Iceland's Ring Road

Last Day

Day 21 2026-07-28

Me next year? :-)

Supposedly not a viking representation. Hm.

Lamb taco, best lamb yet!

Pride is everywhere in Iceland

Almost full

I’m home!

Not quite sure whaat is happening here

The gear all worked well, though Scott’s Nemo DRAGONFLY BIKEPACK OSMO 2P worked better. Better size, lots of nice touches, and was easier to pull into a more rain/wind-proof posture.

The Americano was great, as usual. No problems except for the brakes, which I’m going to have replaced. The TRP brakes are non-standard (and so harder to get repaired), just don’t work as well and consistently. Had no flats or other issues (Scott didn’t either).

I’m thinking that my next US tour, at least, should be a gravel tour. Perhaps on the ACA’s Golden Gravel route that starts in St. Louis and goes to the west coast. Not sure that I want to do the whole thing, but part of it would be fun.

For that, of course, I’d need an entire new bike (perhaps one of the Salsas), and some new gear. The above Nemo tent would work great, my sleeping pad as well. However, I’d need a smaller down sleeping bag because of size constraints.

Talked to a guy who just came back from the interior (see pic). His bike has an Ortlieb seatpack (I have one at home), a big frame bag (need that), plus rolls on the handlebars and both sides of the front fork.

:-) :-)

Yesterday afternoon / last night we both a foodie walking tour and a whale watching expedition booked. The food on the foodie was fine (the fermented shark smelled like piss, and with good reason. See attached description of why. On the other hand, Kristin, our guide was outstanding. She was personable, full of good stories and anecdotes, and answered all of our questions.

Unfortunately, the whale tour was cancelled due to high wind. We had been told by multiple locals that they are having an extraordinary humpback-watching season because of the weather, but we had booked a small fast rubber boat that would get there quickly and allow us to get very close to the beasts. Sadly, those boat qualities are what made it unable to run. In the end, though, I don’t think any expeditions went out except on cruise-sized ships. Ah well.

Today we woke up and started packing. This meant tearing down the tents, tearing down the bikes, getting our bike boxes back from the luggage storage at the campsite (an ordeal), and then storing it all away.

Then we whiled away the time talking to others, including Bart and Corolla, the two Dutch we had met on the second day of the trip. They disappeared on mountain bikes into the interior the next day on their way to Akureyri. They didn’t quite get there, but had a great trip anyway.

Doug Tobey - What an amazing journey and accomplishment Pete! Thanks for sharing your adventure.

pete - Great trip, spent the flight back looking at gravel bikes thinking about
riding across the interior :-).

Bill Samsoe - Congratulations on another fine trip! We head out on our boat bike tour in Europe on August 19th. Not training outside due to bad smoke throughout the Northwest. We hosted 3 Transam bikers going East to West on Monday night. It was great fun having them here and we had Greg and June Siple join us for dinner. The cyclists may not be able to follow the trail due to all the fires. We look forward to our next conversation!!

pete - RWGPS just added a wildfire layer for planning!

Leaving WestFjords

Day 18 2026-07-25

Tunnel at Borganes, two hours from Reykjavic.

Today was basically taking the ferry back to the Snffl peninsula, and during back to the eco-campsite in Reykjavik. We also stopped at Raudasaandur, which was supposed to have a spectacular red/gold beach. It was spectacular, but not red/gold, so the spot might have been around the headland. The beach was lovely, but we didin’t have time to go around the headland, so….

Off to the ferry terminal to take us to Snæfellsnes. From there we will check back into the Eco Campsite, and then return the car tomorrow.

Day 1 in WestFjords

Day 17 2026-07-24

Local delicacy (made bearable by salted butter and dipping into the soup broth. Plus the alcohol.

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Others touring on lightweight bikes

Grateful road workers gave Bui a statue when in gratitude (for their jobs?)

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Yesterday we picked up the rental and drove to the edge of the WestFjords at Holmavik. Today we had a a more full day, driving around

much of the base of the bottommost branch of land. From Holmavik We drove to Hellulaug, which is a natural hot spring that runs at 98 F according to my watch. Just a beautiful little rocky area w/ water fed from above through a rubber hose, only operating by gravity.

From there we went to Dynjandi, certainly the most spectacular waterfall I’ve seen. It comes over the top and that spreads across a broad face, smoothly moving over 5-6 sections in concert. Then it travels through at least five more waterfalls on its way down to the fjord. Truly a wild, immersive site.

