Iceland revisited for unfinished business.

Timolgra

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A while back Ange and I had our first trip to Iceland, the RR appeared to have stalled :rolleyes:
http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php/271930-Eruptions-erections-and-Champagne

It's time to go back, this time on smaller bikes which we shipped rather than taking the ferry.

A small part of that unfinished business was to explore the West Fjords region so a plan slowly unfolded in my mind, but first there's the most important preparation.....

Even though Ange hated it, my Iceland beard needed to be ready in time. It was :rob

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A cheap and short flight would hopefully see us soon reunited with our bikes
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My good friend TIV met us at the bus station and took us to get our bikes where he helped unload Ange's 'Blue One'
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Then took us to his home in Reykjavik where he and his lovely wife, Silla, were the perfect hosts.
TIV and I got on like a house on fire ...... much to the dismay of Ange and Silla who thought us "two peas in a pod" as we planned our business venture of whale harpooning KEA, more of that later ....perhaps:D
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Later we all went for a drive around town to see some of the sites.
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TIV's immaculate ex police K75, with a great story of how it came into his possession part of which was the police station it was assigned to didn't have anyone who could ride it:D
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In the morning we set off inland then north........
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only to find out that our route was still impassable and we'd need to get towards the coast sooner than planned.
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Arriving in Borganes we found coffee, cakes and supplies before settling in.
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I'd been carefully watching the weather forecasts and decided to stick with our intentions as the weather inland and to the NE was poor for the foreseeable future .... we were going west and north:cool:
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And my wife's happy .....phew.
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Looking forward to the rest of this - some great pics already!

We're going on the 28th August (hiring a bike from Biking Viking) so might nick a few ideas ;)
 
C'mon Ange, .......oh ok after I've made your 4th cup of tea,...... the weather's great and it's time to head toward Snaefellsnes.
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Snaefellsjokull gets tantalisingly closer.
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And closer...
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We arrive at a campsite early and quickly get the tent up and luggage off. I know the route over the side of Snaefellsjokul is shut with snow but want to have a look before a bunch of lycra clan nutters start their half marathon over it!
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After getting in front of the runners I had a good blast up part of the way then stopped to wait for Ange .... who rides at a more sedate pace.....
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She's arrived :)
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And I coax her through the soft snow.
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But that's it, I can go no further.
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We brought some lunch so it's time to sit back, eat, drink and chill whilst watching the pert arses of the gorgeous Icelandic women from behind my sunglasses, hoping Ange wouldn't notice...
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Oh and of course wonder whether this might be a good place for a 'quicky' .....it wasn't :blast
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TBC :beerjug:
 
looks a fantastic trip, great photos :thumby:
 
Excellent start, some mighty fine photos of the bikes,the landscape and bonus Lycra ladies.
You certainly know how to take a good photo:thumby:

I'm in:popcorn

Looking forward to the next instalment:beerjug:
 
Although a 'Quicky' was a no go we went for a walk and enjoyed the view in warm sunshine for a couple of hours.
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After riding a couple of dead end tracks we headed back down to the campsite.
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And a walk along the stunning coastline.
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Now this is living in a 'shit hole' :D
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A week earlier there had been gale force winds for days and I heard a biker had died after being blown from the road.
We were more fortunate.
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In perfect weather Iceland is glorious but it can change dramatically as we were reminded of later, but for now we're able to enjoy the kind of peace only a beautiful, quiet place can offer.
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:)
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Pushing on further around the peninsular.
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Looking west, my favourite direction.
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Last winter was particularly harsh in Iceland with virtually no Spring to give an early thaw, this has delayed the opening of many higher roads.
But it's always worth going to have a look as far as you can.
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Go on Ange
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Eventually we're twarted by the snow again.
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So it's on foot for a while.
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It doesn't really matter we can't get all the way
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It was a stunning ride in perfect conditions.
Riding north on the way back down we caught our first glimpse of the West Fjords in the distance.
We'd be going there tomorrow on the ferry.
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Any chance of a basic route map of your Icelandic travels?
 
Any chance of a basic route map of your Icelandic travels?

Ok I'll get onto that and will go back over the report in a while to add road numbers or names so look out for any edits too.

I met a few riders coming from the other direction to ours who'd sadly missed some of the very best bits because they're either not marked or obvious on the map or gps.

I'd also chatted with several Icelanders throughout this trip who were happy to share their own particular secrets, be wary though, some of their places will have changed since they were there or they may omit to mention they did it on horseback:D Locals are often unfamiliar with road numbers as they'll know the routes by their names.
Eg. the classic F26 which is a regular bus route in summer is really know as Sprengisandsleið

From Wiki it is derived from Icelandic noun sandur "sand", which denotes the volcanic ash deserts of the center of the island, and the verb sprengja that means "to ride a horse to death; to be on the point of bursting after running for too long". One needed to ride as fast as possible, nearly driving the horses to death, to cross the mountain desert and reach the inhabited regions of the island again before one ran out of victuals.

Even then, check your pronunciation :D

There's also a hardcore group of 'local' trail riders who know far more than we could ever find much more than even than in a copy of Overlanding in Iceland for instance but there's plenty of the classic routes which are easy enough depending on the state of river crossings and of course whether they're open or not.

Use this which is regularly updated to check
http://www.road.is/travel-info/road-conditions-and-weather/the-entire-country/island1e.html

Some interior roads may be shut for longer than you may think to allow them to dry out and for vegetation to recover in the short season. Remember riding off road is a big NO NO and and you could be fined if caught
 


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