Iceland On A Bicycle: Day 1 (Reykjavik to Þingvellir)

Day 1: On A Bicycle In Iceland (July 17, 2013). Reykjavik to Þingvellir.

I brought my Surly Long Haul Trucker from the states.  The nice folks at Omnium Bike Shop in St. Paul, Minnesota tuned and then boxed my bike for a modest and reasonable fee.  Also reasonable: Iceland Air's rates for bringing along a boxed bicycle.  In fact, the computer system used to charge those fees at MSP when I checked in wasn't working ergo my bicycle flew to Iceland for free.

The box arrived almost unscathed (the lovely folks at the TSA felt the need to poke a few holes in the bicycle box in addition to opening the whole thing... thankfully nothing fell out).

Boxed bicycle with a bit of TSA damage and TSA tape.
Nothing happened on the flight so their damage must have kept us safe.

Bicycle in box.
I took quite a few pictures so I would have a good idea of how to disassemble it again.
(No disassemble.)

Unlike previous trips I've taken (some solo, some not), this time I was a bit nervous with some trepidation.  Iceland was going to be my first solo loaded bicycle tour.  I wasn't entirely sure where the trepidation came from, but I remembered reading a blog about bicycling in Iceland which can be summarized as: Iceland was definitely not the place to try your first solo loaded bicycle tour.

Oops.

My plan is to go into detail as to what I carried (and total weight), but I think I'll do that at some other point.

I had two rear panniers, a rack pack, and a handlebar bag.  I also put my freeze-dried food into a Bónus grocery bag that fit perfectly beneath the rack pack.  I was concerned that I was carrying way too much stuff because the back half of my bicycle was quite heavy, but at the same time since I had never done anything like this before, I wasn't quite sure what constituted 'heavy'.  However, while I was walking my loaded bicycle to the hotel office I lost balance twice.  Both times I was barely able to keep my bicycle from crashing to the ground (either I was/am in need of serious weight training or the bike really was heavy)... and one of those almost crashes, I think my bike was held up more by a parked car than by me (the car was not scratched).

Loaded bike ready to go outside of my Reykjavik lodging.
(The car in the picture is not the one my bike fell on.)

Before the trip, I watched lots of YouTube videos involving cycling in Iceland.  After watching Day One of Wade Shepard's trip, I was worried about the Ring Road leading out of Reykjavik and decided that I was going to completely avoid it.  Reykjavik has a lot of bicycle/pedestrian paths... some will take you in the general direction of where you might want to go, others dead end at the water or in the middle of an industrial zone.  After a few of those dead ends, I finally made it out of town.

Here's my route.

More Alaskan lupine on my way out of Reykjavik.

Mountains in the background are on the western side of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
Europe is somewhere on the other side.

Route 435 east is very straight, slightly uphill, and very little traffic (about 8 cars in 9 miles).  Road right is scenic, but on the left side you follow a pipeline for 13 miles (thankfully not a Keystone XL type of pipeline... just geothermal).

After 9 miles of straight, the road curved and I began my first minor climb of the trip.  Mid-Atlantic Ridge!  (Or at least the geology was a result of the ridge.)

The first few climbs were quite tolerable and I felt like I was in decent shape to tackle whatever Iceland had to offer.  But then I came across a few climbs at 16% and one at 17%.  I walked the bike, but made sure that the few times a car came by (only twice) I was on the pedals (yeah, I'm vain).

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On the opposite side of climbing I also had my first descents.  If I opened up the brakes I found myself accelerating much faster than normal... oh yeah, all that extra weight.  I spent most of the time descending while heavy on the brakes.  So much so that my forearms began to hurt and I had to take a few stops to just give my hands/forearms a break from the brakes.

I had one short, not so steep, well paved, and straight descent so I decided to open things up to see what would happen.  In just a few seconds I found myself descending at over 40 mph.  Mental notes were made to not open up on again... especially if the road had any bends in it.

After a few turns and a stop at a blue sign (road map) provided by Iceland in which I discovered "towns" with roman numerals, I came to Route 36.  This was another road I was trying to avoid because I had figured it would have significant traffic.  I had even heard from a few people that the traffic was messy for cyclists because it's the main Reykjavik/Þingvellir route... turns out traffic in Iceland might be better described as "traffic."  (For those familiar with Wisconsin state-line cycling, the traffic was about the equivalent of 213 between Beloit and Orfordville.  Or on a Trek Wisconsin bicycle map, Route 36 would have received the color green.)

I made it to Þingvellir without incident and paid for camping which at 1400 ISK was one of the most expensive campsites of the trip (about $11).

I'm trying to think of other things from Day 1:

There were 4 other cyclists at the campground.  One was from California and this was also his first day ever of loaded tour riding... he had about twice as much stuff as me.  Had I forgotten something?

The buses from Reykjavik Excursions have free WiFi.  I took advantage whenever they came into the parking lot.

I hesitated about 14 seconds at the store and decided to get an ice cream cone.  Celebrate the first day.

Even though it was cloudy, my solar panel was still charging my battery pack and I was able to charge my iPod.

There isn't one fissure that splits the continents, but a whole bunch.  (It's not like peeing on the continental divide in America... or for the lucky few, on top of Triple Divide Peak.)

Following the pipeline.

Route 435 - away from the straight flat part and away from the pipeline.

16% grade?!?! My first "push the bike" of the trip.

Route 435 - getting closer to the Ridge... running out of North America.

The pipeline is back.
Also: Europe is on the other side of the lake.

The pipeline ends or I suppose starts.

Moss.

How could someone possibly get lost?

Lake Þingvallavatn.

Þingvellir campsite.

Fissure.  One side might be North America.

Fissure.  One side might be Europe.

Plant life along the ridge.

Fissure.  One side might be, aw heck, it's awesome regardless.

