Well I finally did it. On Wednesday 10th September I left Brighton to live my dream of riding around Iceland on a bike. I returned 19 days and 3083 miles later.
And I did it on an MT!
#1 I'll start with a before shot. This was taken 5 minutes before leaving. On the rack we have a tent, sleeping bag, and a camera all in dry-bags, in the right pannier frame we have a rucksack of clothes etc inside a rubble-sack inside a bergen which is attached to the pannier frame. In the left pannier frame (out of sight) we have cooking equipment and a rainsuit. In the front panniers are tools, food, water, and comfy walking boots.
#2 Here I'm having a brew in a layby somewhere in Germany. Autobahns are incredibly boring, but I had my wits about me as the inevitable hulking black Audis, BMWs, and Landrovers come up behind you out of nowhere and shoot past going at twice the speed you're doing making you feel like you're just standing there. I averaged 65mph which was a speed the bike fell into and was comfortable at. A lot of the time I picked a lorry/slower vehicle and just ambled along behind it.
#3 On the 12th, I reach Hirtshals, Denmark, where I would be boarding the ferry the next day. There is a beach accessible by road near the campsite here and is completely deserted. I see some locals have parked up on the beach to walk dogs etc, so I decide to go for a ride in the sand. I ended up going quite a few km's down and back again.
#4 I was wondering if I was going to be the only biker going to Iceland at this time of the year. When German couple Peter and Marika turned up on their Hondas I was more relieved. They were cheating though by having brought theirs up from Germany in the back of a van
#5 We were among the first onto the ferry and were given time to ratchet down the bikes to tie-points in the car deck.
#6 The staff then proceeded to surround us with other vehicles all bound for Iceland. It was like sardines in the end and we struggled to get out of the car deck having to walk between lorries, campers, jeeps...
#7 ...and other more serious 4x4's. At this point I wondered what I had let myself in for.
#8 Two nights (and many beers) later we arrive in Tórshavn in the Faroe Islands early in the morning for an 8 hour stop off. We had wanted to do a quick tour of the islands on the bikes, but they were too well packed in so I settled for a walk around instead and hiked up a hill behind Tórshavn looking out over the dock. Here you can see the ferry, the MS Norröna behind the grassy roofs which are so popular in the Faroes.
#9 Another night (and many more beers) later we arrive at 10am in Seyðisfjörður, Iceland. I start out by going anticlockwise on the 1 - the island's main ring-road. This is pretty much all tarmac. However a lot of the other roads, especially the most scenic ones leading off of the 1, are all made from compacted gravel. Very soon I start getting to grips (or not) with these surfaces and head off on the more scenic routes:
#10 At some points the gradients are fairly steep, and riding heavily loaded on gravelled barrier-less switchbacks was pretty hair-raising at times!
#11 Down the other side of the pass.
#12 Miles and miles of empty roads. It can be up to an hour before you pass another car.
#13 Tonight I set up camp in þórshöfn after an amazing first day.
Part 2 coming along soon!
