Oulu 1957

Just read from the newspaper that an old film was found in the archives of Police so they decided to upload it to youtube.  Suomen Poliisi (Police of Finland) has some other videos too, but in Finnish. Sorry.

The old traffic education film shows the good and the bad ways to behave in traffic. The song is a children's song taught in kindergarten/first grade.

I recognize some of the buildings, but a lot of them have already been demolished. Maybe I'll try to go and find the locations and get a comparison video

Look at all the bikes! In the winter! :-D

Underhanded work in the underpass

I'm sure I've mentioned the pipe works the district heating company did last year (or was it the year before?) but right now I couldn't find the correct blog post. To recap: they dug up the bikeway so they could fix/replace the big pipes bringing bot water from the power plant to the buildings. Apparently they fixed the pipes all right, because I haven't seen any hot water fountains in the area.

Too bad they didn't fix the bikeway properly. They left it lumpy and edgy. Edgy in the sense that the edges of the hole they cut in the asphalt were easy to find with the rims of my bike. And the lumps? Anyone know where Jimmy Hoffa is buried? I have a possible location for the search!

One day I was riding along minding my own business when I noticed the bikeway was dirty. Hmm? It was not the usual fallen leaves and pine needles, it was icky mud! Slippery, made everything dirty mud! And some gravel, too.

Notice how the grass on both sides of the bikeway is turned into mud? Either they are driving some wide machines that don't fit on the asphalt, or they can't drive!

 There was a big excavator before, but now they've finished with the dig and it's gone. Maybe it's on the other side of the underpass. Makes me wonder of two things: a) did they drive it across the motorway (illegal, as it has 60km/h minimum speed limit) or take the long route and b) What did the excavator guy think about digging up the pipes under the underpass? One might think that was cramped... or maybe they used smaller machines! :-)

 The pipes are big. I've heard the company is replacing or installing seven kilometers of the pipes this year. I think this underpass pipe was supposed to be done two weeks ago. Are they behind the schedule? Better get busy, boys, or it'll start snowing before you're finished! :-)

video spamming, pt2

Enjoying the green trees on my afternoon ride. I didn't expect the noise from the construction site next to the bikeway. On the back I saw better what they were doing. Looked like sandblasting to me. Or maybe they were painting the walls with with some cement spray. Who knows.

Odd things I've seen on the bikeway: a tag along bike, trike and the tourist train Potnapekka. All three on the same ride. Now, a hand-cranked bike and a four-wheeled pedal car (saw one the other day at a supermarket, it even had a trailer!) would have made a full hand.

I haven't seen the tagalongs often. The trikes are more commong as cargobikes and for the elderly. If your balance is off three wheels give more stability, and if you want to rest a bit just stop pedaling and sit on the bike. The national broadcasting company YLE has often theme nights (long shows on one topic) on various subjects and once there was a "biking night". A retired woman called in and told every retiree should have a trike: one can ride and gossip, and stop and gossip, all without getting off the saddle! :-)

My next post will be a rant about the lousy paving the district heating company did last year. They ripped open a bikeway, fixed some pipes, and did a half-assed work on repairing the damage. Should've fixed it properly, not just tip some asphalt on the ground and spread it around a little.