Reflections in an Icelandic Fjord

So, Iceland; what do we think? This is a country that is not far away, speaks english, has magnificent scenery, good food, fantastic (and empty) roads with little traffic, nice weather and loads of space to explore. So why isn't everyone with a bike going there?

The problem of getting your own bike there is something to do with it, but Biking Viking can solve that challenge. And I think we might have been lucky with the weather. But other than that, it is an absolute gem.

Thanks to the boys for coming along and making it a really special trip.

Where next? Well for Dr Deefor it is the Silk Road. Look out for the blog coming soon.

PS - Gnarly Jack cracked a rib. Proper biker now son!

Day 7: Return to Go

Last day and the route back to Reykjavik included our first "purple" road. In a country where even the major road round the island has unsurfaced sections, a road marked as a minor country road sounded exciting.

A bit too exciting as it turned out. The gravel got deeper and looser. So Jack decided to dismount at speed. Landscape 1, BMW 650 0.

No permanent damage to Gnarly Jack but the bike was sans lights, sans clutch, sans everything. Still got back to base though. Down the main roads avoiding the toll tunnel as it was impossible to restart the bike if we had to stop to pay the fee!

BV were flegmatic about the damage and it meant an early start to an evening out on Reykjavik's non-stop pub crawl. The famous Runtur.

La recherché du temps perdu

The taste of a Madeleine or a sign on a cafe wall brings it all back.....

Day 6: West Fjords. Where Land Rovers fear to tread

Big day today. 420km in a loop through the West Fjords (that's the big hand shaped bit sticking out to the left of Iceland).

Winding in and out along the coast until we crossed over the high pass. At the top was this evidence of the last people who tried the route.

A few minutes later the Reykjavik Mountain Bike Club cycled past in the opposite direction and we motored gingerly down the 14% hill they had biked up. These Icelanders are crazy!

A great lunch in an isolated roadside diner and then on to Snaefellsness peninsular. The site of The entrance to the centre of the earth in Jules Verne's masterpiece.

Jack's kit-tastic 2: BMW g650gs aka 'Slepnir'

BMW's latest 650cc single offering to the light adventure / touring market is the g650gs.

Pros: flexible engines with a very broad power band, very light and agile, a comfortable seat, ABS as standard and grippy stock road tyres on gravel.

Cons: low handlebars for standing up work, gear shift and rear break levers can't be effectively used standing up or wearing boots, minimal wind protection, weak battery and poorly shaped front cut outs.

Overall: perfect for the tour around Iceland but not gnarly enough for real hard biker types.

Day 5: North Coast. "Thar she blows!"

A quick 50km to Husavik for some whale watching. 3 hours chasing humpbacks around the bay yielded this one photo. All the others show the backs of the heads of our fellow passengers.

Fresh fish kebab on the harbour for lunch then 250km across three spectacular alpine-esque mountain passes to Thingyrar horse ranch set in the middle of the plains for the night. (FYI Thingyrar is a place not the deadly foe of He Man).

Unfortunately BV had forgotten to tell us that there was no food at Thingyrar. So it was back 20km to the nearest town for dinner. Well when I say town, it is more of a petrol station with some houses and a policeman.
Team leader has previous with said rozzer, having earlier been flashed for speeding!

WOTD 2: Dettifoss

"Dental Floss" is Europe's largest waterfall by volume of water (193 cubic meters per second). Melt from the main icecap floods north down a gorge cut through basalt columns.

Offoss rating: Outstanding.

Editor's note: There is another waterfall downstream of Dettifoss. Simple conservation of mass and the possibility of additional side steams must mean the above record is, at best, dubious.

Day 4: The Best Motorcycle Road "IN THE WORLD"

(above title to be said in a Jeremy Clarkson voice)

370km to Myvatn (midge lake) on the best roads so far. Route 917 over the Devil's Pass (see photo below) proving to be a spectacular ascent worthy of the three gnarly gents who tackled it with aplomb.

Lunch in Thorhofn in the only non-English speaking restaurant in Iceland for lunch. Similar in feel to the backwater end of Great Yarmouth.

Finished off with 50 km of gnarly gravel nonsense. Delicious tea made by Graham at the sulphurous springs before descending into Myvatn.

Day 3: Views from the road

Just a few of today's gob smackers.

Route 1 runs along the coast ....

...  over the glacial melt rivers ...

... past peaceful farms

Day 3: Stand up and be counted.

300km through the breathtaking scenery of South East Iceland. ImpP
ossible to record, every turn showed another jaw dropping vista. Being a landscape photographer on Iceland is about as difficult as taking a good photo of Claudia Schiffer.

Then there was the wind to spice things up a bit. The only way to ride straight was to hang your body off the windward side.

Lunch at a 100 year old ex-post office. Halibut to die for. Jack had the pizza (nothing to send a postcard home about apparently).

