Track in Finland

New BMX track in Finland is getting ready.. It's gonna be the first UCI standard track in Finland.. also we got first automatic gate.. and so on!! This is big!! Track designers: Tom Ritz and Eric Bress!!!

Photos from track:

Races..

Yo. Tuff weekend with racing. Right now I'm sitting in Mac Donalds, with 2 hours sleeping and 10 hours working on track.. After all that evening in restaurant with Elite Trax team.. So photos are coming later.

Races at weekend went ok, nothing good about my racing, but everything else worked out well. Mostly I want to point out STRIDER CUP what we had. We had small, really simple track on flat were kids could try Striders (bikes without pedals). And then race on track, idea to show how it works. That was super :) :)

Olkkonen

Everything is ready for upcoming weekend (except my un-recovered muscles). Today I got some company to track. One good downhill rider, Markus Olkkonen, came to prepare for race. Private practice with Markus was cool and I found him really polite and no-nonsense person!!

Aslo Markus praise my RedLine bike all the from heavens. So I can't blame on it :)

Fixing my new seatpost extension.. it end up really good!

DH

Yea! Finally I got myself to try downhill biking. There was free lifts for those who ride for Retkikunta, so I got to use the opportunity.. Day before we went to try little to basic forest. Just because I haven't ever before ride in forest (let alone downhill). My understanding of the sport and the equipment is illustrated into my question; what gearing (transmission) you are riding?

Shoulder pads I took off after first round. Pretty stiff riding with those.

First I was excited for using the lift, but I found it too easy :) Then we started to ride down. It's good that there was some other new bigger ladies too, anyhow I was almost going too fast. When you are thinking; now I'm gonna die, ok atleast now I'm gonna die.. That means you are going too fast. When you are riding behind someone who can ride, you kind of don't understand that you might not be able to go as fast as he is going. You just follow..

Actually riding DH is pretty easy, you just keep you weight back and don't look where you are riding :) But once there comes turns it make it harder. Also turns became easier when I started to trust my tires more. And when there was somekind of jumps it was hard to keep myself away from flying over the handlebars. Just because when the bike got lighter the suspension were pushing me to front..

I hope I have time to do this more often. Elise Kulmala (other Fox rider from Finland) don't have to think I'm gonna challenge her, but atleast now it's easier to go ride again!

Life.....

I wonder....
Will it take me under.... I don't know..

Couple days ago tv catched my eye. There was a girl lying on hood of the car and look out to sky. I stopped! I want to do that too! I want watch to sky too. To relax and think about things, or even better; not to think anything!! I woke-up again, why I'm not doing that? Because I'm so crazy busy all the time. I'm only this busy when I'm in the city where my parents live, but why? Soon I realize that all things what I have to do here is something to do with things what I own. Eather my appartment, or my staff what is packed to my parents storage. If I would sell everything, or give away cos for selling would be too difficul, I would be happier. I would have time to enjoy everything, company of my friends and just life. Right now I'm getting pleasure for getting things done.

Today I was meant to be in Lahti, but I'm not. Just because running all things around my property. Why I have to have all these things? Why having own apartment makes someone to be happy? What are the things what makes people happy?

Pretty many people walk thru their lives with this normal formula; school, work, family, house.. I'm feeling that I'm not following the line. In school I kind of got half graduated, work I'm not doing at all, family.. well, I have many :) One in California, one in Kungsbacka, one in Märsta, also in Lahti and in Tansania. I don't mind walking different trail. Only thing is that people have a natural need to feel that they belong somewhere, that they are similar. I'm pretty much Outi, without i.

Tomorrow I'm gonna drive my trailer to Lahti (on BMX track). I have packed 4 strider bikes, 3 BMX bikes and 1 downhill bike with me. I couldn't fit in more. This is not the most common way for 26 years old person to live her life, but I can tell you that I'm happy. My biggest worry is that are everyone else too! I don't mean to underestimate anyone life. I just want everyone to be happy!

BMX news of the day, I made extension to my seatpost. Sometimes riders use those while warming up. Usually they have two different saddles, one for short and one for long seatpost. But I couldn't take my saddle apart from old seatpost, so I got to make extension..

Small small bikes

..big big vibes :) (hmmm. my english might not be perfect but I hope that doesn't have any kinky meaning) I don't know. I'm so over excited about life that my head is might blow up. It's starting to get bit irritating. Of course it's a good thing, but - does anyone understand what I'm talking about?

Lately I have been playing with bikes. I was meant to fix all these bikes to be like strider bikes, without pedals.. but it feels like that people doesn't really get those bikes.. :/ I got to think about this..

Reasons why I'm so high all the time.. Well, I'm high even if I don't have any specific reasons, but I just booked my flights for next season training camps!!! November 2nd I'm going back to California, and there I'm gonna be 89 days. From there I'm heading to New Zealand, where I'm meant to be until next World Champs on end of July 2013


Also at next week I'm getting the last parts for my one-man-gate.. Some extra vibes for that too.. Maybe the biggest thing is that we are getting real BMX track in Finland. Track is build at the very moment. I'm gonna move to live on track (in the trailer) at 26. of August!! I think this is enough for one text :)

Season 2013

Next season is all the time more and more on. Today I were in bank getting loan to be able to make my plans for season 2013 come true. Also I'm making my sponsor deals for next season. It's kind of funny how season 2012 is still going on, but I'm concentrating on next season already.

Lately I have been thinking about BMX tracks quite much. What makes track to be good, or bad, or what makes pros to want to ride it, and so on. I think the most important thing is flow on track. How the shape of jumps works and how jumps works together. Track has to feel good no matter how fast you ride it, or slow!! I think pretty much you can see, just by pumping the whole track. If it works by pumping, it works by manualing too. About jumps I'm not the best one to say, but that's maybe why I'm not designing any track!

Like pretty many of you knows, tracks in USA are not as high shaped as tracks in Europe. Forexamble, on Bellflower, where is biggest number of pros, the shapes are hardly over 1meter high. On the otherhad, some riders jump over one jump, and some over two. Once I saw one pro jumping over 4 jumps with one jump and I can tell you it was awesome!

There is some pictures of different kind of tracks. Btw. You are able to see tracks from googlemaps too ;)

Tampere

I have really much things I would like to say. This time I have to own this update for talking about race we had in Finland at this weekend. For me comeback to Finnish BMX went without big problems. Gate and turns were just little bit different.

As you might know you don't usually need reaction to ride gates. You just need to know timing and then you can anticipate by using lights and sounds. In Finland gates are runned manually. Person says; about 5 seconds. After that gate just drops. There is no change to anticipate. It's same for everyone, but it's totally different technique than random gates (gates operated by automation). Other thing which was different from big tracks were turns. Those were pretty slippery and low. Good riders can ride those with tight lines or they found many possible lines to ride, but not me. So more practice!

Race for me were pretty much always ending up to get second place. With the one getting 1st we are as good on sprints, but on turns she took me big time. I would like to race against her again after two weeks when Finnish cup continues, but at the same day there is race in Sweden.. and I can't be in two places at the same time.

I was really happy to experience this positive BMX atmosphere in Finland. It was awesome how other riders and parents tryed to push me for better risults! Thank you!! Race was well organized and trophies were awesome! And if there is still someone crying about track in Tampere I can tell you there is no need dislike the track!


You can find results from: http://mountainbike.fi/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=2935

Examble of trophies: Petrus got Fox backbag, Fox goggles and cup!!

Photos from Scand. Champs