn’t survive.

But back to the not speaking part. I stumbled upon a small booths from Leica and Zeiss and for some reason I was invisbe to the people standing in there and minding their own things…

…maybe I’ll get my next binoculars from the “big blue store”, at least in there I have had decent service every time I’ve needed some help with something.

I only found two stands promoting cycling in the event. The other was the Helsinkin North, a three day biking event…

…and the Häme by cycle, that promoted some gravel biking in their area.

Kinda sad that the cycling or bikepacking is not (yet) any big part of the Outdoor Expo, but maybe someday.

Overall this trip was a nice experience.

Would have been more epic to ride a bike to there and spent the night out camping, but thought that it was not worth of all the stress about how handle the panniers and stuff I would have had with me.

Might come again next year, as I really didn’t have much time for the presentations and shows happening on the stages. I only focused on walking around the place to see what was on my interest list. And I totally skipped the dog hobby area and hunting and fishing areas, as I just didn’t have any time for those. And also this write-up focuses on the camping and hiking, paddling and cycling parts of the Outdoors, as I’m not a fishing or hunting type person.

Would love to see more things related to hiking, paddling and cycling, etc. but maybe next year will be better in those aspects.

Till next time…