From there we drove some more, including seeing the oldest steel boat in Iceland, which was conveniently (and intentionally) beached near a crossing of two remote roads. There we talked for a while w/ a Dane who had been biking in the westfjords for an entire month, and is planning to leave tomorrow on the same ferry as us.

Finally, we made it down to the southernmost tip of the island where there was no room at the inn, but plenty of room for campers. After a very good arctic char, we drove the last 12 km over hellaciously pitted dirt road to the point, where the puffins were said to be. We were standing on one cliff edge facing another. There were thousands on the other cliff face, but occasionally they’d fly in and land maybe six feet away. Lot of fun, and also lot of fun talking to a Finn/Australian couple who, despite being decades younger than us, has been coming to Iceland every summer for the last 10 years.

A good day.

Rosana - Love it! I will have to do that too, go every summer

Henry - Pete thanks for sharing your adventure,almost feels like I am there without the headwinds.

pete - We were pretty lucky with the headwinds, only two bad days. We’ve talked
with other cyclists who had it much worse.

Amy - Hot springs, artic char, and puffins- -all in one day--how awesome!

pete - They know how to live over here.

Into the WestFjords

Day 16 2026-07-23

Siracha-dog (“volcano dog”)

Making yarn (in basket), woman from family that has lived there for generations.

Built into the hillside

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Today we headed into the WestFjords, where we are camping at Homavik. We have a two-day adventure plotted out by Claude, finishing w/ a 2.5-hour ferry ride … to another chunk of land way off the main road, but supposedly only two hours from Reykjavik.

Today’s drive was interesting: we started on the ring road for 90 minutes, during which we saw a sine for an 8km round trip detour to see sod houses. On bikes we would have continued by, but w/ a car we turned off immediately. Fascinating live exhibit of a set of old houses, the pretty ones ~300 yrs old, and sod houses made in the manner that was current in this very site 1000 years ago.

Later we switched to route 68 and smaller roads at the base of the Hrutafordur fjord. We very quickly were out of the main area, with only a few other vehicles on the road. There was a single big dirt bike motorcycle, which I passed right before the next rise showed that the pavement had run out and the dirt bike quickly passed us back up. A couple solitary campers, a harvester, and that was about it for an hour and a half.

During this time the road alternated between paved and dirt/gravel segments. The gravel was not bad, though I was a bit white-knuckled when the dirt road climbed high above the ocean, no guard rail in site.

Coming into the camp ground we find a couple dozen other tents/campers, though some might have been here for a while. Holmavik is a sleep little fishing village, getting a few tourists because of it’s position as a gateway into the fjords.

Even here we noted something we have seen all over Iceland: many of the customer-facing locals are really from elsewhere, mostly Europe and Great Britain, but we’ve talked to a couple from down under. Most of them will sheepishly, but readily, admit that they can’ speak Icelandic and even have problems pronouncing place names. Presumably they are well compensated, because the restaurants and tourist industries really do charge outlandish prices.

Off day in Akureyri

Day 15 2026-07-22

Roma, Sophia, Peter, Matt, Kasha, Scott, and Pete

The ride into Akureyri was really pretty great. We started by riding around Lake Myvatn and then heading west. Today, we only had a few essential tasks: rent a car, meet up w/ our fellow cyclists from down under, and try out the local pool/baths.

We’ve probably gone to five or six local pools; every town has one. A pool is for the whole family, and usually includes a traditional pool, maybe a water slide or two, a few hot tubs of varying temperature, a sauna or steam room, and a cold plunge. They’ve got free hot water, so why not? Year round? I’ve kinda gotten hooked, and I’m hoping that the steam room at UMD still exists.

Meeting up with Peter, Kasha, Matt, Sofia (all from Australia), and Roma (New Zealand) was a lot of fun. The Aussies are Blue’s age are traveling the world because, well, they can. And like many young tourists from down under they want to visit many places once they schlep all the way up to the northern hemisphere.

Finally: the car! We’ve had a great ride around the ring road, but even Claude (my AI friend) calls the last bit “the boring quarter”). But the WestFjords are a whole different beast: more remote, more wild, and usually for a different type of tourer (off-roaders, very self-sufficient, not reliant as much on infrastructure). We can’t ride there this time, but we are going to take two days to drive through a small portion of the more accessible bits to get a taste of it. If I like it enough, and it’s not too scary, maybe I’ll be back.

