Although kicksled races and preparing for them is nice and challenging, it is by no means the sole fine thing in the kicksled hobby. When the sea ice in the archipelago is snowfree and the sun happens to shine, too, then the pleasure is unbelievable. On a kicksled tour one can enjoy the stressless beautiful nature and kicking in a completely different manner. There is no trace of lactic acid, but even more feeling involved. Helsinki, Espoo, Kirkkonummi etc. are much more beautiful when sighted from the sea. While walking downtown one might not realize, how fine the adjacent archipelago really is.

Right equipment is essential when ice-bound. In the picture you can see the rucksack, ice studs and testing pole. At least one in the group should have an ice testing pole. The pole man tries the ice always when entering a strait or other possible location with current, and always when the ice colour changes. Proceeding is quite different depending on whether there is 4-5 cm or 30-40 cm ice. When the ice is thin, you ought to advance with more caution and try the thickness and hardness of ice often with the testing pole. Without a testing pole one cannot know, how much ice there is under the runners. We observed this fact two years ago in the sound between Brändholmen and Kräklan, when the ice looked all the same, but was inconspicuously thin. This resulted in unexpected plunging that we could indeed have avoided.

In the rucksack there are spare clothes in a watertight inner bag, some snacks, camera and mobile phone. It is nice to eat and drink during a pause in the sunshine. Ice studs are also essential safety equipment on sea ice. Without them it can be difficult to get up from a hole to durable ice when plunging.

During this winter sea ice near Helsinki has appeared and disappeared several times. The circumstances for formation of thick durable ice have not been good. In places where the waters are sheltered by islands the wind hasn't torn the ice apart as badly. This kind of places you can find near Ekenäs in the west and in Sibbo and Porvoo in the east. There have been, though, smaller good areas very close to the capital. Laajalahti has been in exceptionally good shape and also skaters and ice-sailors have been sighted there. Also the water area between Matinkylä and Suvisaaristo has been covered with thick and snowfree ice, although in Haukilahti only few kilometers to the east the ice has been significantly thinner and even open at times.

On the lakes the ice is usually thicker than on the sea. Unfortunately they have been covered by snow most of the time. Lake ice is also stronger, because it doesn't contain salt.

During the whole winter there has been only a couple of ice kicksledding tours. However, we have participated also in some tour skating outings. Lots of great ice weather has been left unused by Ketkupolkka members. The majority hasn't enjoyed the pleasures of the Gulf of Finland even one single time.

The message of this article is short and simple; go onto the ice to observe and experience, it's great ! But not alone and not without appropriate equipment !

Greetings Tomas

Ketkupolkka, which means Sickkled (or Slickked) homomorphically translated, Kepo for short, is a kicksled club founded in 1987 in Helsinki. In the 1990's also scootering has acquired a prominent role in the club activities. The club members have participated in all important kicksled events in Finland and abroad. Ketkupolkka has taken part in numerous grand promotion activities, of which perhaps most outstanding has been the official kicksled presentations during the Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway in 1994.

The editors of Keposti have noted, that on the keposti mailing list there are quite a lot of names that do not appear in many happenings. However, there are soon 200 Kepo-members, so no one has to kick alone. Even though kicksledding is an sport for individuals, you can enjoy it even better in good company. The activities of Ketkupolkka are open for everybody. To participate in races and other events you don't need the buttock muscles of a world champion. A small drop of fresh Kepo spirit is enough.

It is easy to start kicking. You can speed up already after a brief two-minute introductory course. You don't need any big investments, either, as a complete training outfit for kickbiking or kicksledding costs only around 400 Euros. Kicking is softer than running but equally effective exercise. On the other hand, kicksledding on winter parths and roads or uneven natural ice is more practical and safer than skiing or skating. If you want to add new kick to your fitness activities, kickbiking or kicksledding is an outstanding alternative.

Membership fee adults 50 FIM, youth under 18 years and students 20 FIM, whole family 100 FIM, supporting member 500 FIM.

