Distance: 65.74

Time: 5:43:47

Average Speed: 11.5 mph

Elevation Gain: 1,928 feet

So it’s pretty hot in Iceland, which pretty much renders half a pannier of my stuff redundant, but I guess that may change down the road! It certainly makes packing in the morning painful, but I did try and leave the campsite a little earlier. Rolling out of the gate at 9:40, I made it 100 yards before I had my first stop of the day; to see the geyser at Geysir, and not Geysir as you’d expect, but Stokkur, as it’s much more tourist friendly. Conveniently erupting every five minutes, almost frequently enough for the endless stream of tourists.

Breaking one of my golden rules of cycle touring, I took a 12 mile out and back detour to see Gullfoss waterfall, I think it was probably worth it, but I’ll let you judge for yourselves…

Quickly wolving down an excellent piece of toffee and apple tart, I turned back in the direction of Geysir once more, being dismayed that the onwards junction was another 3 miles further still. Setting off along a pan flat valley, on the bearing I’d be headed for the next 30 miles, I was mightily disheartened to encounter a stiff headwind, it was bound to disrupt proceedings…

Reaching the Fludir turn off, I carried on into Reykholt instead as I’d been recommended Fridheimar, an organic farm shop for a farm that grew tomatoes, and that’s what they sold. My lunch consisted of tomato soup with a herb ciabatta, tomato cheesecake, and an iced tomato latte. It was all good but the tomato cheesecake was amazing, the tomato element being a compote on the top.

Backtracking slightly and making for Fludir, I couldn’t resist the temptation to hunt for the secret lagoon while I was there. Having found it, I spent a blissful 45 minutes in the naturally heated water, a boiling spring cascading into the pool at the far side.

With over 30 miles to go, I clearly wasn’t too worried about time at this point, and for the first 5 miles I enjoyed the pleasant valley views.

But, the chilling headwind sapped my strength and I started to flag in the early evening gloom. After 20 long miles, I finally reaching the junction with route 1 (I was officially joining the ring road, it was now one road all the way to Reykjavik). I was dismayed to see that it was still 12 miles to Hella where I hoped to get some dinner. Powering on as best I could with dwindling energy levels, I finally saw the tell-tale neon sign of a petrol station shining like a beacon in the distance. I hadn’t reached Hella yet, but it would have to do!

Deciding to make for the campsite at Hella, I arrived at the location the entrance appeared to be on Google Maps, but if it had been a campsite, it wasn’t any more. Now 9 o’clock, I resigned myself to having to cover the 8 miles to Hvolsvollur before I would find home for the night. But, having stopped by the Hella petrol station – hoping another Countryman burger would start to close down the day’s calorie deficit – I started to make my way out of town and quickly found a sign to the campsite, I’d be staying in Hella after all.. And, as I pedalled the last stretch towards the row of campers on the horizon, I was extremely relieved to be done for the day.

• Uncategorized