Then it got gnarly. Route 939 is a shortcut of gravelly loveliness that climbs up and up, zig zagging to the summit and then down, down, down to a quiet lake. Sheer biking heaven.

Here is Graham demonstrating the correct riding position.

Jack's Kit-tastic 1: Bullson Riding Boots.

Very kindly funded by others the (I'm told) reasonably priced bullson boots from hein gericke (Norwich) at £80 are an entry level boot.

They have all the usual tat however, importantly they have zero tread and proved not to be waterproof.

Thus making them basically useless for this trip... I have upgraded to the Mk. 1 British army goretex lined combat boots at a princely sum of £23 from Becketts of Norwich.

Let's see how this goes.

Day 2: The South Coast

Over 300km today along the south coast. The road is squeezed between the icecap and the sea. One minute running along the beach, the next flying over a plain of black gravel washed down by the glacier melt.

Around every corner a fantastic view showing the whole GCSE syllabus in fine detail. The photo shows one of the glaciers pouring off the main icecap.

Downside? It rained quite a bit and some kit did not live up to the challenge. No names, no pack drill.

WOTD (Waterfall Of The Day) #1

The basic geology and meteorology of Iceland is perfect for Waterfalls. The rain falls on the high bits and runs down until falls off the steep bits.

The Icelandic for waterfall is Foss, which I assume is where the name of Lake District waterfalls - such as Aira Force - comes from.

Waterfalls are everywhere and really impressive. Today's example has been graded "Good with Outstanding Features" by Offoss.

Day 1: Reykjavik to ?

Not sure where we are but it is 270km from where we started. Most of the day was following the tourist trail out of Reykjavik to see the historical sights, the Geyser (that's The Geyser that all the others are named after) and this fantastic waterfall -Gullfoss (Gold Falls).

The scenario is rugged: ice caps, mountains, lava fields, green, green grass and rushing rivers. Outstanding. The weather is good with no rain forecast this week. Which is just as well as the promised rain suits did not show up (see last post).

Biking Viking: The pick up

The dialogue with BV before the trip was one sided. Email problems their end meant that we never really knew whether they were expecting us. The truth is, they were half expecting us. The bikes were there, but no route plan or hotel bookings.

Soffia sorted it all out while we checked out the Harley Davisons. Then we were off on these rather lovely 650's, here being modelled by Jack.

And so it begins....

The full team has assembled here at LHR for the flight to KFL (there must be a reason why Reykjavik airport is actually 50km away in Keflavik).

The last English pint and the last pint we can afford if rumours of Icelandic prices are to be believed. Tour T-sheets to the fore.

We are on our way!

Kit Alert!

Looking at the plan, two things we need to take are:

1. Warm hat (glacier lake zodiac tour)
2. Midge repellent (Myvatn means Midge Lake, a clue there I think ...)

I love it when a plan comes together

A combination of Biking Viking's itinerary, google maps, t'Internet and old fashioned paper cartography and we have a plan.

Blue are the hotels, green for sights, orange for routes and yellow for daily distances.

Lots of ideas for trips (Whale watching, zodiak rides on the glacier lake) and amazing sights (waterfalls, glaciers, canyons).

Longest day is 4 hours plus but the others look like we will have time to stop and take in the scenary.

Thanks for the help Jack. We can get properly excited now.

Ready, steady ....

Update on progress:

1. Jack has passed his bike test (well done !)
2. The flights to Reykjavik are booked
3. Worked out how to get into the city (how can it be 50km from the airport? I'm sure we will find out when we get there).
3. Guesthouse booked in Reykjavic

Almost ready to go.

Kit-tastic #3 - Warm and Cosy

Pro suit (in tasteful Yellow)

Two things the trip to Sweden taught me; my gloves are not waterproof and my suit soaks up rain like a sponge.

"Any fool can be cold and wet. It takes planning, cunning and kit to stay toasty" is my philosophy.

Pro Winter Gloves

So a quick trip to Buy More Widgets in Oxford and we have dry loveliness.

Checking for Trolls

Route map (approx)

Only a couple of months to go so time to check that riding in troll country is the same as back home. I needed to be in Sweden for a meeting anyway so swapped the plane tickets for Le Shuttle. 1900 miles round trip through France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and Sweden. Result: No trolls (but I did see a verra nice red squirrel).



Here's the bike by the Baltic

RiDE product reviews

Essential kit reviews from the people who know what they are talking about. Some essential bits and pieces that need to be picked up before we head off to Iceland e.g. liner gloves, neck tubes, troll repellent.

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/Ride/Product-Tests/

Practising on those pegs

Most of my motorbiking has been spent sitting down. Iceland has a reputation for being a bit gnarly - which means standing up

So off to Trialworld www.trailworld.co.uk/ for a day's training

Group of four of us kitted up, to questionable sartorial effect. Starting tentatively down the beginners course (see pic). Following excellent coaching, we all ended the day flying around trails courses and down greenlanes with broad grins across our faces

If you fancy some fun - I can't recommend Trailworld highly enough - even for non bikers!