Bank account Merita 142650-82829

Chairman Hannu Vierikko p. 3883231, 040-5723432

Vice chairman Alpo Kuusisto p. 040-5409219

Treasurer Sami Siirilä p. 040-5168824

Keporter Esa Mononen Aittatie 13 B 18 00390 Helsinki p.5482213, 040-5655993

During the sunny winter weekends and holidays the outdoor folks of Helsinki have had several chances to get acquainted with the finesses of kicksledding. Many times the outdoor paths have been in icy and slippery condition, except the cross-country ski race track maintained with artificial snow. Many casual testers uttered their astonishment on why kicksledding is not a much more popular sport.

In April, after the maintenance of the XC race track has ended, it takes quite some time for the thick, hardpacked layers of artificial snow to melt. Thus kicksled weather might continue several weeks after the natural snow is all gone everywhere. Why not try kicksledding in spring sunshine ?

I kick my sled, my pace is swift and fair,
my felt boot sends silver dust into the air.

I kick, kick my sled, scooting like a reindeer without rest,
a clear stream of slime pours onto my winter jacket breast.

I kick my sled, my pace is swift and fair,
around my boot a silver cloud hovers in the air.

I kick still in my dream, on the ice, feeling like flying soon,
I kick under the bridge, over the woods, all the way to the moon.

Jukka Itkonen

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Kicksledding is fashionable also for trendy downhill sports people (Iltalehti 2.2.2000)

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At ice track WC in Multia marathon records were broken in both classes. Alpo Kuusisto crossed the finish line almost three minutes faster than the previous record. Old record-holder Hannu and current 100 km record holder Ville struggled for second place, kicking faster than the old record, too. In ladies' class the magic two hours' limit was broken officially the first time as Hannele Tiira improved the old record by an astonishing margin of seven minutes, setting the new mark at 1.54.43.

Also on men's 2000 meters the pace was incredible. The race was one of the most exciting in kicksled history. A straight flush of five jacks broke the record time under the leadership of king Hannu, who clocked an amazing 4.00.2. Alpo and Tomas were only a few sled lengths behind. In the control inspection, unfortunately, the track was measured about 40 m short, which implied the disapproval of the new record. The actual time of Hannu could have been about 4.05, which is still more than 10 seconds below his official record time 4.18.8.

During the recent years International Kicksled and Scooter Federation has been compelled to disapprove record times made in several tough races. This regrettable fact hastens the aspirations to compile track-setting guidelines for race organisers so that the elite racers won't become frustrated time after time.

Furthermore, some voices have been suspecting that some old records have been sluggishly controlled. This gives a new dimension to the statement of our wizardly columnist Väiski, published in Keposti nr 2/1993:

In the same column Väiski foresaw the evolution of results in a progressive manner that provoked some experts into accusing Väiski for disgracing the prevailing record times.

In spite of contemporary disreputation, after seven years the predictions of Väiski are indeed becoming reality, especially on longer distances. On less curvily measured tracks than those in Multia the velocities could have been even faster than Väiski foresaw.

On the sprint distance, on the contrary, the improvement of the record has been quite modest compared with the estimation of Väiski. Could it be so, that kicksledding needs more sprint specialists besides Matti Vigren ? How one can persuade the all-round champ Hannu to give up his already several years old record 22,6 and how to fulfill the prophecy of Väiski ?

Fresh results and kick stories can be browsed at Andy Leaf's renowned Kicknews. Unfortunately many news are only in Finnish.

This new column is open for all questions from all Kepo members. Our experts are experienced kickers, who answer from their own subjective viewpoints. As the KB season is about to begin, Simo asks and Tomas answers with a routine of thousands of kicking miles.

S: A rule of thumb is 5,5 bar, which lets the tyre to yield a couple of millimeters. It seems a bit vague; can one produce such a pressure with a ordinary bike hand pump ?

T: When one fills the tyres with a hand pump about as hard as one can, the obtained pressure is quite suitable for normal use. In races one might need a better pump in order to obtain "race pressures".

