If I found a job in Finland I’d go back straight away 🙂

I like china because it seems to upset Guardian readers.
Nobody is upset – they are just sorry for you.

you seem to be getting upset that fact you even bothered to reply means im winning **** moron!

you seem to be getting upset that fact you even bothered to reply means im winning **** moron!

You’re right – I’m completely outwitted by the latter-day Oscar Wilde.

DrJ – Member
you seem to be getting upset that fact you even bothered to reply means im winning **** moron!
You’re right – I’m completely outwitted by the latter-day Oscar Wilde.

yep i bet im fast than you on bike as well.

I think it’s hilarious that you like China iloveyourears, and I bought a copy of the Guardian this morning ………..should I have been ‘upset’ ?

*confused* ………please help 😕

yep i bet im fast than you on bike as well.

I’m a better dancer than you, so shut up! 😀

I was there 4 years in The Hague. People say that outside the Randstad people are nicer, but I didn’t investigate in detail.

Fair enough, that’s one of the biggest shitholes in the country. Cannot blame you there. Shame you didn’t go beyond the Randstad though.

I’m coming round to ilovemygears’ way of thinking. I loved North Korea when I was there. Can’t wait to go back sometime. Better dancers than even Effin.

Elfin

Better dancers than even Effin.

Don’t talk daft. 🙄

Have you ever seen me dancin…?

I quite like NZ really. In terms of quality of life it is right up there. Not nirvana of course but for access to outdoors/income/decent place to live/lifestyle you can;t beat Wellington i reckon.
If you want good solid weather then it is of course not the place to be.

Your missus said you had two left feet (and a baby’s arm). 🙂

Elfinsafety – Member

Better dancers than even Effin.

Don’t talk daft.

Have you ever seen me dancin…?

What would that cah know always out of her head on meths was a miracle she could even stand up straight most of the time…

Spain is nice. I like Spain. But I agree with PeterPoddy about England. It is a beautiful place, maybe we just get a bit complacent and take it for granted.

I’d live to visit Iceland.

Can’t believe there are so many votes for France. OK its a nice country but its full of French who are the most arrogant and unfriendly people I’ve ever come across.

I’ll add a vote for Germany- and Sweden if it wasn’t for the long dark winters.

uponthedowns – Member
Can’t believe there are so many votes for France. OK its a nice country but it full of French who are the most arrogant and unfriendly people I’ve ever come across.

I’ll add a vote for Germany- and Sweden if it wasn’t for the long dark winters.

And of course the Germans are such a fine race of people as well aren’t they? 😉

UK vs German manners

Elfin – you are so right. England/UK is a beautiful country, when i fly in it is always a joy to look down the patchwork fields etc. Grass is always greener (no pun intended) and most peeps could get what they want where they are – if they tried.

Dingle Peninsula – where my parents live and central Switzerland where i live.

Elfinsafety – Member
yep i bet im fast than you on bike as well.
I’m a better dancer than you, so shut up!

This is a mountain bike forum you know 🙂

Love the UK, with its diversity of landscape, and the seasons just to keep us on out toes.
Would love to see Canada and NZ, but from the countries I’ve been to Zimbabwe (1990) was awesome.

Hmm.. dark winters never bothered me. The sky might be dark but the landscape is brilliant white… 🙂

This is a mountain bike forum you know

Don’t be so silly… 🙄

Oh.

Hmm.. dark winters never bothered me. The sky might be dark but the landscape is brilliant white…

I visited Norway during the winter. About 3-4 hours daylight per day. Temperatures regularly below -10ºC. Dropping as low as -30ºC. No bike riding due to snow and ice everywhere. Very limiting in terms of outdoor activity. If you’re ill or injured, you ain’t going out at all. Crap telly. Very expensive pubs/nightlife. Limited in terms of art and culture and that, outside Oslo.

And it’s like that for over 3 months. Further North, for longer.

Having said that, I was prepared to give it a go for a while, but sadly it din’t work out. 🙁

Stunningly beautiful country though.

My “SO” lived in Bavaria for 6 years and loved every minute of it. I’ve only been to Dussledorf and the south on my way to Austria/Hungary so when I comment on the lack of German humour she’s the first to pull me up on it. I’ve only delt with business folk in Germany so no real idea of humour which I think is a shame. She’s quite adamant that they do have a sharp wit about them, but I’ve yet to see it.
Oh, I spent so time in Hangary too, befoer the wall came down, now that was lovely..

No bike riding due to snow and ice everywhere. Very limiting in terms of outdoor activity

Whoa there boy. No outdoor activity in the winter?

Snow and ice everywhere is a brilliant opportunity!

I really really miss it… As for the cold.. I loved it. Like being in a sauna in reverse. Mmmmm crispy cold snow.. aahh.. tingly on the nose and in the lungs 🙂 Plus I went biking all year round on studded tyres. As did everyone else in Helsinki 🙂

Oh yeah cos you can do that all the time, of course….

And what else? 😐

Studded tyres are very heavy and riding in snow is sloooow and tiring.

The lack of sunlight thing woon’t be any good for me. Love the XC skiing though.

In the winter you can!

The sunlight was ok for me. In the middle of winter in Helsinki it wasn’t that different to here. Still went to work in dusk and got home in darkness. The middle of summer though was bonkers of course, but what I really loved was that you had light until 8 or 9pm for months and months. Plus dusk takes longer so even though the sun might go down at 4pm there’s usable light for much longer, helped by the white snow everywere. I was a bit aprehensive about it before going but I really never noticed the dark – just tons and tons of light. I will always remember it as a country of light.

MTFU Elf 😀 biked all year round in Joensuu, the dark thing is weird but as there is snow everywhere it is not really dark if that makes sense. I saw on average about 3 live bands a week and 9 euros was the most expensive.