Doug Tobey - Thank you for all your photos and your daily blog. Im enjoying following your journey!

Into Akureyri

Day 14 2026-07-21 64.8 miles, 3,209 feet climbing strava strava

Me and Godafoss

Long exposure

Coming down off the bypass around the tunnel

I found the little houses that we stayed at in Jan 2023. Looked a bit different then (more snow and ice)

Akureyri waterfront

Akureyri hoves into view

Yesterday the wind would have quite literally blown us backwards. Today, it was not a factor, the sun was out (77 degrees on the road at one point) and we had a great ride into the “capital of the north”.

A lot of this was a bit nostalgic for me as we (me, Rosana, Blue, + Shankar, Naveen, and Chloe) had such a good time here in Jan 2023. Nice revisiting in the summer. Will be going to Rub23 (a very good steak/seafood restaurant) tomorrow.

We’re now safely in a tiny AirBnb w/ two bedrooms (well, they are the kitchen and living rooms, but each has a full size bed). There’s some discussion of meeting up w/ the four young Aussies, plus Roma, a Kiwi doctor who is living and working in Akureyri for a time. We met her at the campground in Egilsstadir.

Amy - Gorgeous scenery! Enjoy the sunshine.

Pinned by the wind in Myvatn

Day 13 2026-07-20 10.7 miles, 446 feet climbing strava

I have no idea

Icelandic Bonnie and Clyde

Wooden troll sculpture built out of reclaimed timber/planks

Screenshot

Soviet WW-II-model motorcycle trikes

It goes all the way down.

Woke up to a ferocious wind this morning, leading to thoughts that we were going to be able to do anything today, but in fact the wind died down and we wandered around the 1-block downtown checking out the church semetary (there were some wooden crosses, a sign of status, given the lack of wood?), an account of an Icelandic Bonnie and Clyde story, a visit to the cave used in the Game of Thrones when Jon Snow meets Ingrid outside The Wall, and finally a visit to Dimmuborgir, which a few of you will remember from the Myvatn day in 2023.

Oh, and also talked to a 69yo French woman and her partner, who are driving Sovint WWII-model motorcycle trikes across the F roads in the interior. This is a serious endeavor just getting there: they only go 60 mph tops (though they have lots of torque), so they shipped them to Denmark, where there is regular ferry service to Iceland. The two had also done women-only motorycle trips in Nepal and Morocco, presumably on these bikes.

Mark Mamerow - Lots of wind, clouds, and iffy weather…. but I am seeing a lot of sunshine in these photos. That’s got to feel good.

Where did the second troll in that picture come from?

pete - Like red meat to the dogs…

Myvatn….and the midges

Day 12 2026-07-19 47.7 miles, 1,495 feet climbing strava strava

The set of sod-covered houses we were in.

Two good-looking guys at Hverri

Spewing steam in Hverir

More Hverir

Myvatn baths

Yep, they are here. However, we weren’t bothered by them much because of the wind, is which I won’t talk much further.

Last night was we were pretty knackered by the time we got to Möðrudalur, so we splurged on a room and slept in comfort.

This morning we had a fine breakfast and hit the road for a relatively leisurely ride of 44 miles to Myvatn, which is literally “midge lake”. They are everywhere, and some of them bite, but even a bit of wind tends to make them scarce.

During the ride we met another real nice biking couple Silca and Bernhardt from Germany. They were just stopped on the side of the road for a “nature break” and we ended up talking for 20 minutes while the wind started howling. I’d guess they are in their mid-70’s, and they’ve been doing this for 30 years. They are steady, but not fast. Evidently when they cycled down the coast of California 20 years ago they were nicknamed the “the yellow snails” by other cyclists for their yellow reflective gear and their pace.

Finally getting back on the road we found the traffic had picked up significantly, along w/ the wind. We stopped at the geothermal Hverir site, then tackled the final climb (only 300 ft, but up to 13% into the wind), and then drifted down to the gorgeous city park Bjarg that Silce had told us about. Right on the lake a beautiful spread of grass solely for tent campers, many times the size allotted to tents at any place we’ve been to.

We went to the Myvatn baths (same feeling as 3 years ago despite a renovation that make sit prettier: meh). On our way there we passed the four aussi kids we’ve been crossing paths with, as well as Lars, a danish guy who’s walking much of the country, who we’ve also talked to a couple of previous places.

