50 yellow bikes were also rented out for the Jukola 2000 a mass orienteering event held each year in the forests . Over 10000 people took part in this years event. So, what is the Jukola ?     Jukolan viesti (viesti = relay) is one of the biggest and most appreciated orienteering events in the world. It is a common name to an event, which includes the seven stages relay for men and the four stages relay for women (called Venlojen viesti). The competition takes place yearly in mid of June in various places around Finland. The official site for Jukola 2000 is here       The tradition of Jukolan viesti   The name of Jukola comes from a national epoc Seven Brothers written by Aleksis Kivi (1834-1872). He wrote it around 1870 while living only a few kilometers from the location of Juhla-Jukola's competition centre. The book tells about seven orphaned brothers that live in a house called Jukola. The brothers are called Juhani, Tuomas, Aapo, Simeoni, Timo, Lauri and Eero. Besides telling the story of the brothers themselves, the work is an excellent description of nature thus inspiring the founders of the competition. The names of various places in the competition centre come from the brothers, as well as from locations mentioned in the book. The name Venlojen viesti comes from the the name of the wife of the oldest brother uhani, Venla.     All the bikes came back from the Jukola including 2 which were abandoned at a distant railway station ( recovered a couple of days later by eagle eyes students ) and one which was not in the same shape as when it left Joensuu. A few hours later it too was back on the road.

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