July 20, 2020
Day 2 - Gullfoss, Geysir (and flies!)
Þingvallavatn to Árbúðir (Kjölur)
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Day 2 - Þingvallavatn to Árbúðir campsite (Kjölur) - 70 miles
The Arctic perpetual light made it impossible to gauge what time it was when I woke up. My phone screen read 7am which meant I had been asleep for roughly 12 hours! It was starting to get uncomfortably warm in the tent in the direct sunlight, so I made use of the really nice kitchen facilities (complete with music and TV) to cook up a big pot of noodles. When it came to packing away the tent, I was assailed by a huge swarm of flies, similar to the ones which had started to bother me yesterday evening. If I thought the bushflies were bad in W. Australia, damn, this was something else. It didn't look like the other few campers were getting bothered by them so maybe I was just pitched up in a dodgy spot. They didn't bite, but within seconds I had flies trying to stuff themselves into every orifice of my face and I had to dive straight for my flynet. This was probably the most helpful thing I've ever taken on tour with me 'on a whim'. It was only a last-second decision to take it, but the net weighed virtually nothing, took up very little room, and was an immense help at times in these first few days. Just outside the campsite were some workers cutting the grass and they had nets on too so it was nice to not be the only one!
I'd intended to pay for my stay in the morning, but once again the reception wasn't open. A note on the door had their opening hours listed as 10-4, which seems really narrow if someone is just passing through and staying for a single night. It would have been another 2 hours until opening where I would've just been sat around doing nothing, so I guiltily cycled on.
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Early on, there was a shortcut road to chop the corner off and I decided to take it. Something strange I noticed was that all of the tiny rural community roads leading off had electronic gates across them, similar to what you'd find at a city car park. I didn't come across anywhere else in the country that had these gated roads, so I have no idea what it was all about. Shortly afterwards, my ribbon of smooth tarmac gradually subsided into a corrugated gravel climb. The surface was rideable on 35mm tyres but progress was very slow, and this was what made me change my mind from riding the Sprengisandur interior route, to the shorter Kjölur one instead. Although the latter is a bit less 'adventurous', I was very conscious that I didn't have much time in Iceland and wanted to see more than just the highlands.
The road I was currently on is part of Iceland's 'golden circle'- the main tourist trail encompassing a few of the big sights in this region. Despite this, the roads were fairly clear of cars and I only really saw a build up of people once I got to the Geysir hot springs. The namesake geyser of the park hasn't erupted in a few years, but the slightly smaller Strokkur geyser goes off every 5-10 minutes. I'd never seen anything like this before, and it was quite a spectacle watching a plume of water shoot 20-30 metres into the air with a loud whoooosh. Thanks to how often the eruptions were, it didn't take much waiting to get some pictures.
Another 5 miles of cycling later and I came to Gullfoss, Iceland's most well-known waterfall. Again there was a concentration of tourists here, but it didn't detract from the setting, and was nowhere near as packed as some of the photos I've seen from previous years. The waterfall itself was stunning. Just like never seeing a geyser before, I hadn't seen a waterfall close to this size either- the UK doesn't have a great selection! The footpath to the falls approached from above and thanks to the midday sun there was a rainbow to complete the breathtaking panorama. I had only brought a tiny cable lock with me, so was a bit paranoid about leaving the bike unattended considering my last one had been stolen in Australia, and therefore didn't spent as long as I would've liked to admiring the view.
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Carrying along the road and the traffic disappeared completely. Here was the start of the F35 Kjölur route and I couldn't have picked a better day for it. Tailwind was still in my favour, the sun was gleaming in the sky and both sides of the road were covered in swathes of smart purple flowers. Icelandic horses trotting alongside completed a perfect scene. It felt like a great time to give the drone a go and within 5 minutes I had it up in the air looking for some good angles. The Mavic Mini unfortunately doesn't have any active tracking functions as of present, so my options were limited to either: still images, leaving the drone hovering in place and cycling across the view, or trying to cycle with one hand on the handlebars and one hand holding the controller precariously controlling multiple thumbsticks!
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Not much more time passed before I was onto the long gravel stretch and it was actually harder than I was expecting. The plethora of gravel roads I cycled in New Zealand felt a lot firmer and less bumpy, whereas this Icelandic one was characterised by bigger corrugations and stones... even though it doesn't really look like it from the pictures. My speed was almost comically slow at around 5mph even on the flats. It wasn't the tyre thickness that was the issue at all, it was all the luggage strapped on that felt like it could fly off at any time. Thankfully nothing did, but I've broken a few of my pannier hooks in the past so didn't want to take any chances. The next section had a series of steep climbs, which didn't feel like an issue at all considering my hill-climbing speed was now the same as my speed on the flats. At the top of the pass, I was suprised to see another group of cyclists coming towards me and it was a girl and her two parents from the Netherlands. They had equally thin tyres which was reassuring to see, and informed me that the road surface gets worse which was not so reassuring. A tiny cafe allowing people to camp in the next 10 miles was also mentioned, and I decided to make that my endpoint for the day.
Again, I was so pleased with myself for deciding to bring my flynet because as the evening drew on, the flies appeared again and my trundling pace wasn't enough to outrun them. Trying to grind my way up a steep rocky gradient required enough concentration without factoring in the extra layer of insect annoyance. Upon reaching the cafe (which was no more than a couple of small huts), I paid the 1000ISK (£5.60) to stay the night on the grass outside and instantly regretted it. Sure, it was a nice place to stay the night with views over the Langjökull glacier, but wildcamping was largely accepted in the highlands and it wasn't exactly hard to find room in this vast landscape. One benefit of stopping here though was getting the chance to buy some Pringles, albeit at a very inflated price. I had packed a load of carbohydrate-rich food for cooking, but not much in the way of tasty snacks!
Today's ride: 70 miles (113 km)
Total: 130 miles (209 km)
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