Somebody directed me to the forum so I'm joining the discussion - completed the event this year and entered the 300 for next year!
In terms of airport transfers, they'll take bikes on the airport shuttle bus but you'll have to lift your own bike into the bus boot. I finished at midnight Sunday and had to be at the airport early in the morning which was a pretty bad idea.
This year was a bit of a push-fest due to fresh snow, so this year my planning assumption is I'll be pushing for 200km
but hoping for colder and less humid conditions so anything less could be a bonus! Norajaarvi Lake was pretty horrendous - Alex said at the race briefing it was rideable - by Sunday evening it was knee-deep in snow and snowmobile tracks were obliterated in about 5 mins - I do admit to a bit of a sense of humour failure at this point!
I used a hydration bladder this year, but will be switching to a couple of decent 1 litre flasks, plus an extra water carrier - this year's push-fest meant it took 6+ hours to the first control. On day 2, water bottles were freezing. The problem with a bladder under your jacket is removing all your clothes when it's blowing a hoolie. You'll never forget the taste of smokey water from the fire-pit!
Using an Alpkit 1400 sleeping bag - organisers check your bag at registration and won't allow 'layering' - it was actually too warm for the shelter at Kuusilampi as there were still embers in the fire-pit but still grateful as I got the 'last berth'
Main changes for next year are bigger rims and tyres in the vain hope that some flotation might help. Gear-wise, I'll take 2 small panniers for my food and relying on Army rations - I found my energy bars unpalatable due to cold / being dehydrated and literally survived on Jelly Babies for day 2. I'll be spending a bit more time the day before trying different clothing combos - I probably wore too much this year.
Problem was the times I fell into his post-holes - needed to tunnel out