Finland flat out rocks 😀

Might not be a trendy thing to say as it’s so easy to bash them but for me the USA.

I love lots of other places but I’m happy for them to be holidays.

USA; I could live there. Or maybe just a holiday home in France would work.

Only in hours of daylight you can! And as I said, what else? The extreme cold limits things somewhat.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Scandinavia, will deffo go back there sometime, but the long dark winters aren’t for me.

hey molgrips, can you recommend any spiked tyres? Or did you have homemade jobbies?

and yeah, i do waaaay more outdoor sports in the finnish winter than i do here in UK. As pgface says, you need to mtfu

There must’ve been hundreds of miles of lit XC trails around Helsinki.. plus you can of course use lights like you do for biking.. you can ski, skate, snowboard, ice climb, walk.. having a barbecue by a roaring fire out in the woods is fantastic.. especially if you have a sauna to hand… Extreme cold is no issue, just wear more clothes.. 🙂

Elf – I think you’re a great bloke but you are a bit of a city boy – no offence intended 🙂

USA; I could live there

You’ll never know until you actually have lived in a place… It’s a different ball game.

You’ll never know until you actually have lived in a place… It’s a different ball game.

+1

hey molgrips, can you recommend any spiked tyres?

Nokian, naturally 🙂 Although I think they are now rebranded Suomi tyres.

I have had these since 2003 and they haven’t perished or anything, still look new apart from tread wear. Of course they don’t do many miles. I didn’t lose a single stud the whole winter in Finland, but lost about half a dozen on one rocky but icy Beacons ride. I looked for spares but couldn’t find any so I eventually emailed Nokian and they sent me a whole bag of them for free – he said ‘oh let’s just call it a warranty claim’ 🙂 Mine weigh about 650g btw.

Top stuff. I’d recommend anyone have a set of winter tyres of some kind in the shed – it’s a great feeling riding around with impunity in the worst conditions. I’d have had some for here in Germany but I only had my road bike and it won’t take anything bigger than 23c 🙁 They used to do an insane DH winter tyre that had bonkers tread and was covered loads of angry looking 3mm long spikes.. but I see they don’t any more…

Just got me thinking.. one of the best things about Finland was that whatever ‘crazy’ mad thing you find yourself doing in the outdoors – be it biking through snow, skinny dipping in an icy lake, having a barbecue in -20C – it seems perfectly normal to Finns. They completely understand. You don’t get any of the ‘omg you must be crazy hahaha I’d rather be at home’ etc etc that you get from people here. They even keep the barbecue pits in the woods stocked with firewood all year.

Elf – I think you’re a great bloke but you are a bit of a city boy – no offence intended

None taken. But you’re missing my point; Scandinavia is fantastic, as I’ve said, but you are limited for things to do in the cold dark winter months. Ask any Scandinavian over here! They come here for culture and excitement. Outside of the larger towns and cities, there is very little in terms of cultural stuff to do. Life’s not all about skiing and snowboarding and that. I’d get bored pretty quickly. And imagine if you broke a leg or something? Cabin fever!!!

It’s not about MingTFU. The cold don’t bother me. I’m naturally adept on skis. I’d adapt my bike.

But we want different things. An urban environment is better suited to me personally. Hence, why i’m happy where I am. Other countries are great for holidays, but nowhere has ever made me want to leave home.

Speshly not Belgium.

Well that’s true about urban life. But surely that’s proportional to population density? So anywhere there’s lots of people you’ll get more ‘cultural’ stuff.. by which I assume you mean arts, theatre, cinema whatever.. right?

I got a strong sense of culture from zipping through the woods in freezing cold weather. Or is that just history and tradition?

Life’s not all about skiing and snowboarding and that

It’s not? 😉

To those who have suggested that countries like Sweden, Finland, and Canada, with their long, dark winters, suffer for it due to things like a lack of mountain biking, I would re-iterate what molgrips posted above in his ‘ski shot’ post.

I would also say that, at least in Canada, every good bike shop switches to skis for the winter and back to bikes in the spring. It was always a pleasure marking the seasons with the change in activity.

Not that I mind being able to ride 365 mind…

Cheap fuel bills in Norway though. Bloody hell. You can light and heat a largish family house in Norway for less than it costs in my tiny flat here. 😯

Good food as well, although loads of stuff is imported and it’s quite difficult to get a good selection of fresh fruit and veg in winter.

See, I’m not dissing a place just cos of one thing, I’m considering what it would be like to actually live there for me personally. I really don’t think my personality disorders would be helped by long, dark winters with little to do. I’d need a bit more than sports.

I could do it for 3 or 4 months in the summer, mind. And it’s fairly close to home, so nipping back and forth would be ok.

Oh.. if we are shopping for countries, then it’s worth noting that the ‘cold’ Northern parts of the USA and Southern parts of Canada are not actually all that far North by European standards. Wisconsin, which gets -30C winters is on the same latitude as Southern Spain I think, so they get long baking hot summers as well as proper cold snowy winters 🙂

Elf.. yeah.. if I were ever to buy a holiday home overseas it’d be in Finland or even Norway. Prob won’t though.. it’s not very eco friendly to keep hopping back and fore.

Unless I get myself a sailing boat too, then I can come and go as I please 🙂

Spain would probbly offer me the optimum climate tbh. Love Barcelona, for sure. Yeah I could live there easily for a while.

Not for ever though. No place like home. I do admire folk who have left their own home countries to live permanently elsewhere; I coon’t do it.

Choose the right place and you can have pleasant 365 biking combined with five months skiing with less than 50km (and 1300m) separating the two abodes.