Mark Mamerow - Wow, looks very tough!

pete - It has been tough! But so are all the other great achievements of mankind…

Early start and …. still got slammed

Day 11 2026-07-18 67.9 miles, 3,465 feet climbing strava

0.5 zoom Just before we took off

In the last couple years a biting midge has appeared.

Practically Monument Valley

Tovah has been hanging around since she was a baby, but is not allowed in.

Tovah wanders in and startles the customers

We set alarms for 1:30 am, left camp by 3:30, and didn’t get here until 12:30. Lot of mileage, lot of climbing, and lot of wind. We got a room for tonight :-).

Absolutely bleak, exposed, and beautiful. We climbed to the Icelandic highlands and bobbled up and down from there. The last four miles were on a dirt road to Modrudalur, the highest farm in Iceland, and basically the only way for bike tours to get from Egilsstadir to Myvatn.

Rosana - Biting midges!?! Glad you are protected. The rides are hard, but the meals look decent.

Rest Day

Day 10 2026-07-17 7.5 miles, 215 feet climbing strava strava

After eight days of riding we are finally taking a rest day in Egilsstadir. Decent-sized town, good services, great spa just a 3-mile ride away.

Weather looks stable for tomorrow, which is bad, nasty winds in the afternoon. Might get up at 1:30 and head out.

Rosana - That is certainly a way to beat the winds. Good thing it is still light.

The Gateway to the north.

Day 9 2026-07-16 58.7 miles, 3,104 feet climbing strava

Emigrating by accident to a new fjord

Just out there

Rocks (out of 10’s of thousands) collected by Petra

Either wooden propellers or a fossilized backbone

At the tunnel’s entrance, the garmin was still telling us we were about to hit a steep climb for 2000 ft.

Scott enters the tunnel

Beautiful setting at the top of the pass

More top of the pass

We’ve traveled across the south, turned the corner, done eastern fjords, and now are heading back west. West means big climbing, exposure to the winds, but also other big sights: Myvatn is two days climb to ridiculously elaborate baths (just renovated), rock formations, and Godafoss. One long day further on takes us to Akureyri, the biggest city outside fo the southwest.

Today was a bit crazy: w/ all the wind we (and others) were questioning whether it was going to be one or two more days to do the last 57 miles. RWGPS was showing ridiculously high climbing numbers, weather forecasts were showing headwinds, and there was The Tunnel.

Turns out the climbing numbers were oversold, partly because The Tunnel allowed us to go under a 2000-ft climb. The 6k tunnel was fine: not a huge amount of traffic, slightly uphill the first 3km and slightly down the second 3km. The rest of the climb was just beautiful. Reminded me a lot of biking in Alaska, just not as extreme height wise, but w/ more wind. However, today the wind either helped us or stayed out of the way, so really great day.

Two of the Aussie kids made it to the same campground early today (they hitchhiked because of a bike problem), while the other two were vacillating about whether to bus through the tunnel or actually bike it. Last heard, they were headed in :-).

Scenery on the top is hard to convey w/ snapshots and prose. For me it was the perfect result of a hard, but fun day: big sky, big mountains, water everywhere, and the sort of alpine feel that makes you feel you’ve climbed to the top of the world.

Bill Samsoe - It sure was nice that they put that tunnel in the correct place just for you!

pete - Very nice people.

Brielle - Amazing photos, Pete!!

pete - And congrats to the TransAm!

Brutal Fjords

Day 8 2026-07-15 38.1 miles, 1,818 feet climbing strava strava

Today was rough, really rough. Fuck the wind.

We are not the only crazy-assed cyclists out here. Last night we met Mateo, an Italian guy who was here to ride across the interior and compete in a gravel race. He bailed on his ride in the interior because of a hellacious sandstorm, where the ground was just fluid (I saw a movie). He bailed and is headed (en bus) to the south where the race is held. He had been staying at huts in the interior, which are owned and maintained by different people, but usually w/ no food.

Then there was an Aussie guy and Taiwanese girlfriend who are biking the same route we are. We last saw them at the start this morning.

Two French guys last night at the campground, didn’t talk to them.

The guy who is 7 weeks into his circumnavigation.

The dreadlocked guy listening to Ska, pulling a Bob single wheel trailer and having no lights, no helmet, no mirror.

These were just the people I talked to (except for the French) today!

