Riding with Restrap: Ville Miettinen

Introducing Restrap customer, 38-year-old Ville Miettinen. Ville swapped his native Finland for the hustle and bustle of China in 2012, and has been living and riding bikes around Shanghai since then.

“I’ve used bikes as transportation my whole life”, says Ville. Marooned in a Helsinki suburb as a teen, bikes were his escape and a means of exploring the world.

After growing up with downhill and XC mountain biking, Ville built his first commute fixie 10 years ago and was hooked. “I haven’t looked back”. Since moving to China, he’s taken part in his first 400km/24 hour race (on his fixed gear….) and has now headed down the rather addictive route of endurance cycling. "I now train and raced with a local Shanghai team”, he explains.

Living in China, most of Ville’s touring experiences have been in Asia. Most recently, he toured Japan’s Shikoku Island to check out some of the locations of The Japanese Odyssey, a trip he simply describes as “stunning”.

Ville first became acquainted with Restrap by accident when his old kit failed and he needed a frame bag at short notice for a trip starting the next day. Luckily, his local bike shop stocked Restrap and he went on to get the bar bag too. “You can carry anything”, he says “from sleeping gear to a six-pack of beer”. (Hey, priorities, right?!).

His future plans include “riding bikes every day” and "escaping on adventures" – both of which we fully endorse.

Check out Ville’s photos on www.instagram.com/kumihuuli