Wednesday, July 30
We ride 64 kilometers in 5:18'55 (ave 12.0kph, max 46.2kph).
cloudless
This is the last week of riding. Today we sleep late. The sun is already up in the cloudless sky when we head for breakfast. Then we start the day's trip to ample tailwind. We stop at Olis for coffee and ice cream to celebrate the first real Summer day of our trip. This is the same Olis we stopped a week back to fix a punctured tire.
reykholt
The wind turns, and the rest of the day we ride more or less against the wind. We stop at Reykholt for a quick lunch, salad and crackers. We decide to take a gravel road to Husafell. The road is nice although not in the best shape, the weather gorgeous and the agricultural landscape beautiful, but the wind takes all the fun out of riding. To top it off, the rack in Tomi's bike holding the front pannier breaks.
gravel road
At six we are in Husafell again and face fully occupied cabins. From somewhere they find out there is still one free, and we get it. We rush to showers and to dinner, since we know that the place closes early.
landscape
Just like before we order burgers, and enjoy a bottle of red wine afterwards, this time with some cheese cake. It is 8:30pm., and the place have closed a half an hour ago, but still some guests are coming in a hope of having a dinner.
Thursday, July 31
We ride 67.35 kilometers in 7:15'38 (ave 9.2kph, max 37.9kph)
up early
We are up early, at 6:30am., and notice that no one is staying in the neighboring cabins although they were supposed to be fully occupied. Anyway, the sun is up and so are some clouds, but there is practically no breeze. It is surprisingly warm already.
some clouds
We have a long and exhausting day ahead, and very rocky road, as it turns out. Still there is not much to tell. We take the back road #550 South to Thingvellir, and mostly ride through very barren land; the road runs through a volcanic lava bed, following the edge of a glacier Langjökull and a little smaller one, Thorisjökull.
volcanic
The first 20 kilometers we climb a very rough road to 750 meters above the sea level. Riding is really annoying because of the holes and rocks that the road is full of. There is also an almost constant stream of tourists driving by in SUVs and buses.
break
We take a break in the rocky landscape and cook some coffee, and fix sandwiches for us. For a change it is nice and quiet. Passing cars do not even see as among the rocks.
rocky road
At 2pm. we are on the top, and in the flashlights of a bunch of German tourists. They take pictures when we reach the top, they are all around us when we eat. None of them asks if it is ok with us. Can you imagine a more annoying group of people?
langjökull
After the summit the road improves a bit, but turns very bad before we enter the road #52. But it has been mostly downhill, and will be all the way to Thingvellir.
climb
There is some construction work on the #52, and therefore the surface is either super rocky or super soft. We hit a downhill with 20% grade (PIC). Steepest ever, Whooaa!
reach the top
We are delighted with the gorgeous scenery (PIC) as we approach Thingvellir and descend to Thingvallavatn, the largest natural lake in Iceland. It is not only magnificent but also a tranquil ride. There is no other traffic.
thorisjökull?
However, the sidewind starts to bother us again. It is even worse on the gravel, since the tires are sliding sideways and the bike is hard to control.
flashlights
It takes a long and curvy road through the brushwood by the Thingvallavatn to reach the campground at the Thingvellir National Park. The campground itself is not that scenic even if the surroundings are. Camping costs us 500 crowns each. We take a very quick shower, and leave to the Restaurant Valhöll for dinner. We even reserve a table at the restaurant.
road improves
The place is not too busy, but still it is quite hard to get any service: the servers are not only reluctant but do not seem to know what they are supposed to do.
tranquil
We have wild mushroom soup and tropical salad for appetizers, and trout and lamb for main courses. The food is good and well prepared, but not spectacular, and definitely over-prized.
scenery
Afterwards we spend a while in the hotel bar enjoying glasses of red wine. There is an animal skin on the wall and we wonder what animal it came from --- it is not a bear, not a wolf, not a deer or reindeer, and definitely not a moose.
valhöll
The owner of the place tells us it is a horse, one of the those cute, tiny Icelandic horses. She has made a business of making horses into skins to decorate people's living rooms. Even people overseas are crazy about them.
