31.05.24 Gerdi-Höfn

Should be an easy day with mainly tailwind. And indeed it was, but with a little bike trouble and the last 15km right against the wind, it still felt as "medium". But it certainly helps with 66 instead of 110km. 

View from my tent, more or less. Vatnajökul in the background

The first 50km were really easy. However, after about 30km I had a flat tire. Not a major issue, but wanted to find a place there you don't blow away while mending it. Found a place there they were building new holiday homes. 

A young woman came and asked if I needed any help. I didn't, but asked if I could wash my hands, which I could. Always nice to meet friendly people. 

Wasn't aware they have reindeer in Iceland, but it seems they have. 

Around 50km I got a new flat tire. Makes you wonder about a common cause, but I found nothing in the tyre and it looks still pretty good. Just bad luck? I had no flat tire at all riding Norway from South to North... 

I have only one spare tube, so now I had to mend the hole. That is no problem, but how to find the hole in the gusting wind? I was struggling. Until I found out that there was a small stream 100m away, and I used water in my largest pan. Found the holes and mended both - OK so far, hoping for the best. 

Very few places there are trees along the road. Makes an awful lot of difference for the wind. Not many places though, unfortunately

The last 15km were hard again, though not as bad as yesterday. 

Now staying in Höfn, a regional center. But not much to buy here. No bike tires at least. 

The nest two days look good, so Egilstadir should be reachable. But then look at the forecast:

On Monday:
Northwest 10-18, strongest in northeast. Showers of rain or sleet in the north, but dry in the south. Temperatuer 2 to 10 deg C, mildest in the south.

On Tuesday:
North and northwest 13-20 m/s. Rain or sleet in the north, snow in mountains. Partly cloudy, but mostly dry in the south. Cold weather.

I guess there will be some staying in Egilstadir, let's see. The problem is there are some long stretches without any facilities. Setting up the tent in 20m/s wind and low temp is not attractive either. 

Statistics:

66km, total time 6:30 active time 3:50, which gives a moving average of 17.2km/h. Total ascent 215m.

30.05.24 Kalfafell-Gerdi

The day started cloudy, but gradually the clouds dissapeared, and from the middle of the day there was bkue sky and sunshine. Wonderful views of Vatnajøkulen, Iceland's largest glacier. It takes me two days to pass it.  

For the cycling, it was the longest distance so far, 109km. The wind forecast sounded god, so I thought it would be doable. There are not many places to stay here, and if I took the previous one, I would need another day to Höfn. For the time being I want to save my spare days, who knows what comes up later. 

Another day on the job

The first part, neutral wind, a bit from behind, a bit against, not very strong. Very long strait stretches across the Skeidarår sands, below the glacier of the same name, part of Vatnajökul. Brain on zero, eyes on the white line. 

From here to eternity

Coffee break. Approaching Vatnajökul

Coming to Skaftafell, there was a small shop. The only one between Kirkjubeirarklauster and Höfn, about 200km, according to the lady in the shop. It's only 1 1/2 hour to Höfn she said - yes with a car 😀. So I bougt a little food, intended to tent tonight.

Then I got a strong tailwind for 30km. You do like 30km/h without much effort. Feels very good. But Adam's stay in paradise was not very long this time either. When there was about 40km left, the road turned, and agsin lots of headwind. Which was strange, as the weather forecast said SW, which would have been right behind! 

Vatnajökul in the background

The wind stayed a bit variable, until there was 10km left, shortly after Jökuls Årlon, the glacier lake.

The glacier lake

After this lake, I got a very strong wind from the side and against, say 10 o'clock. I was struggling to keep the bike on the road and using lots of efforts to keep going at all. But what could I do, walking was not really an alternative. Pretty exhausted when I came to Gerdi, am I getting too old for this? 

Lesson learnt: don't plan too long stretches if the wind forecast is against you. Problem is it is not very reliable. Maybe especially here south of this enormous glacier? 

Gerdi is not really a camping, but the Guesthouse kindly provides a spot for the tent, right below Vatnajökul. 

Tomorrow only 66km to Höfn, SW wind according to the forecast. It they are right, it should be an easy day! 

Statistics:

111km, total time 8:45 active time 6:30, which gives a moving average of 17.1km/h. Total ascent 425m.

And especially for my aunt Nanny, a few flower pictures! The first are quite common in Norway (in the mountains!), the second I don't know. 

 

29.05.24 Vik i Myrdal - Kalfafell

A hard day. I thought I would have a good tailwind, but with the route turning north and northwest wind, I had two hours with pretty strong headwind, average of 10-11km/h. Exhausting. But also a day with lots of beautiful and/or interesting landscape. I guess headwind is in the DNA of Iceland, you just have to live with it - and I was prepared for that. 

It rained most of the night, but I slept well. Was in no hurry to get up with the rain; but then it stopped, and minutes later the sun appeared, and it turned into a beautiful morning. 

Early morning in the tent

The first hour was nice and easy with a fair tailwind. Beautiful landscape with green fields, deep blue rivers and steep cliffs behind. 

Then approaching the Myrdal glacier, and one of the rivers coming down form it. 

And then mainly scrub land with endless numbers of lupine. I was kind of frustrated but that - are they taking over everything - BUT

When I stopped at a resting site, there was interesting information both about the area and the lupine. I took pictures of the information boards, hope they are readable - enlarge. The short version: these are the "Myrdal sands", created by outbursts of the Katla volcano under the Myrdal glacier. Such an outburst creates enormous volumes of ice, ashes, lava etc. This ends up as a kind of desert. 

