Touring - bike trip in Iceland during the summer of 2012

Hey guys and gals. I finally finished uploading pictures and typing up the travelogue from my notebook and all, so for those who are interested:

http://www.nerakrose.com/epicbiketrip_iceland12.html

here is my account of the trip I made last summer. With pictures (and separate gallery with more pictures). Enjoy. :)

Hey guys and gals. I finally finished uploading pictures and typing up the travelogue from my notebook and all, so for those who are interested:

http://www.nerakrose.com/epicbiketrip_iceland12.html

here is my account of the trip I made last summer. With pictures (and separate gallery with more pictures). Enjoy. :)

Nice journal. I rode the southern half of Rt1 from Reykjavik to Egilsstadir a couple of years ago and drove the bit that you rode. I had similar experiences; the riding, weather and road conditions were rough, but the scenery, people and experience of being in Iceland is amazing. I plan to go again. My trip blog starts here.

http://wheelsofchance.org/2011/07/01/iceland-pics/

thanks! i like yours too. :D i'm pretty glad i didn't bike the southern part of the route 1 because every account i've seen of it are all about the wind being from the east. i'd planned to go clockwise but changed those plans once i'd arrived. another time i'd like to do that. :)

Glad to read your knees healed up! Didn't realize Icelandic roads could be so hilly though it makes sense I suppose knowing about the volcanoes. Also surprised about the heat--though once I was in Montreal Canada on a summer weekend & the sun was very strong despite moderate temperatures. Perhaps northern areas have less pollution to block the UV rays.

hey! sorry about the late reply, my laptop's been in the repairshop and i had quite an inbox to come back to. :)

the roads aren't too bad, actually, but they're definitely not level. it gets quite tiring. XD the heat, idk maybe it's just me, being native and all and used to it, because everyone i know who isn't icelandic and comes visiting, always complains about how cold iceland is during the summer. but then again, tarmac reflects quite a lot of heat so when you're on the road and you've got the sun above you and no shade, it hardly matters what the weather station tells you about the temperature in the area, on the road it's going to be much hotter. :)
(and up north there's a hole in the ozone layer...dunno if that affects Iceland in any way, but it's food for thought)

Hey guys and gals. I finally finished uploading pictures and typing up the travelogue from my notebook and all, so for those who are interested:

http://www.nerakrose.com/epicbiketrip_iceland12.html

here is my account of the trip I made last summer. With pictures (and separate gallery with more pictures). Enjoy. :)


That was really impressive and whets my appetite.

Marc

Nice report. I have not done any touring there yet, mostly commuting and road cycling. Need to find time to do this as I spend most of my vacation time in Iceland. Bringing my Fargo this summer, hopefully to ride across Sprengisandur. In many ways, Iceland is a great destination for cyclotouring if you have the lungs and the legs for the mountain passes and the perpetual headwind...

You did a great job of capturing the beauty and ruggedness of the Country.

My wife and I spent 3 days there in September on our way home from a long tour in Europe. Although we had our bikes with us they did not get out of the boxes. The winds were about 40 kph, and the wind chill temperature around -2C.

We put on almost every piece of clothes in our panniers and rented a car. However, the most memorable experience was the Northern Lights.

It was a cold evening, but the Northern Lights kept us out for hours. It is a wondrous place!

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy112/Doug64_photos/Europe%202011/IMG_5914-1.jpg

We met 2 young men when we were going through security who had just completed a 2-3 week ride around the island. When I asked if they enjoyed the ride, one of them said, "Enjoyable is not quite the right word, more like memorable." We also talked to a couple of other bikers who had been on the road for an extended period, and both confessed that they took buses occasionally when the winds were too strong.

We met 2 young men when we were going through security who had just completed a 2-3 week ride around the island. When I asked if they enjoyed the ride, one of them said, "Enjoyable is not quite the right word, more like memorable." We also talked to a couple of other bikers who had been on the road for an extended period, and both confessed that they took buses occasionally when the winds were too strong.

Yep, I did the same. Some days I was very grateful for the bus. Iceland isn't an easy place to tour, but it's very rewarding.

Impressive Photography!
You mentioned a lot of traffic in the travelogue in one place, but have managed to depict almost no habitation in almost all the pics. That is amazing.

Impressive Photography!
You mentioned a lot of traffic in the travelogue in one place, but have managed to depict almost no habitation in almost all the pics. That is amazing.

The roads are only busy around Reykjavik.

I have always wondered about the safety of the Icelandic roads. The roads are generally narrow and us Icelanders are not exactly the best and most considerate drivers. Despite that, I can't think of an instance where a cyclotourist was killed or severely injured on Icelandic roads.

Great photos - thank you for posting them. I don't think I'll ever make it to Iceland, so it's nice to live vicariously through others.
That blue iceberg is just beautiful! And the photo of the yarn-bombed tree made me smile.

I have always wondered about the safety of the Icelandic roads. The roads are generally narrow and us Icelanders are not exactly the best and most considerate drivers. Despite that, I can't think of an instance where a cyclotourist was killed or severely injured on Icelandic roads.

yep, this. it was only really a problem when approaching reykjavik and then it was the verslunarmannahelgin (an extended weekend where a lot of people flock to the countryside) to boot. on a road with no shoulder and traffic going both ways fast, it gets really uncomfortable. there's no room for the cars to sverve out of the way for a cyclist, the way there was earlier in the trip, where i met a car at most every half an hour and they could just go over in the opposite lane when passing me.

ak08820: it's easy to take pictures without people in it when there's not a lot of people around. :) (and also it was pretty impossible to stop by the side of the busy road to take pics, or i would've - just to show the amount of traffic! it was unbelievable.)

Thanks everyone for the kind words. :D

yep, this. it was only really a problem when approaching reykjavik


Some of the tunnels can be scary for a cyclist. They are dark and there's no shoulder. The one just to the East of Hofn is really scary.