We're back!
I've been struggling with where to start and how to explain what riding 847 miles around Iceland in 15 days is like.
So here goes. Since we’ve been back people have asked me lots of questions about our adventure; the most common being “Did you enjoy it?” I answer “No, not all of it.” They then ask if I have a sore bum - again I answer “No” and generally decide not to mention the list of aches and pains I did have because I want to appear intrepid. If I mention my sore knee, elbow, shoulder or my blistered and numb hands people may doubt my intrepid all round rough, tough adventurer credentials. (Anyway Nick’s list of aches and pains was far more extensive and serious than mine not to mention his coughing fits which would make mere mortals take a long lie down.). Their final question usually is “Would you do it again?” A definite “No, I’ve been there and got the tee-shirt” - I really have got the tee-shirt.
That all sounds pretty negative, but that would be the wrong impression. It’s just that it wasn’t a holiday and some days were either physically tough or mentally tough or both. Imagine for a moment riding 70 miles across a lava field (which is pretty featureless – both Nick and I at one point got very excited about seeing an orange stone.) into a strong headwind towing a 40 pound plus trailer and not seeing a building of any sort along the route. The headwind slows your progress considerably – it took us over 8 hours to cross the lava fields. Do you get the idea?
There were days when the sun was out, the wind was either behind us or taking a break and we rode over beautiful mountains, past glacial lakes and waterfalls, through picture postcard scenery and under volcanoes and glaciers.
We were Stars on the ring road, people waved as they past us, whole coach parties (who had stopped to take a picture of some breath-taking scenery) turned on mass to face the road and snapped away as we passed – and they weren’t all Japanese, people came over to talk to us when they saw us by the road and even donated money to Reach – God love Americans! But by far the loveliest people were two Austrian’s Harald and Ulrike Kogler who were staying on a campsite we rolled onto after a long day of cycling.
We approached them to ask if we could have some food (we hadn’t seen a shop for 60ish miles and had eaten our emergency food the night before while staying in a tin hut on a mountainside). They not only gave us food but they cooked it for us and even gave us beer to raise our spirits and then, bless them, even washed up. We may have had the look of very hungry desperate people but they changed what would have been one of the worst nights of our trip into the best and most lovely night we had on the road.The other question I’m frequently asked is “What about the ash?” It was there, it was scary and we road through it (with thankfully a massive tailwind blowing us along). Because it was windy the ash was very much up in the air swirling menacingly all around, making us feel like at any moment we were going to be swept away never to be seen again. It was a very surreal experience because at its worst the ash is inches thick on the ground and feels more like the surface of the moon than somewhere on earth. Riding through it was like riding through a thick fog (visibility was less than 50 meters at times). I was very scared at one point when the wind really picked up and the ash in front thickened; I rode in not knowing when this was going to end. We were told by people living on the edge of the “Ash Zone” that this was the worst ash storm since to volcano finished erupting. In hindsight we were foolish to have ridden into the ash because if the wind or the road had changed direction we would have been in very severe difficulties but we were lucky and we escaped to tell the tale. Check out this video clip of the storm. http://www.youtube.com/user/aroundiceland1
In short – It was a great adventure and I’m proud to have completed it but boy was it tough!
Lastly I have a lot of ‘thank yous’ to make, Zoe, Jacob and Nicky (My family) for being so supportive and giving up our usual half-term break so I could do this. Nick, for just saying yes! Helen (Nick’s wife) for putting up with me talking to her husband about tyres endlessly and all her help (including buying Nick a book on why it’s wrong to eat people and me an SAS survival guide.) Charlotte and Gary for all their encouragement and support.
Matthew and Hjörleifur who put up who put up with the huge amounts of luggage we left in their flat in Reykjavik and then toasted us with Champagne on our return.
Sue Stokes and everybody at Reach for putting us on the front page of their website and generally making us feel welcome.
Oxford Science Studies, Satmap, Continental Tyres, Icelandair, Cycles Dauphin, Action Bikes Camberley, Cyclesense, ExtraWheel, The Outdoor Store and Prestige Wedding Fairs, without their support our trip would have been a lot more expensive and less well equipped.
Everybody who has supported us and donated to Reach via us, Thank you, Thank you, Thank You.
Lastly Thank You to the Lovely Austrians Ulrike and Harold for being there when we needed them.
I’m off out on my bike (actually I’m running the London Marathon for Reach in 2012) but that’s another story....
Love
Pete
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