S: MTB's have valves that are compatible with the air pressure instruments at gas stations. Can one mount such inner tubes also on a KB ?

S: Kicking for one summer didn't give an answer for the right height of the handlebar. Speed seemed to increase when lowering the handlebar, on the other hand, the riding posture started to become too bent for normal cruising and downtown kicking. Furthermore, my lower back felt more and more strained as I kept lowering the handlebar. Is there any recommendation or guideline about the height, for instance, in proportion to the kicker's height ?

Excerpts from Slickkedder's diary during spring winter 2000

22.1 Ten kilometer terrain race in Hauho. I arrived at the race location relatively late, at 1.35 PM when the scheduled start was at 2 o'clock sharp. I made a fast 20 min running-biased warmup, grinded my sled runners and was ready for the tough challenge. The day was fresh and circumstances along the route varying.

In the beginning the fastest man was old stager Esa Kinnunen alias "Ngugi". On the ice segment the familiar trio Kuusisto, Vierikko and Vickholm took the lead. The speed was quite brisk and at times it felt difficult to follow Alpo and Hannu, a small gap was eager to appear in front of me. Hannu had a superior glide in his sled especially in the softest places and when sand slowed down our pace on the roads. Hannu had a narrow old-fashioned plastic snow runner on the left and a normal runner on the right. I myself did run the slowest parts carrying my sled on my shoulder. It was quite tough and not very economical progress.

At 4km Hannu, who had been lately ill as well as on business trip to China, had to give up the fight for the first place and the whole second lap was a battle between Alpo and me. Alpo was the one who mostly set the pace and I had to work hard in order to follow. In the last extra turns I was mentally sluggish and let Alpo take a 20 m gap. Before the final stretch I made a 50 m running spurt, catched Alpo and kicked finally toward victory with a 10 m margin. My winning time on the heavy route was 28.02. I managed to change my rhythm in the end.

During the cooldown Alpo and compared Hannu's equipment with ours and perceived the superiority of mixed runners in this kind of circumstances.

23.1 Quarter past ten my mobile phone rang. Alpo and Tomas told that they were on their way to tour skaters' hike at Isnäs. I didn't hesitate a moment, packed my gear in haste and set out for western Pernå. We started kicking at 11.20 from Isnäs timber harbour.

Circumstances proved to be terrific. There was plenty of mirror ice, although not as much as two years ago. The skaters had an extremely relaxed tempo and kept lots of pauses, so we kicked serpentines in order to keep warm as well as back against the wind, whereafter sprinting again along the wind. On our journey to Svartholm fortress we must have kicked at least 50 % more than the tour skaters.

We had one snack pause of one quarter on our way east. We shared one icy prefabricated pizza among us three, in addition we had some fudge and some liquid. After the pause we carried our sleds for 500 m across an isthmus.

The tour skaters continued from Svartholm fortress to Lovisa, from where they had organised various motorised lifts back to Isnäs. However, we kicked the same route back without the extra serpentine curves. The -15 centigrade frost and westernly headwind blowing at 6-10 m/s chilled our cheeks, ears and other limbs, but we could keep us warm by increasing kick frequency. 4.40 h after our start we were back in Isnäs timber harbour. In the end we raced for about one kilometer. Alpo offred me good opposition.

I estimated that I kicked for about 4 h in total if one subtracts all pauses and walking breaks, so it was a great kicksled outing in scenic surroundings. Mostly the tour served well as recovery from yesterday's strain. Most tour skaters hadn't come back when we arrived. One full taxi arrived, though, when we left.

26.1 One hour strenuous kicking on roads. Plastic snow runners made ti possible to kick forwards. There was enough sand and other hidrances almost everywhere.