In the area there used to be regular sand storms, so bad that they needed to close the road. They found out that only a few plants can live under these conditions, lupine among them. Planting those eventually ended the sand storms. So lupine are not only bad - the world is more complicated than it seems, as usual. 

So after a couple of strenuous hours against the wind, the road turned northeast, and the wind got much better, but still somewhat against. And then: roadworks. 

I promise you, this is not nice with a bike with 25kg of luggage. 

Lava fields along the road, grown with mosses

After 70km I reached Kirkjubæjarklaustur (try to say that!). Could stay there or take another 25km - decided for the latter. More beautiful landscape. 

And exciting rock formations. 

Staying the night at Foss hotel Nupar - a little comfort after today's efforts. And shortly after I arrived, it started raining. Lucky with the weather today! 

Statistics:

96km, total time 7:45, active time 6:10, which gives a moving average of 15.6km/h. Total ascent 295m, net ascent 55m.

28.05. 24 Hella - Vik I Myrdal

Largely flat and easy stretch, with a surprise at the end. And most of the time a light tail wind. Sounds like an easy job, but the second (and often third) day are often the hardest of long treks. You feel the day before and your body is not yet adjusted to daily effort. 

This must be one of the beautiful parts of Iceland. Anbjørg and I visited it back in 1995 around the first of May. Then everything was still brown, but now most of the fields were green against the backdrop of the dramatic formations of the mountain sides behind. 

I reached Hvolsvöllur after 40 minutes, and decided to go for a coffee, imagening this was the last opportunity before Vik. Now that WAS wrong! The road between Seljansfossen and Skogarfoss is peppered with hotels, restaurants etc. Seems to be an attractive extra (or main?) business for many farms. Tourism has exploded, and even now at the end of May there are many tourists. 

Seljansfossen. You can walk behind but I didn't bother, guess I will have enough rain on this trip. Anbjørg and I did it in 1995, then we were on our own. Now there was a large, full parking lot. 

There are many waterfalls in the area. The next picture gives a nice impression of the landscape. 

I had prepared sandwiches, but couldn't resist lunch in the "Gamla fjösid" (the old barn). Went for a Volcano soup. It was fair enough, but quite a small portion (for me). I mentioned that and got a second serving ☺

The tractor is not new either

6km before Vik there was a surprise: 12% slope 100m up! This is at the limit what I can do with 25kg luggage. I managed somehow, but it was a hard finish. Luckily the descent to Vik was more gradual. 

You can see it is pretty flat, until the end

Ended the day with a visit in the public swimming pool again. With reduced fee for 67+ ☺

Statistics:

95km, total time 7:30, active time 5:10, which gives a moving average of 18. 4km/h. Total ascent 350m.

A few more pictures if you want to see more of Iceland. 

Nice colours, but not a nice picture. The lupine is taking over many places also on Iceland.Who do you think wins, the lupine or the dandelion? Many people like to get rid of dandelions, and the lupine will do the job. But the remedy is worse than the problem. 

Typical part of the landscape

The black sand beach of Vik. Reminds of Santorini. Not the same temperature in the water though. And look at the formations in the background! 

Nice spot for the camping in Vik

27.05.24 Reykjavik - Hella

Today my Iceland trip started!  Starting from Reykjavik a little past 8, having quite some trouble finding my way out. Google only shows alternatives for walking and cars, and neither are always relevant. Used one hour on 7km.

Intended to buy some food in Reykjavik before I moved on, but the supermarket doesn't open before 10, so I just moved on. 

The next couple of hours were really hard. It's going up to 378m in the end, but not too steep. But there was a pretty strong headwind which makes it hard on top of the ascent. 30km the first three hours, all time low I believe. 

In this area there is quite some geothermal activity, and I assume a power plant (because of all the power lines), see picture below. 

The map showed a "Litla Kaffi Stofa", and yes, there it appeared! Guess if it was welcome. Met to American cyclists there even, from Alaska. 

So further up and finally down to Hveragjerdi, where I found a supermarket and a table for a (chilly) lunch. Was pretty wornout at this time, and not even come halfway. 

But then things turned for the better. The wind became less and turned a bit, so I got it from behind and the road was almost flat. Everything went a lot better now. Even some flowers. 

Yes, you find them in Iceland too

Finally arriving in Hella around 16:30, finding the camping Gaddstadaflatir with some effort. An open and potentially windy place, but as there is not much wind and the temperature is fair, it is OK. And a kitchen/living room to prepare food and write a blog ☺. 

And best of all: swimming pool and "heite pottir" - lovely relaxing after a long day on the bike. 

Norwegian road authority should take a trip to Iceland - good road shoulder for biking. Not often you find that in Norway, why? 

Gletcher river

Sorry, I need to add a power line. These are pretty special for Iceland. 

Statistics:

95km, total time 8:30, active time 6:40, which gives a moving average of 14.3km/h. Total ascent 840m.

Altitude profile

Iceland

A new summer, new opportunities! And given my retirement, kind of, also more time. 

With some other plans later this summer and somewhat limited time, I decided to bike around Iceland's Ringroad, about 1500km. 

Have done quite some cycling, including 4 100km+ trips, so hope I manage. 

My bags are packed, I'm ready to go (tomorrow). 

I like to travel light, but that was not possible with the bike and tent++. Hope all goes well at the airport tomorrow, as the bike bag is slightly above 23kg. 

Stay tuned!