Tomorrow we head up, up, to the highlands…

Mark Mamerow - Sounds VERY tough. But man, that’s livin”.

pete - Yep! If not now, when?!!

Bill Samsoe - Happy to hear that you enjoyed the wind today. Just like one day in Texas!!

pete - Pretty close! Luckily we didn’t have the rain.

Blue - a sandstorm in Iceland? like the basalt sand? terrifying

pete - The video he showed me was wild, the ground was rippling, nothing solid.

Doug Tobey - The wind reminds you of your why - why you keep pedaling! Keep it going Pete! What an awesome experience.

pete - Next time you must come along, Doug. We might solve some of key existential problems of our age while fighting wind, hills, and midges.

The wind! Ahhhhhhh!!!!

Day 7 2026-07-14 66.6 miles, 2,834 feet climbing strava strava

2.5 mile tunnel, happily lighted well

The tree is a lie!

Today we started turning the corner and heading northeast. Sadly, we weren’t traveling NE, more back and forth between N and E. When combined w/ winds vectoring between peaks it meant that though a sizeable part of the ride had a great tailwind, we also had huge unpredictable crosswinds. One knocked me off balance on the bike and moved Scott a foot or two unexpectedly.

Despite the wind, it was a good day. We didn’t suffer as much as the threesome pictured above. A puffin flew over my head! And we are over 300 miles into our ride, making visible progress on the map.

Tomorrow we turn the corner more: straight north. Not sure how that will play. Then a night or two in Egisstadir (we need a rest day), and then we head west. Good news is that it could easily change by then. Bad news is that it looks stable.

We continue to see more cyclists. In addition to the threesome today, we met more Dutch cyclists last night, and there’s a German here tonight has been biking the other way around, and is now seven weeks in.

The campground commons’ can be fun. Last night I went in at about 10pm looking for my charger and it was occupied by about 20 very serious 20-somethings intently listening to a slightly older guy declaiming from the other end of the room. It seemed right out of a political rally (against the US?), or la resistance in WWII. In reality, Scott points out that it was probably just a group leader discussing the next day’s hike or climb. Nearly half a year on DuoLingo and I coudn’t understand a thing.

Rosana - Wow, those three bikers do not look happy at all. Gorgeous views!

Mark Mamerow - Translation: “A big strong guy grabbed me, and he was almost crying, and it happens every time, and many times. And he said: 'Sir, Mr. President, thank you so much for saving our country.'"

Or something to that effect.

Bill Samsoe - Looking good Pete! While you were riding, our Danish son's brother participated in the 34+ mile , Laugavegur - Ultra marathon on July 11th. Perhaps you saw him running over the glaciers!!!

Blue - the sign must have been put up by vikings, back when there were trees on the island

pete - :-)

A killer day!

Day 6 2026-07-13 84.9 miles, 1,801 feet climbing strava

Kvíárjökull

Öræfajökull

Fjallsjökull

Both in the good and the bad sense. The good is that for a decent portion of the time we had a huge tailwind. Cruising along the Atlantic staring at the glaciers while being pushed along by a 25 mph breeze totally rocks. Of course, it’s not always perfect, and especially by the glaciers cold wind was coming down from the glacier and overriding the prevailing wind. Still awesome.

The bad is that it was long, ~85.5 miles! Longest ride I’ve done in a long while, and with panniers.

We are getting to the east side of the island. In two days we start heading west, some potentially remote and difficult (depending on wind) days ahead.

Awesome!

Rosana - Congrats on making it through such a long day. Sounds like the ride and the scenery totally made it worthwhile. Resting tomorrow, I hope.

Amy - Sheep! Amazing to see those glaciers so close to the road. Rock on!

Karim - Awesome! What’s the temperature like? It certainly looks like you have escaped continental Europe’s heatwave(s). They had 40 degrees centigrade on the Tour de France…

Reinhard - Well done - godspeed!

pete - We’re about to start going west. Unless the weather changes our tailwinds
are going to become headwinds.

Blue - Incredible landscape. Love you!

pete - -)

To Skaftafell

Day 5 2026-07-12 43.8 miles, 689 feet climbing strava

French guys going around the whole thing in 8 days, more than 100 miles/day.

Skaftafellsjökull

This is prediction for 4am tomorrow, latest I can get. Looks like we might get our tailwind again tomorrow….