27.1 20 min running warmup included plough running. Ploughing was easy. There was only an inch of new loose snow on the lake. 1.30 h kick training on ca. 500 m track with snow elsewhere. The day was a sunny springlike one; the white snow contributed a refreshing bonus. Track workout 10 x 1.19-1.16 with one lap easy kicking in between. A facilitated "Zatopek-series", less repeats. Start every 3 min + 1 x max 1.14. Thus I measured the track with my watch. Kicking felt itchingly good when thinking about Weissensee.

28.1 a. 6.10 AM 50 min run, PM in Serena relaxing. In the evening i. 50 min cycling on rollers + 40min Kepo circuit, stairs 8,0- 7.6 and hopping 12,2-11.8. Speed is OK!

29.1 AM 25 min running including ploughing. 15 min warmup with kicsled. Weissensee general rehearse pyramid 1 lap max/1recovery +2max/2rec +3max/3rec +4max/3rec +3max/2rec +2max/1rec +1max lap all out, times 1.16, 2.33, 3.56, 5.13, 3.58, 2.37, 1.16 = 20.49 min at full effort, 20 cooldown kicking +10 min running. The conditions became worse all the time, the wind filled the back curve with snow during the 1.30 hrs. The feeling was a bit tiring also otherwise. Third day in a row can be sensed in my legs. Now nothing helps except active muscle recovery before the race in Austria.

31.1 i. Great terrain workout on the forest road behind the lake. 1.15 h brisk but ralxed kicking.

1.2 Rest / travel.

2.2 2 h easy kicking + carbo loading for tomorrow's race. In the evening we heard that all events shall be cancelled because the race leader had drowned with his car in Weissensee. Depressing.

3.2 AM 1.30 h kicking in terrain tutoring the Dutchmen. Their kicking looked difficult compared with ice kicking. PM 1 h ice kicking with Hannu. We did a couple of sprints in which I felt stronger, but it must have been all bluffing.

4.2 A tight and extremely tough race, especially for the winner. Dutchmen haven't still learned to measure the track, so the race was again too short, now only by 2 km, though, instead of 3 km last year. The main organiser considered his own motion skating more important than organising our kicksled race, which raised the temper of most fanatic kicksledders. My finish time at 40 km was 1.28.29, Hannu's 1.27.41. Vincent van Gooiker and Erik Philippo fought a hard sprint struggle for the third place, which ended in favour of more experienced Vincent.

5.2 AM watching Elfstedtentocht, tour kicking and a drink bottle gathering competition with my roommate and our cook Erik Philippo. I won the contest with bottles 14 - 8. PM 40 min efficient foot workout climbing the downhill ski slope to the top. The weather was so warm that one could take even the shirt away. Temperature in sunshine was +30 centigrade.

6.2 3 h XC skiing + bit climbing in deep snow afoot.

7.2 1 h swimming + massage

8.2 Rest

9.2 1.35 h kicksledding on the forest road + 4 km on sanded road.

10.2 Ice workout on the lake, total 2 h in good circumstances, incl. 2 * 4.17 min. Good feeling.

11.2 Commuting to work and back running 30 min each way + 1 h cycling on rollers. In the evening psychic training with Tomas and Esa at Tavastia Club. The YUP concert proved later to have been too short in order to provide best mental preparation.

12.2 With Hannu in Kerava watching the Finnish XC ski championships. We had plans to do some kind of workout but we didn't after all.

13.2 75 km Kungsängen- Sigtuna-Kungsängen-Sigtuna-Kungsängen, Vikingarännet in superb circumstances. Sun was shining and a thin layer of water on the ice improved the glide. A real nature experience.

It was Hannu's show against advance expectations. Hannu bursted beyond the reach of others about 7 km before the finish on a 200 m running segment and in the subsequent headwind. Elmgren, the comet of the season, pulled also away from me finishing only a few seconds behind the legend. The upper part of my left hamstring has been tight since Weissensee and this struggle did by no means make the situation better.

18.2 1.30 h kicksledding along village roads to Harsböle and back.