skin
It is almost midnight when we walk back to the campground and it is not quite dark yet. We can tell that someone obviously got frustrated when painting the center line.
frustrated
Friday, August 1
We ride 46.01 kilometers in 3:00'45 (ave 15.2kph, max 53.2kph)
cloudy
A long and strenuous day is followed by a short and easy one. We are up at 7:30am, but the campground cafeteria and Information Center only opens at 9am. We have ample time to shower and pack our stuff. The sky is cloudy but the air is breathless and warm.
thingvallavatn
Now we have entered the area where all the bicycle tourers are, here in South. Today we meet more bicyclists we have seen in last three weeks or so. The common theme seems to be that all of them have a lot of stuff on their bikes: on the back rack, front rack, and even on the handlebar. Or do they just have stuff that does not pack very small? Some riders are even carrying backpacks in their backs, and they ride in jeans or cargo pants. We on the other hand make every effort to minimize the weight and the volume: all our clothing is lightweight, packs small, and dries quickly.
flora
The ride to Selfoss is not too interesting. There seems to be a lot of vacation houses by the lake Thingvallavatn. The road #35 is crowded by weekend traffic, luckily to the opposite direction. The shoulders are either non-existent or in a very bad shape. There are some rock slides by the road, some supposedly quite recent ones. The wind favors us for a change.
vacation houses
We have a buffet lunch at a cafe by the road about eight kilometers before reaching the highway #1 and Selfoss. We are in town at 3pm.
lunch
It is hot and humid in Selfoss, and we hear that Iceland is experiencing temperatures as high as +25C --- and even higher --- for the first time ever in the recorded history.
rocks
We are allowed to use the hotel washing machines when they do not need them. While machines are doing our laundry we visit the library, and have quick beers and vegetable spring rolls in the nearby restaurant.
selfoss
It is actually quite strange to be in a town (pop. 6000) with several dining options. We choose Kaffe Krus, a funny little bohemian place with weird service culture. There are a lot of flies around, and somebody, probably a customer not a fly, has emptied a whole bottle of after shave on himself.
kaffe krus
We have falafel and lime-marinated chicken with lots of brown rice and veggies for dinner. When just about to leave we ask if we can find any local beer anywhere. Oh yes, they actually have it although not in the menu. The brewery is Ölvisholt Brugghus and the beer Skjalfti (engl. earthquake), 5% ABV. Very tasty copper colored ale.
bed early
The rest of the evening program consists of shopping for breakfast items, and then a couple of beers or wines in some local hole. We get the breakfast items from the store, but we also find breakfast baskets provided by the hotel in our fridge. We find a bar next door, which turns out to be more like a dance club --- not a single customer in there yet. We check another hotel's bar, but it has just closed.
Even if we do not really have plans for the last two days of riding, we go to bed early.
Saturday, August 2
We ride 73.9 kilometers in 5:31'11 (ave 13.3kph, max 30.6kph)
grey
The good weather is as much as history. Icelanders are not allowed to enjoy their heat wave for too long.
south
It is very grey morning and the wind direction suggests one route over the other(s), so we head South. The landscape is flat and the road straight. After an hour's ride we are in Eyrarbakki. We stop at a gas station for coffee.
eyrarbakki
We continue on the road #34 west. It is foggy and bleak. We make one stop to finish our breakfast items, and we see some other bicycle tourers passing by.
#1
From the rest stop we continue on the road #38 North. Then we have a huge decision to make --- whether to take a long route further West through barren lava fields with (supposedly) no or very few services or accommodation available, or go North on #39 to the highway #1, and then to Reykjavik. The first option has the obvious advantage of being favored by wind, the latter climbs first to 300 meters with somewhat unfavorable crosswind.
lava bed
We choose the latter option; at least we will know where to spend the night, or do we?
bike lane
The highway #1 is busy as always, but again luckily to the other direction. There is practically no shoulder. We stop at Litla Kaffistofan for warm soup and sandwiches.
soviet style
Reykjavik is not very approachable city from East either. It takes us some time to find the bicycle lanes to the guesthouse we are looking for. It does not pay off. There is no one there at the guesthouse. The phone answers and tells that the place is fully booked. We have heard this before.
domo
We are recommended another place, Gesthus Duna nearby, actually about a kilometer away. We had been in that area before, so we find the route quickly. We get a double room for an outrageous price of 10K crowns.