We have this problem where today and tomorrow are split 42/81. We were able to move this to 47/77, but that’s all. I hope the wind holds tomorrow! If not, we might end up “wild” camping, which is generally illegal, but there is an exception for bikers when there’s no other choice. An enlightened attitude! So we’re guardedly optimistic.

Today was similar to yesterday: mossy rocks, black sands and sere landscapes. But there were also “foss”s (waterfalls), glaciers, and other cyclists! Early on we saw one guy working hard going the other way (i.e. into the wind). A little later a woman came up working even harder she was friendly, but didn’t want to talk because she was working so hard. Then there was Richard, a Japanese guy who had moved to Texas (I didn’t ask). Richard started out a couple days before us when the wind was going the other way, gave up after one day and went to back to Reykjavik to pick up a car. He’s now driving around the island and taking rides whenever he feels like it, unburdened by panniers. He has a very nice camera and is going to send some shots of us. Finally, we met a couple guys going around the whole island in 8 days. At least one of them is from Peru, but they are based in France. They are on fast bikes carrying one maybe one change of clothes, hostel to hostel. Today’s ride will be on the order of 120-130 miles.

Finally we got into the Skaftafell campground next to the glaciers. It’s a 2.5 mile hike to the river blocking the rest of the way; all the way there we passed signs saying ‘The glacier was here in 1940…”

Tonight great bathrooms, showers, and a food truck! Fish and chips….

Bill Samsoe - Finally catching up with you! We were on a trip to Oregon. Happily home now. Great photos!!

Than - Skaftafell is beautiful, we had a really nice hike there the last time we visited..

Mark Mamerow - Huh, what’s the point to racing around Iceland? Confusing.

Nicest day yet

Day 4 2026-07-11 45.2 miles, 666 feet climbing strava

Last night’s campsite. Cool bluff above our tents.

Mossy!

Structures in the moss

People quickly climb up, come down MUCH more slowly.

More top of the pass

Today is a day that many riders write about as the scariest day. Only 45-mile and relatively flat, but totally exposed to the wind, often a headwind. People talk about it as a great leg to do at night when the wind dies down. However, we had a great tailwind the whole day, and we even some sun!

We finished our ride by 1, did some laundry, and then spent some time trying to fix up the logistics of a few future days. One is complete sussed out; the other not so much. The issue is that the next two days are 42 and 81 miles. We were able to get it to 47 and 76, but there’s just nothing else we can book. “Wild camping” is illegal here, and there’s not much cover if you want to try it anyway. But both days are flat, so even the second day will be fine if we still have a tailwind :-).

This section of the road is where the volcanic rock is covered by moss, sometimes more than a foot thick. It’s got kind of an unworldly beauty to it.

We talked some more w/ other cyclist. Besides the 4 aussies, there are two Dutch cyclists (Bart and Corona) who are biking off-road through the middle to Akureyri. On the road towards the end we cross paths w/ another couple cyclists doing the road the other way: they were working very hard because of the headwind, but we were flying :-).

Kathlin - May the tailwinds persist!

Not the same as the last one…

Day 3 2026-07-10 37.1 miles, 1,109 feet climbing strava

Breakfast at Paradise Cave Hostel

Paradise Cave Hostel

Look at the cloud! I see a bunny.

Sólheimajökull

A hearty lunch

Aussi kids doing the same ride we are, but at night!

Yesterday was a slog, today we had a tailwind and got into Vik by noon, even w/ a couple nasty climbs that hit 12%

Pictures show the cozy little hostel we stayed at last night.

Today we raced w/ the wind, usually staying ahead of the rain cloud that was following us, but we couldn’t ever stop for long.

Coming down into Vik was awesome. We set up our tents w/ a bunch of other intrepid travelers, including a four-some from Australia who are also on bikes. They biked all the way from Reykjavic, avoiding the headwind that punished us yesterday by starting to bike at 10pm. The wind in the camp is fierce, but picturesque. The only thing we worry about is ground-mounted light that aims up towards the cliff. If that goes on in the night it will be bright!

John L - Looks like a beautiful ride Pete! Food looks great. BTW...Im still getting use to your new size. ;-)

Rosana - So happy the rains held off and you got a tailwind! Jokulsarlon coming up soon?

Lisa Orange - Beautiful ride!

Mark Mamerow - Wind, water, clouds, rocks, beer. I am beginning to detect a pattern.

pete - All the basics.