19.2 AM 45 min run PM Good hill repeats at record pace. Korsmalm ascent X 4 (2.15, 2.15, 2.17, 2.17) TB hill x 3 (2.37, 2.36, 2.34) + Around Kustaankaari 1.48 = 1.20 h kicking

20.2 AM 2 h ski skating + Kepo circuit 40 min, PM 35 min run

21.2 The school kick holiday started. AM 1.51 h kicksledding on Church Road in wonderful winter weather, last 11 km lap in a brisker pace 35min = 33km. Evening massage.

23.2 Kicking promotion and professional mannequine modeling in Tampere. Got good stories in the biggest newspaper in Scandinavia. In the evening great race in chilly frost. Hannu managed again to struggle from a back start square to the front. I became totally stale in the cold and finished third. A long and slow terrain mile HV 5.15, TP 5.16, VV 5.18.

24.2 In the evening 35 min recovery run & kicksledding. Testing my gear at the ice golf course.

25.2 Rest. The flu has molested me the whole week, like it has done traditionally before Balck.

26.2 Raw Balck. At start it was minus 20 centigrade. Sports drink tended to freeze in the bottle and my sheltering hood was all ice bricks in the finish. My cheeks and nose suffered frostbite. Hande pulled away 30km before the finish partly drafting the TV camera van. The main pack Vickholm, Elmgren and Porthin couldn't agree upon a team tactic.

In the end my thighs almost cramped. I tried to push harder one kilometer before the finish, but I noticed that my legs didn't work as desired. 400 m later Elmgren began his raging pull, to which I tried to respond. Jan crossed the finish lien one thenth of a second ahead of me. Tomas was left fourth seven seconds from a podium place. In the evening it was nice to be in the prize ceremony.

29.2 I was tossed from one place to another. In the morning TV, daytime at work, in the afternoon race organising, in the evening the race itself. My concentration suffred a bit from all the bouncing around, but the race was great.

There were approximately 500-800 loud and cheering spectators. A real sports feast could be sensed in the air. Hannu beat Alpo by a small but clear margin. I was third and the fourth member of the iron fist, Jan, was fourth. Before the sauna we did still some stair hopping on one foot. Hannu clocked 13.5 and 14, myself left 15.7 and right 14.9.

8.3 Ski race with classic technique in Myrskylä. 9km 25min that gave victory in the traditional three-club games. My kick was in shape with skis that had good grip.

9.3 PM 1.35 h kicksledding on forest road + 30 min Kepo circuit.

11.3 1.25 h same distance

12.3 1.35 h on Church Road, last 5,5 km at record pace 14.20, improvement 6 sec.

14.3 WC tapering on Curch Road. 1.30 h, 2 x 5,5 km 15.03 and 14.56, good sensations. The road was slower than on Sunday.

18.3 The races on Saturday went again a bit below expectations although everything seemed to be all right. On 2000 m the top trio kicked shockingly fast despite the track proved to be too short.

19.3 Marathon left me with a good taste in my mouth. I had to work hard for my bronze and could celebrate the world record times of Alpo and Hannele. I lost the sprint finish against Hannu by 0.2 seconds, which didn't bother me too much as my own record improved by over 2 minutes.

20.3 6 km swimming 1.45 h

21.3 3 h cycling on rollers (pulse 115-135)

22.3 2 h cycling (110-140) + 1 h swimming

23.3 Kepohepoing (Kepo horse marathon). Sweet sprint victory against the fresh world record holder by 3 sec margin. The first 10 km was really tough, as I could still sense the burden of weekend races in my legs. After the running segments during the first 10 km my hamstring warned once again of its existence, but worked well enough not to hinder a satisfying performance. Alpo tried several times to pull away in uphills, but I could respond and kick the fast segments even faster than he. Results: VV 1.50.21, AK 1.50.24, TP 1.55.07, JE 1.58. Radio Vega was present and made anice sound story. John Wallin's intermediate time service worked fine, too.

25.3 AM 1.20 h kicksledding in sunny spring weather on Churh Road and Lake Hopom.

26.3 40 min kicksledding + 1.20 h orienteering partly in deep snow + 30 min kicksledding.

