Straightforward and open, the invitation went out through Slack a few days earlier. The first of May fell on a Friday this year, and a group of colleagues in Tallinn decided to spend it on bikes.
In short: swap laptops for handlebars, meet at the office at 10 am, and head out for a 41-kilometre ride. Any bike welcome: road, gravel, MTB, city bike. Basically, if it has two wheels and moves forward, you’re good. No race, no time targets, and explicitly not a test of who owns the most aerodynamic socks. Worst case, as the announcement put it, you get fresh air and coffee.
Also, the 41 kilometres was deliberate. It was a quiet nod to Sergei Astafjev, Wallester’s CEO and co-founder, who was celebrating his birthday that same day.
Three Cities, One Morning
Thirteen people showed up, and the group headed out of Tallinn into the countryside on a morning that was, by Estonian May standards, genuinely beautiful. The planned coffee stop was Restaurant PAAT, a chance to catch breath and refuel before continuing. When the group arrived, they were nearly an hour ahead of opening time. But the staff on site were gracious enough to serve them anyway, and the coffee, when it finally came, was well earned.
What made the day more than a single-office outing was what happened elsewhere. In France, a colleague rode in Cannes the same morning, and another covered 80 kilometres from Paris to Fontainebleau. No central coordination or mandate was necessary, just people in different cities doing the same thing on the same day. By the time everyone was done, the group had accumulated more than 500 kilometres across three countries.
What Follows
A dedicated cycling channel on Slack is open for anyone who wants to join for future rides, route ideas, or general cycling conversation. The Wallester club on Strava is there as well.
The next ride is already being discussed, as interest was clearly there even before 1 May. This time, we won’t wait that long.