Day 1
Arrived in Reykjavik on Saturday and had a little explore. The city is not like many places I've visited. Not that it's particularly remarkable, just different, and that's refreshing. No chains in the main street, and a gentle slope to where a square opens out with the harbour on one side, and the main, unusually shaped church, up on the left. The alphabet is different and I can't begin to understand the language, though everyone speaks English. Coffee seems to be important, and some new 'candy' for me to try, including chocolate with liquorice. Sustenance for the rides. Tomorrow is 70km and I hope my attempts at preparation will help.
Day 2
A bit of a drive to the ride start. Bikes were being readied as we wandered through some holes with steam coming out of them and a smell of sulphur in the air. We were standing at the point where two Tectonic plates meet, those of Europe and the Americas. The whole area is particularly geo-thermically active. We rode our way along the coast with views of the sun-lit sea, lava fields, rugged hills and black beaches of volcanic sand. The cycling was in 15-20km stints punctuated with snack breaks. Music in the iPod in one ear was Neutral Milk Hotel & Of Monsters and Men, with the other ear listening for the odd car and hearing a plaintive bird cry ever now and then.
After battling another head-wind we arrived at Selfoss and rested weary legs in municipal outside hot tubs. Then a 15 minute drive to a former women's prison, now a guest house, sitting alone in the fields. Traditional Icelandic food -a non-exported firm, white fish; and a yogurty dessert served with cream. The day is ending, bathed in clear sunlight which shows no sign of dimming.
Day 3 started with a drive to an impressive waterfall at the foothills of a familiar volcano. You could get very close and experience the power of the water, even walking right behind the fall. Then it was on the bikes to a close-up view of Eyjafjallajokull. This was what spewed the ash cloud which closed the skies over Europe in 2010. More cycling then in the shadow of brooding crags, shrouded in low, grey cloud, with the North Atlantic Ocean to our right. Then we reached one of the biggest waterfalls in Iceland, with rainbows in the misted spray. After another picnic lunch it was a short cycle to a glacier, only more remarkable as we reached it and touched it, than it was from a distance. An ice cap with green-blue melting water covered with ash. Another 5 mile ride into a headwind before we reached the accomodation, an old school, wondering if this sunny day was our last. Music was Slim Cessna's Auto Club, and The Mountain Goats. Then excellent local food to end the day.
Day 4 started dry but grey and a 14km ride with the sea on the right & crags a glacier on the left. Then a ride in the van up to a lighthouse and overlooking the huge hole shaped rocks which form the southern most tip of Iceland. Another cycle ride to a black beach with basalt cliffs, where a bout of filming was due to take place. I decided to assist the shot glass of cold-fighting cod liver oil I took at breakfast, and hitched a lift in the van to the lunch stop, a picnic with other travellers in a octagonal hut, where we listened to the rain beating down. 35km cycling today to the sounds of Townes Van Zandt, all three days so far from my Recently Added playlist.
After a visit to the liquor store, which opened early just for us, and to Icewear, for those who wanted locally handmade woollen clothes, it was a drive through the rain to the Mountain Hut, our overnight accommodation.
The hut is just that, a mixed dorm with some welcome hot & cold running water and a calor gas heater. We drank local beer and foreign wine as the guide barbecued lamb on the porch in the rain. A surprisingly peaceful communal night for all.
Day 5
The day started with a drive across the largest lava field in the world, at least since the last ice age apparently. We drove through an 'eruptive fissure' formed more than a thousand years ago. Little could be seen in the fine rain with poor visibility. It's a land of past tales of elves & dragons breathing fire, the Highlands where local people feared to go. As the drive continued, the road often seemed to disappear into swollen waters, through which the driver charted a path. Then a differently coloured landscape emerged, gradations of brown where you could see the old lava flow in the hills, and huge lava boulders scattered around the river plain. We sat in hot, natural springs, pondering nature.
Then the drive continued and the drizzle cleared to reveal more beautiful volcanic landscapes, black soil, lava boulders, crags covered in a bright green moss, and sights of the many lakes and dams which power Iceland. I listened to 'A History of the World in 100 Objects' and the talk of the last few thousand years all seemed so recent when looking at a landscape formed across millennia.
Eventually we stopped at a replica sod farmhouse from the 11th century to see what life was like in the Icelandic Commonwealth era. Apparently Game of Thrones 4 was being filmed there a few weeks ago and our local guide was happy to have been an extra, and paid too she told us! I am watching series 3 while in Iceland, where some of it was filmed. Then a 35km ride along the river, which was allegedly downhill but didn't always feel like it when there was a headwind. A guesthouse building on a horse farm is the accommodation tonight with local wild salmon for supper.
Day 6
Under a leaden sky we drove to Gullfoss. We'd seen a few waterfalls but this one is spectacular. 2 canyon wide, lava basalt ledges, over which water thunders down, creating a high mist. Now a protected area which, through a handful of local farmers, has fought off being dammed and turned into another hydro-electric power plant.
Back on the bikes for a 10k cycle to Geysir. As we neared a huge plume of hot water spurted into the air. One of the 'holes' is asleep, but others spurt at regular intervals, as the small crowds gather to watch. A short ride then to the guides' lovely wooden summer house, where we had an indoor picnic looking out on volcanic hills.
We set out for the afternoon ride and it began to rain, and just got heavier. It was heads down and a very wet ride, accompanied by the Dixie Chicks.
Cycling today was..."Almost 44.5km exactly", said the guide.
Day 7 though grey looked dry. 4 of the keenest cycled up a hill for 5km and the rest of us drove in the van to the top. We overlooked the largest natural lake in Iceland and began our ride through a national park. And it began to rain. It didn't seem possible to be wetter than yesterday, but soon we were. Some 15km later we arrived at Thingvellir, site of the first assembly in Iceland in 930, making it arguably the worlds oldest assembly. The actual site is somewhere along a huge craggy wall, though the land has shifted over the centuries so it's hard to say exactly where. The cliff edge is also the point at which 2 tectonic plates meet, North America and Europe. Although we were wet and cold it felt like a privilege to be at a site of such historic importance.
A fast cycle in heavy rain to the coffee shop some 10 minutes away, where we decided to call an end to the cycling after a short 20km day. We drove through clearing landscapes, looking out for the last time on the stark beauty of this volcanic island. We followed the hot water pipes which only lose a few degrees on the journey to Reykjavik, and headed for the outside hot tubs of the capitals oldest pool. We ate Seawolf and other Icelandic specialities as we talked about the highlights of the trip.
Day 8 and a few hours in Reykjavik to go up to the church which is austerely beautiful inside as well as uniquely shaped outside. A last coffee, and then, on the way to the airport, a wonderful stop at the Blue Lagoon. In natural hot water, looking up at a blue sky, and across lava rocks, and drinking Skyr Blueberry smoothies, we enjoyed our last few hours on this unique island.