Duna is an amazing Soviet style hotel with spacious hallways and unstylish rugged feel --- not very cosy and definitely over-priced. At least the breakfast is included, and the internet works!
uncle tom's cabin
We take a taxi to downtown. We find our way to the restaurant Anaestu Grösum (engl. the first vegetarian), and we both select four dishes from the buffet. We are still hungry afterwards, so we soon find ourselves at Domo, a more upscale restaurant around the corner with ambient feeling but service still lacking.
We order lobster for starter and a sushi-sashimi set for the entree, and enjoy it all with Spanish wine designed to go well with sushi (a Chenin Blanc - Muscatel blend). We witness a true hell's kitchen scene --- whether intentional or coincident --- when one of the chefs just throws a fit in the open kitchen yelling at his co-workers and tossing food and dishes around. It is soon over as if nothing happened.
lively young
Like said, the service is inferior, but that is compensated by them not charging for the wine bottle. Still, the bill is over 80 euros. Before returning to our colossal hotel we enjoy some wine at a neat coffee bar Kofi Tomasar Fraenda (engl. Uncle Tom's Cabin). It is a lovely place with a lot of lively young people and lots of books.
Sunday, August 3
We ride 49.60 kilometers in 3:16'54 (ave 15.1kph, max 32.3kph)
construction
Another gray day, no wind though. It is also Sunday morning, so it is peaceful and quiet; not too many people are out, yet. Some joggers come up as we cruise through new development and construction sites. The Reykjavik is expanding and there is a lot construction going on between the city and the Keflavik airport.
grey day
We have tail wind most of the way to Njardvik. However, we get some rain. We see three groups of two bicycle tourers coming up, struggling to headwind. They started riding directly from Keflavik, we assume.
bus stop
We do not find a breakfast place until Vogar, which is just few kilometers from Njardvik. And it is not anything fancier than a gas station without any tables and chairs. We have coffee and sandwiches sitting on the concrete parking lot under the eaves.
hafnarfjördur
Road construction complicates our final kilometers, but finally we are at the Fithostel at 2:36pm., tired and wet but happy. What an awesome three weeks we had.
kfc
We take a quick shower and finish our last snacks, before we are ready for town. We visit the Irish pub again, and then head to Duus(sp?) advertised as the "best" restaurant in town, a place specialized in seafood and fish.
njardvik
It does not take us long to realize that service in this place sucks. The few staff members are flagrantly frustrated when welcoming new customers while cleaning the tables after the parties having just left.
a black cat
We are directed to the table pretty soon so we decide to stay. The service seems somewhat efficient but terribly rude. We start with some green salad and cognac flambered scallops and shrimps. The dish contains two scallops and no shrimp, a major disappointment. The main courses are both fish, tender and tasty, and fresh.
main street
We stop by at Rain for glasses of wine, and once more at a hotel bar on our way to the hostel (PIC).
wine
The night falls, our last in Iceland (PIC). Tomorrow it is going to be a public holiday so we don't expect any place to be open.
last night
We ride the total of 1143.3 kilometers in 18 days.
Monday, August 4
We don't ride today, instead we do packing and fly back to Finland to prepare for our next big project, the move to Singapore.
We wake up real early to a very noisy house when a bunch of guests are leaving. The morning continues with a breakfast annoyed by a quarreling British family at the next table. Why didn't they throw the teenage daughter out of plane, since she obviously does not like where she is and everything is just wrong.
We are ready with packing more than an hour before the scheduled pick-up time and take a walk to the nearby mall. We are happy to find a bakery open. We have some good coffee and sandwiches. Then we are off to the airport and homebound.