It’s fair to say I’ve been burning the candle at both ends for the last few days, and possibly a bit in the middle as well. Having decided that I would take my old bike to Iceland, I remembered that I hadn’t been near it for almost a year and that its state of repair was probably questionable. No problem I thought, I’ll just strip it down, replace some parts, give it all a clean and build it back up. It all came apart easily enough, I’ll leave it at that.

Finally, at half past midnight on the penultimate night before my trip, I had what you might call a serviceable bike. All I had to do now was attach the pannier rack, hunt down and check over everything I wanted to take, then dismantle it all and fit it in a box. But I had work all day… It was 2 am I got to sleep before a 07:15 flight. I wasn’t going to start this trip well rested, but I hoped I was well prepared.

Arriving at Keflavik Airport, a pair of shuttle buses whisked me the 45 km to Reykjavik Campsite where I quickly built up the bike and set up camp. Dispensing of my bike box in the campsite’s long term storage room, I set off to do some shopping for essentials, like a gas cartridge – and after having tried to inflate my bike tyres – a new pump.

Luckily, I came across Iceland’s answer to Tiso’s and found these items and more. And, unlike in Tiso’s where I balk at the prices and walk out, here I didn’t know what the prices were, so I just paid them. It only cost me 11,000 Icelandic Krone. Bargain!

Shopping done, and tyres pumped up, I cycled into town to see the one tourist attraction in Reykjavik I knew of, Hallgrimskirkja Cathedral. It had the double appeal of being a stunning building, and also containing a bell tower from which you could get great views of the city.

Pedalling through the downtown area, I passed streets of lovely little wooden buildings and stopped in at Reykjavik Fish and Chips for dinner.

I kept on round the coast a little and out along the quay before retracing my steps back towards the campsite.

Then, realising that there was an outdoor pool complex next door, I whiled away a few hours there in the evening, and after a busy few days, the geothermal hot pots were just the tonic.

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