Þórsmörk and Reykjavik - Some words. A whole bunch of photos.

I think, perhaps, that the joy (or run your head into the wall) of the online world is that I'm able to share a plethora of photos.

Back in the 80s, maybe you would have some popcorn and, if you were lucky, a cold Löwenbräu as I regaled you with four hours of slides.

But now, scroll at your own convenience... finish in under a minute and come away from this all saying, "Well wasn't that nice."

(All photos are before bicycle riding.)

Þórsmörk:

Alaskan lupine.  Invasive.  Purposefully.  Combat soil erosion.
It's done quite well for itself in Iceland.  Too well.
But the tourists find it very pretty.

Þórsmörk with the wonderful Alaskan trio.
We all felt compelled to yell, "Hey bear!"  No need.
The arctic fox is the only mammal native to Iceland.*
(*hush hush polar bear)

On the way to the Langidalur Hut.

Flowers.  Not invasive.
Rainiest summer since 1955 brought out a lot of color.

Thor was pretty kick arse in Ultimate Alliance.
Not bad in nature either.

Looking left (east) from the above panorama.

Icelanders are not familiar with Kurtis Blow.

Þórsmörk camping.  Photo taken around midnight.

Reykjavik:

A lot of cats in Reykjavik.  And they all wore bells.

Hallgrímskirkja and a cat.  Lutheran church.

Inside Hallgrímskirkja with Sisyphus.

Eventually Sisyphus gave up.
Not really, he kept vacuuming and the tourists kept carpet stepping.

For the record, I was leaning and not standing on the carpet.

Hallgrímskirkja from the other side.
1000 Things: #37 - All over again.

Harpa.
Dionne Warwick was live in concert while I was there.
I'd have preferred a Psychic Friends Network convention.

Inside Harpa.

Inside Harpa.  Different angle.

Yep.  More Harpa.

Lunch view at a park a block away from the 'hotel'.
(Blue sky?!? Don't worry it rained that day, too)

Rope.
In honor of Nico.  (And Sandy)

Hot dogs and milk.  Dinner view.
Turns out blue is not 2% in Iceland.  Super whole.

Not difficult to play: Spot the Tourist.

No cat.

Public Art.

Fun Public Art.
Magnús Tómasson: Monument to the Unknown Bureaucrat

Reykjavik is covered in graffiti.  And not the artsy kind.
The dog pees on a fire hydrant kind.
Televisions waiting for trash pickup aren't spared from urea.

Even the industrial sections of Iceland are rich in color.

Don't Mess With Texasborgarar.
(I did not eat at Texasborgarar.)

The Dude abides.
(If you are racist, sexist, homophobic, or an asshole... don't come in.)

Laugavegur Ultra Marathon (with pictures)

Laugavegur Ultra Marathon.

The Laugavegur Ultra starts at Landmannalaugar and finishes in Þórsmörk.  For pronunciation help, the Þ is pronounced "th" as in "think".  (Turns out it's Thor's mountain range.)

The race was Saturday, July 13, 2013.  To get to the race start you only had a couple of options: bus or a 4WD.  I went by bus.  The limitations were because as soon as we turned off the main road of Iceland (which is conveniently labeled 1), we were on a gravel road.  I had read stories about Iceland's gravel roads and knew that in just a few days I'd be bicycling on them.  The first gravel road - I wouldn't have considered gravel.  More like packed dirt.  Smooth.  But then we turned from the gravel road to a gravel road labeled with an "F".  Four-wheel drive territory.  Bumpy.  Very bumpy.  Worse than Detroit's roads.  Worse than Louisiana's infamous "Substandard Roadway - Proceed With Caution." So yes - bad.

Oh, and the F roads tend to have river crossings.  No bridges.  Maybe it's deep, maybe it's not.  (Caulk the wagon and float it?)

Busses were scheduled to leave Reykjavik for Landmannalaugar at 4 in the morning of race day (race started at 9:00 am).  And then busses would take you back to Reykjavik a few hours after the race.  The organizers of the race were quite nice.  They also gave an option: if you want to arrive early or depart later, just let them know.  I chose to arrive on Friday and then stay at the finish until Monday.  The thought of riding in a bus shortly after a 55 km was not at all appealing.  Plus Þórsmörk is considered rather pretty and I thought hobbling around for a few days to take in the scenery would be nice, too.

Before the race:

Landmannalaugar.  Tent City.  Not many runners.

Most tents are for people who are planning to hike the trail.

Tent City - other direction. I eventually put up the rest of my tent.

Tent City from above.  This is the beginning of the trail.

Iceland.

F Road Fun.

Landmannalaugar.  Friday's view for my dinner.

A natural Hot Pot. I did not partake.
Rumors of "swimmer's itch."
(The tourists are supposed to clean themselves thoroughly before entering. They don't.)

Looking down a trail that's not part of the race.
(I think I'm just going to have to come back.)

During the race (different camera):

Fumaroles.  (Fun sulphur smell.)

3k into the race - looking back.
(Landmannalaugar can be seen in the background.  We climbed quite a bit.)

Looking forward.

You know what they say about the weather in Iceland...

It's true.

It's really true.

There was a wide variety of landscapes along the trail.

More.

The plus - you spend a lot of time in awe and you forget you're getting tired.

The negative - you get sloppy and put your finger into the shot.

One of the unmanned crossings.
(Two crossings were manned with rescuers in the water - in wetsuits.)

We ran on the moon.

Aid station.  With chocolate.
(Hikers can camp at this location. But they couldn't have our chocolate.)

To prove I'm extreme and cooler than you. (That was sarcasm.)
Only I don't do Facebook so I can't be that guy who puts racing photos as his profile picture.
(Even better: the guy who puts up racing photos with the copyright notice still attached.)