Is Oulu (Finland) a city for year-round cycling?

Cycling in Oulu was great last winter. It made me curious to cycling there in summer. I expected there to be at least twice as many people cycling because I had learned that about half the people in Oulu keep cycling in winter. When the opportunity to go back to Oulu arose, I took it with both hands.

My speciality is taking before and after pictures. In this case I took a picture in summer…

…on a location that I had also captured in winter. And what a difference that makes!

I can say that Oulu did not disappoint. After we had already cycled very comfortably at the Arctic Circle (see my last post), we spent 3 days in Oulu on the way back to the south. We had a day with rain and a day with temperatures up to 26 degrees. The difference with the cycling exactly 6 months earlier could not be bigger! Most observers focus on Oulu’s winter cycling, but cycling was also really attractive in summer! What I found special, now more than last winter, was cycling on the sidewalk in the city centre. It somehow felt less strange in winter when I had no desire to cycle on the road where vehicles had crushed the snow to a dirty, hard, uneven layer. Now, being on the sidewalk felt a bit more intrusive for the pedestrians. What I had somehow missed in winter was that there are no cycling-specific traffic lights. Even at larger intersections with separate cycleways, you would still look for the pedestrian traffic lights to know when you were good to go. For a city that takes cycling so seriously, that felt a bit odd, but it is no doubt because of Finnish regulations.

Oulu has more than 320 underpasses that make crossing busier roads convienent and safe.

Main cycle routes have priority at crossings. I’ve seen some locals complain about the red on such crossings which they think is slippery. I believe the city’s response was that that is more perception than fact.

The city representatives of Oulu are very committed to cycling. In 2019, to mark the completion of a new cycling wayfinding system, the city published a brochure titled “We want to make cycling more visible!” In this booklet, you can read:

The main cycling routes in the Oulu region are made visible and distinct from regular cycleways. The main routes are waymarked and numbered, and signs with maps and distances between destinations are mounted along the routes. The slogan for cycling in the Oulu region is: Choose your style! This brochure gives information about the main cycling routes and the diversity of cycling in Oulu: it does not matter whether you sport a cruiser, mountain bike or a pink Jopo. You do not need special gear to cycle. Instead, you can cycle barefoot or with your boots on and with or without a helmet. The most important thing is that you cycle.

Cycling improves your physical condition and is an eco-friendly mode of transportation… But in the Oulu region cycling is something much more. In Oulu, all styles of cycling are allowed. You can exercise or you can cycle just for fun – there is no need to stress about proper gear or fancy bike models! Cycling is a natural part of the all-year-round lives of Oulu citizens.

From the main routes, the signs will help cyclists find their way to any destination. Cycling is easier and more fluent than ever.

The entrance to the bridge to the island Pikisaari in winter. At a random day in February close to 1pm there had been 232 cyclists counted.

At the same bridge in summer just after 2pm there had been 456 cyclists counted. The rough rule of thumb that about half the people in Oulu keep cycling in winter is at least confirmed in this single observation.

This map shows my two rides in the videos below.

The city has a modest page about cycling in English on their website. It offers interesting plotted routes of varied lengths with maps and a really helpful detailed interactive map.

All this information is also available in a PDF document.

In the centre of the city, many main cycle routes converge. The signage is very informative and clear.

Many of the excellent cycle routes are quite recent. Some further developments are also expected. I filmed the red route in the South (Kembaana in ride 2), which is currently under construction. However, in the centre, I deviated from that route, but I ended the video where the Kembaana ends as well.

Some facts and figures

• The cycling network was designed and built from 1960 to the 1980s
• There are now more than 930km of cycling paths in the city of Oulu
• There are more than 320 underpasses
• More than 70% of citizens are cycling at least every now and then
• More than 40% of citizens are cycling on a weekly basis
• In the region of Oulu 18% of all trips are made by bicycle. This is the highest number in Finland (cycling modal share).
• In the inner city area 22% of all trips are by bicycle
• More than 40% of all trips to schools are made by bike (this is by far the highest number in Finland).

On the day I had planned to film for this blog post, it happened to rain (the only rainly day in our enitre holiday). Actually, that was good, because I can now show you that the people of Oulu also cycle in the rain. When you can cycle in the snow, a bit of rain won’t scare you off your bike!

It was good to see, that not only young fit men cycle in Oulu. No difference there in summer or winter.

I did not expect to see two Dutch-made “velomobiles” in Oulu. I talked to the two middle-aged men (it’s always men like me) in these pedal-powered vehicles, which are not electric! They came from Sweden, and they were on holiday as well. They drew a lot of attention in the centre of Oulu.

Some important dates

• 1987 Opening of the pedestrian zone Rotuaari in the city centre
• 1993 First extensions to the Rotuaari pedestrianised city centre
• 2007 Regional strategy for bicycle and pedestrian traffic
• 2010 City development plan for bicycle and pedestrian traffic
• 2011-2013 Further extensions to Rotuaari, also street underheating installation
• 2013 Oulun raitit – bicycle superhighway plan
• 2018 Baanaverkko – bicycle superhighway network plan

The snowploughs in Oulu do a great job of creating a smooth, thin layer of snow to cycle on. But look at that surface in the summer! It is perfectly smooth to begin with! The width of such a modern cycleway is (left to right) 2.5m of pedestrian area, a white line of 10cm, and then 4m of cycleway, 6.6m in total, without kerbs so that the snowplough can treat that entire surface.

No cycling on the Gulf of Bothnia this trip!

My first ride – on a rainy day – from the north of Oulu to the south-east, through the centre. Where I had winter images from the same location I put them side by side.

The second ride was one day later in the sun. Starting in the south (on a part of the network that is under redevelopment) we end in the city centre.

My video report on the year-round cycling in Oulu in Finland.

This post concludes my summer adventures abroad. In my next post, we will get back to cycling in the Netherlands!