By 26.3.2000 118.30 hours kicksledding which converts to more than 2000 km. It is difficult to estimate the exact distance. Kicksled weather this winter has been perhaps even a little too good. It took me too much time to recover from my crazy crash training in January.

The official goals of Slickkedder were fulfilled only partly. Third places repeated themselves too often: Kuusijärvi, Millennium-Kuopio, 200m Weissensee, Vikingarännet, Ikaalinen, Balck, Lapinjärvi and Multia MM-maraton. Whole cream of kicksledding world was defeated only in Tattarisuo and Hauho as well as in Liljendal (the legend was not there). Slickkedder couln't snatch any other world records besides the 100 km. Congratulations to Hannele and Alpo for their brilliant marathon record times once more !

We offer field tests in cross-country and on ice, coaching, tough training and camps.

Guaranteed kicksled conditions from November to April in East Nyland's diverse circumstances.
Accommodation, camp reservations and inquiries p. 040-5423568 Ville Vickholm Lapinjärventie 20 C 7 07800 LAPINJÄRVI

Kepo's insider stories

This column contains rumours, gossip and gibberish. Hints can be discretely directed to Keposti editors.

• Hannele and Ville revive old tradition
• Annika and Tomas plan to abandon shuttle life
• Sami teaches traditional lifestyle to babykepo
• Multiporter didn't let kicksledder species to become extinct
• Kicksledding doesn't hinder speedy snowshoeing

29.4. Bodensee 25 km, Switzerland
13.-14.5. Plzen International, Czech Republic
20.-21.5. Leipzig Halbmarathon, Germany
28.5. Tjejtrampet, Stockholm
9.6. Step Criterium Hengelo, Netherlands
11.6. Öresundsbro 34 km, Copenhagen
1.7. Kickbike-marathon, Turku
15.-16.7. Puruvesi Roll
29.7. Dinkelscherben Halbmarathon, Germany
29.7. Multia Village Kickbiking
19.8. Helsinki City Marathon
20.8. Ladies' Roll, Helsinki
9.9. Berlin Marathon, Germany

Alterations can be found on KB WW bulletin board www.kickbike.fi and at Kepo page , where you can join the Kepo mailing list.

Various Kepo Championships, time trials and open training meets will be organised during the summer season. Kepo mailing list is the best source of updated information.

Other international races, such as Czech and Dutch national leagues can also be found in the web.

In May there are tough races in Central Europe. In Plzen 13.-14.5. distances 30 ja 8 km, in Leipzig 20.-21.5. stunt, sprint and downhill races, main event is half marathon.

Kickbike tour / stage race. Distance ca. 75 km / day. A fitness and nature experience in the lake area of Eastern Finland. Entry fee including lodging 150 FIM.

New street track in the idyllic center of Multia. Traditinal fitness test of summer. More info Ahti Halonen

HELSINKI CITY MARATHON 19.8.

Traditional girlie-wheelie event without hurry and scurry in Helsinki. Exclusively for ladies. Distance 20-42 km. Entry fee 100 mk.

Vantaa 16.5.
Helsinki 17.5.
Espoo 18.5.
Pyhtää 25.5.
Lahti 29.5.
Hyvinkää 31.5.
Kuopio 14.6.

Open happenings from Finnish Sports for All Association

Orimattila-ajo 28.5 45, 100 km
Pirkan pyöräily 11.6 132 km
Pirkan yöpyöräily 16.6 132 km
Royal kuntopyöräily 2.7 45, 104 km
Eteläkärjen ajot 13.8 42, 140 km, 5+42+5 duathlon

Kickbiking is part of several races in Finland this summer. More info hannu@kickbike.fi

The races in Keponakka, not speaking of smaller or nearer happenings are mass events of kickbiking, in which also you are most heartily welcome.

If you make your entry early enough, then we can plan the travel and programme together in an economical way. Our sport is a small and new one, nothing is already established. Come bravely along and enjoy a kicking experience !