LAPLAND'S SIXTH SEASON

With the Northern Lights above, and a blazingly majestic landscape below, Northern Finland's the place to go for some sublime late-summer riding

- Gerhard Czerner

Floating houses, the Northern Lights dancing across the sky, shamanic wisdom dispensed by the fire and endless trails crossing multicoloured fjells: A bike tour through the resplendent fall landscape of Lapland verges on sensory overload.

Ruska is the Finnish word to describe the spectacular natural fall phenomenon that transforms the countryside into an explosion of colour. This seasonal spectacle usually lasts about two weeks. Golden birch leaves hang from white, gnarled branches, a beautiful contrast to the flaming red carpet of blueberry bushes on the forest floor. The low-lying, late afternoon sun bathes the surroundings in a soft, warm light, further deepening the blue of the lakes.

This second summer is an unparalleled natural event in Lapland, and we were lucky enough to be there for one of these weeks. As soon as we left the airport, we couldn’t help but be overwhelmed by the blaze of colours around us. Fränzi and I, our mountain bikes carefully stowed away with our luggage, were en route to our accommodation, along with photographer Martin Bissig, who wanted to capture this incredible season on film. On both sides of the road, we saw nothing but the rich colours of fall forests.

Here and there we caught glimpses of little settlements and their typical red wooden houses. “The colour originally came from the red oxide sludge left from the mine tailings. These little settlements usually consist of a few homes, a guest house, a bakery, barns and outbuildings”, explained Juha, our driver. “The reason they’re so spread out is so they don’t all go up in flames if there’s a fire. After all, we have enough space.” His family has been living in the Levi area for over 500 years. Today, he and his wife, Heidi, operate a renowned travel agency, Polar Star Travel.