First day of riding…

Day 2 2026-07-09 48.4 miles, 1,053 feet climbing strava

..and it was a beast. We are taking a somewhat unconventional approach by going around the island counter-clockwise. This gives us the ability to shortcut the end directly to Gullfoss, or go directly back to Reykjavik and take a one-day tour to see Gullfoss, Pingveller, and the clay pots from the comfort of a bus. There are some who say it’s better wind-wise as well.

Well, speaking anecdotally, today was very tough. We had a great night at the Eco Campsite, visited the local community pool for a great soak, and had good food and drink at the campsite’s cafe. However, it was very loud, and when it’s basically light all night, people feel free to come and go loudly all night as well. Nonetheless, we slept well, got up before six, and decided to pack up and make the 7am bus 3.7 miles away. We left the campground at 7:30 and raced to make sure we were early for the 7:55, barely made, and were chastised by the frantic driver (“I don’t have time! There is only 1 minute!”). Must be totally regimented, because when he dropped us off at Sellfoss (to miss the death-for-cyclists roads near Reykjavik), he was quite friendly and gave us pointers on where to eat (great bakery with smoked salmon on “lava bread”) and wonderful coffee.

We then hit the road. The section from Selfoss through until about 20 miles past Vic are “waterfall alley”. The roads were still busy this close to R, the the sun was peaking through and we actually had a bit of a tailwind, instead of the dreaded full-on headwind that is often discussed. We even went off route to see Uriddafoss, the highest volume waterfall in Iceland: spectacular).

Then the weather turned, and we had a freezing cold headwind that just sucked the life out of us. 19 miles short of our goal today, we stopped at a hostel off the road. It’s spectacular! Decent price, great accommodations, lamb stew for dinner and included breakfast.

All our devicei are currently charged up, we are warm and dry, and enjoying a beer :-).

Amy - what exactly is lava bread? looks like part of a whale, but yummy anyway

pete - “… sweet rye bread that gets its flavor and dark color from being slow-baked for 24 hours underground, utilizing Iceland's natural geothermal heat…”.

Bob Peltzer - Looks like a great adventure Pete. It is encouraging me to make some plans.

Lisa Orange - I was also curious about lava bread - yum! Glad you found a hostel at just the right time.

Kathlin - Glad to see you're drinking Viking beer!

We are here!

Day 1 2026-07-08

Fast 5h 30m flight to Reykjavik, lots of leg room, no one in the middle seat, little to complain about…..except the wings in the headrest didn’t bend in, so hard to stay asleep. Oh well.

In the morning we got on the FlyBus from the airport and arrived at the Eco Campsite about an hour later, no muss, no fuss. We set up our tents, took showers and naps, put the bikes together (no issues!), and then ventured out.

We will be making coffee, and occasionally dinner in my JetBoil, so we needed to get propane/gas. We had a nice walk, were able to find the canisters at only the second place we went, had a tasty spicy tuna sandwich for lunch, and went to the neighborhood pool.

We’ve been told on previous visits that the community pools are at the center of of every Icelandic community, no matter how small. Today’s pool actually had the warmest of the pools close (sad face), but the remaining pools were very warm, and relaxing. Going forward, I see this becoming an essential part of relaxing after a long day in the saddle.

Sunrise 3:23 am tomorrow morning.

Lue - Cheers to the ride! Peace & grease to y'all

Lisa Orange - Nice sandwich! Have a fantastic ride.

Getting ready...

Day -6 2026-07-02 23.4 miles, 1,145 feet climbing strava

Does Scott look badass, or what?

At the airport, starting things out right

Scott and I did a shakedown ride with full panniers to see how the bikes behaved. Other than my right front pannier trying to hop off the rail because of a missing hook insert (fixed by Scott whipping out a zip tie), it went pretty flawlessly. Getting close to being ready, though temps are over 100 the next couple of days. More opportunity to obsess over gear...

Eric Stubee - Looks awesome! Hope the heat abates soon, though…

pete - Sadly, the heat wave is passing Iceland by. Highs usually in the upper 50’s, w/ wind and rain.

Amy - Go Pete and Scott! Looking forward to following your adventure. Watch out for those sheep!

pete - Unlike Isle of Skye, most of Iceland’s sheep are on the dinner table :-)

Lisa Orange - Bon voyage!

Mary - That’s amazing! Happy trails!!

Mark Mamerow - Two skinny fucks pedaling like maniacs.