Climate Ride Iceland 2017

I had the privilege to join Climate Ride’s first event outside the US in August, biking with 28 participants and guides thru spectacular national parks and reserves in the highland interior of the island.  It is one of the best adventure travel trips that I’ve ever done and I highly recommend the backcountry of Iceland as a destination for biking or hiking.

The trip featured 6 days of riding, with 5 nights in huts or tents.  Day 1 was a meet up in Reykjavik and bus about an hour from town to get fit for bikes and do a fairly short check out ride.  I quickly discovered clipless pedals and volcanic boulders don’t mix well for me, with two quick but slow moving tumbles.  Switched back to flat pedals for the rest of the trip.  We also got to test out river crossings for the first time.

After another bus ride and a stop at a coffee shop in a greenhouse, we arrived at our first hut of the trip (Rjupnavellir).  The late evening sun was great on the volcanic hills dotted with sheep and my tent was close by the river.

The remainder of the trip was a big loop into the highlands, featuring Fjallabaki Park and Vatnajokull National Park, with our huts as red dots below.

The satellite version of the map does a better job showing the ice fields which were a great background on several of the days:

Day 2 featured a steady climb into the first park, riding by the famous Mount Hekla, known as the Gateway to Hell (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hekla).  We also rode by a herd of running Icelandic horses, had more river crossings and got to our hut just as the rain began.  With a fairly early arrival, we hopped in our adventure bus for a ride to the famous Landmannalaugar hot springs!

Day 3 was the most epic ride of the week, featuring over 20 river crossings, off and on rain, temps in the 38 – 42 deg range and our first 14%+ climbs in volcanic scree, along with EPIC scenery!

The ride wound out of a large valley over a couple of big ridges into miles of braided rivers thru varied volcanic features mixed with lakes and rivers.

The riding was best captured in video, which is still be edited, but here’s one snapshot of day 3:

 

The day ended with a climb into the national park, then a descent to a remote hut that would be home for the next two nights.  The hut was just below a fissure with a waterfall and friendly sheep!

Day 4 started with a bus ride to the edge of a 30km long lake , with a view of the Vatnajokull ice field.  The route was generally flat to down back to the hut, with some huge climbs thrown in for fun!  We also had a lunch stop at a remote hut to get out of the rain for awhile during lunch.

The riding was initially thru vast black sand hills surrounded by bright green peaks and included several more of the 14%+ grades.

After the views of spectacular Ofaerufoss, some of the group went on a hike a bike route down to the river and along a road with a bridge back to the hut.  Some of us chose to skip the hike a bike and had to work thru our three deepest river crossings of the week instead.  Fridjon’s attempt to find a shallow crossing didn’t work so well below.

 

 

Day 5 was another day of climbing and riding thru a wide variety of conditions, with great sun part of the day and a close up encounter with another of Iceland’s icecaps!

The day featured one of our few sections of single track, with a tight volcanic canyon and a few river crossings, then fantastic views of the ice field and miles of black sand riding toward and around the N end of the ice field.  We were in our busiest hut yet since it was also on the famous highland hiking trail (Laugavegur trail).  I was in the tent for the final night after enjoying a great dinner cooked by Baldur!

It was hard to believe that it was already day 6!  The morning started with the usual breakfast of porridge and yogurt, making our lunches and then Baldur reviewing the day’s route with Fridjon and Sveinn Breki!

The last day’s route was generally down, around the N end of the ice field and down toward the ocean.  There was one last wading river crossing and several larger river crossings with bridges, highlighted by a final spectacular waterfall and cycling around the unicorn peak!

The ride ended in a meadow at the edge of the river, eating ripe blueberries.  Most of us wanted to head back into the highlands where the blueberries would be ripe over the following couple of weeks and where the summer season was coming to an end.

Judging by the number of friends that have visited Iceland in the last year, Iceland is clearly on the radar for many people.  I highly recommend getting off the beaten path and seeing some of the gravel backroads and trails.  It’s a fantastic country.

I’m proud that the group of 24 riders did a good job of raising money for Climate Ride’s efforts and really appreciated everyone’s company.  The core group of Team Wolfpack was a blast and were very welcoming to Jim, Chip and I.  Our hosts from Climate Ride – Caeli and Blake – were a blast and really made sure that we had a fine trip.  Finally, our three guides were a blast throughout, led by the great Baldur, a former warden of the hut in the highlands and a fantastic cook!

I’ll add more video to this at some point – thanks again everyone for the great memories!