Michèle's blog: Iceland 2010 (Part 1)

Here are some of the notes I have kept in my little yellow bicycle log book. A man at a hotel in Iceland thought that it was a bible that I was taking out for morning prayers. In a way, it is.

In PDF format: IcelandBlogPart1.pdf (Part 1, 122 Kb, 5 pages)

More photos from Iceland

We have posted some more photos from our trip of Iceland. If you want to see them all, you can find them here:

Iceland 2010 Photos

Our last bit of cycling in Iceland

Benoit says: And our last descent. It was freezing all the way down. Flying down the 10% grade made it feel like it was -15. We were totally underdressed. I've never felt so cold. Not even in Montreal. The view was stunning. Winding road nestled between two misty mountains with water falls gushing from them. It took me hours to warm up.

Michele says: Getting to this point was the toughest bit of cycling that we did in Iceland. Not the wind, not the gravel, not the bugs, but an intense climb eight kilometres of which was on steep switchbacks. Oh, but we did have wind and it was in our face most of the time as we climbed higher and higher. When we reached the top, we were in the clouds. Literally. Surrounded by fog that reduced the visibility to a minimum. There was snow up there at the top of the mountain pass. It made me very nervous that cars wouldn't see us in the fog, even with our bright flashing lights and our reflective vests. I was happy when we descended out of the mist.

This is where we leave Iceland. We are taking the two-day ferry to Denmark tomorrow. Our friend David, a cyclist whom we met in Cuba, is meeting us in Hanstholm on Saturday.


View of Seyðisfjorður: our point of departure from Iceland.

Gravel road mountain pass from Akureyri

Benoit says: This was the top of a hard 15 km climb on a dirt road. Our mood was not the best at the top because we thought the climb would have been easier. Damn nature ripped us off again. But there is always a reward at the top: The view. Unless it's foggy. Then you really feel ripped off.

Sunset in Sauðarkrókur

You can see in this photo that there are a few trees in Iceland! This shot was in a lovely town by the water with a spectacular view of the snowy mountains to the east. The loveliness was marred only by some bored teenagers in a little blue car with a souped-up muffler that drove up and down and up and down the road in front of the campground in town (at least 20 times that evening). "It sounds faster than it is," was Benoit's comment about that car.

Check out the grass

Benoit says: You can get an idea by looking at the grass how strong the wind was. I'm guessing about 30 knots. It would have been impossible to go the other way. However, you could impress a lot of cyclists if you did. This is not the goal of our trip.

Happy when the Iceland wind is at your back

I was all smiles because we had a very strong tail wind that day. Yes, we were cycling along a gravel road but we just could not miss out on the favourable wind. At times, the gravel was very loose and filled with ridges and potholes. In this photo, it was looking pretty good.


On the gravel road from Stykkishólmur.

Benoit dunked his feet in the North Atlantic

Benoit says: The temperature of the water was the same as the cold tap water in mid February in Montreal. So much for body surfing.


Snæfellsjökull glacier in the background.

Skull and laws of arithmetic

Srinath, I took this pic for you. Death skull combined with commutative, associative laws and such. Gotta love that! It was on the wall of a school/hotel in the Snæfellsnes peninsula. We camped on the lawn behind the school.


Sur le mur à l'école/hôtel Laugagerðdisskóli.

Hest = Cheval = Horse

On voit des chevaux islandais partout.


An Icelandic horse, on the way to the Snaefellsnes peninsula.

Gorgeous isolated road from Hvalfjörður

Up up up we climbed a steep hill on the gravel road #520 from Hvalfjörður. Hval = whale = baleine. Bicycles are not allowed in the tunnel that cuts across this bay. No matter. The road around is much more enjoyable than trying to share the crowded highway #1 with hurried drivers. After the steep hill, we descended into a jewel of a valley. Farther on, we found a lovely camping spot near some hot springs at the side of the road. There was not another soul in sight.


Route 520 de Hvalfjörður vers Borgarnes, Islande.

"Black rain" près de Selfoss.

On nous a fort recommandé de porter un masque à cause de la poussière du volcan.

Free camping at Strandarkirkja.

It was a joy to see a "free camping" sign after the long ride from Grindavík, 13 kilometres of which were along an awful gravel road. I would not recommend that road to any cyclist with clipless pedals. We made it fine with pedals equipped with Powergrips, but still, it was near impossible to stay upright on the slippery gravel. The camping had toilets, sinks with hot and cold water, a drying rack to hang up clothes, and a sink outside for washing dishes. All that for free! If you wanted a hot shower, that cost 400 KR (about $3.20 Canadian). Fresh duck eggs from the farm next door were 50 KR each. The people running the free camping want to keep it free by not paying for any advertising. So here, I will advertise for them: Gata, Selvogi, 801 Selfoss, Tel: 4831818, 4831011. Email: gumorn@simnet.is


Camping gratuit à Strandarkirkja.

The creature of the Blue Lagoon

Au Lagon Bleu, 6 kilomètres de la ville de Grindavík.


Benoît au Lagon Bleu, Islande.