Kittastic #2 - Triumph Sympatex Jacket + Trousers

Item: Sympatex Jacket and Trousers
Manufacturer: Triumph
Price: On loan / £300 (Jacket) + £200 (Trousers) new, but Triumph no longer produce this model.

Pros: Comfortable, lots of vents, comes with removable warm lining, looks pretty nifty (very important) and the zip-together system between the jacket and trousers is very solid.

Cons: The armour in the knees and elbows slips down alarmingly, which does not inspire confidence in its ability in a crash.

Module 1

Stage 1 (Module 1 test) completed!
Stage 2 (Module 2 test) in progress...

Three Men Go To Iceland - The computer game

Looks like somone has already written the video game based on our trip. (http://www.bikingviking.com/). But who is based on who?

Heimdall "has to blow into his horn the moment he suspects Ragnarök (aka the end of the world) is happening". That must be Gray - Sax / Horn  - same thing really.

Leif Ericson's eternal quest for Vineland means this must be based on Steve (and his eternal quest of Majestic Wines best Malbec)

 So Jack?

Loki - the mischief maker and son of giants?

Or Thor - always fighting the ice giants and weilding his mighty hammer!

Kittastic #1 - Sidi Adventure Boots

The Triumph road boots did Route 66 and Patagonia, but for proper adventures you need something gnarly. I had some Alpinestar Tech 3 MotoX boots for an off-road course but they were pretty uncompromising, not waterproof and and walking in them was like wearing ski-boots. Fine for a course, no good for a long trip.

Adventure Bike Rider tested a load of "Adventure" boots and reckoned the Sidi's were the top. Vibram soles, Goretex lined, leather. Mmmmm, smell the tech. So I got some.

 (Thanks Ian for buying the Tech3s off me - Enjoy the course)

On- and Off-Road. Has to be a Gelande Strasse.

Biking Viking have confirmed that we have 3 G650GS bikes booked for the trip. The review in the paper when they came out was 5 star.

I had a look at one in Oxford BMW this weekend. Loooks like the glacier's growlers to me.

Face Fungus

Do we need to grow beards again for this trip?

Essential Do's and Don'ts

Do's
- See some exciting geology.
- Visit a hot spring.
- Get some amazing photographs.
- Get out on the gravel tracks.

Don'ts
- Eat gravel.
- Fall into lava / magma / rifts / glaciers.
- Fall off (going to fail this one).
- Run myself over.

Any more?

"Your mission, should you decide to accept it ...."

You need to pick the right team for these missions. And have we got the team for this one!

#1 Trailfinder: Graham "Hog Rider" Bills

A member of the Yokohama Chapter of the Harley Owners Group, Graham has had more Harleys stollen than most of us have had Harleys. Veteran of the 2008 "100 Years of Nonsense! Tour (http://route66.omega-prime.co.uk/2008/09/day-13--.html). A mellow and relaxed traveling companion with the map reading skills of a meerkat.

#2 Armourer: Jack "Jacko" Bolingbroke

Jack has more dangerous weapons in his arsenal than you can roll on a pair of D12s. His sense of adventure is extended by an occassional disconnect from RL. No previous motorbiking experience, or indeed motorbiking licence. But hey, there's plenty of time.

#3 Medic: Steve "D for Dog" Bolingbroke

Less a motorcyclist, more a collection of ailments. Deefor has been there, broken that, taken the pills and had the operation. Famously beaten by a dog in Patagonia. (http://shortwayup.omega-prime.co.uk/2010/03/d-is-for-dog.html). Motto "Any fool can be cold and wet. Staying dry and warm takes planning, preparation and plenty of expensive kit".

One man goes to .... Hertfordshire

Nearly 4 years since Route 66, and haven’t been astride a motorbike since. So time for quick refresher course before heading towards the Arctic Circle.
Bob Allen at Trailworld, Hertfordshire www.trailworld.co.uk reckons a couple of days should do it and to get them under your belt as early as possible – just in case you break something! Nice

Not again surely!

From the heat and rain of crossing the USA to the cold and (er) rain of Patagonia. Where next then?

Well, it was east to west on Route 66 and south to north in Argentina. So how about round in a circle? And somewhere new, somewhere different, but remote, with some off-road adventure. And doable in a week .

Of course! Iceland! Route 66, Ruta 40, Route 1. There is a nice sequence there.

These boys look like the job ....

... and this looks like just the tour!

http://www.bikingviking.is/?c=webpage&id=64&lid=62&option=links


Now all we need is a date, some mates, a booking, some bikes, some flights, some Icelandic Krona and we are off to the land of Ice and Fire.