Day 14
Sunday 14th July – 60Km
I’m up fairly early, it’s stopped raining but is still
windy, and there is a pleasant blue sky.
On the road by 9:00, I know that this going to be a hard
day, mostly on dirt roads and crossing several valleys and watercourses.
I reach Bru at 10:00 and begin to climb onto the F910. The
road surface is loose and scrabbly, a strong side wind catches me and nearly
blows me over.
The first part of the road is through coarse grassland but
this fades until the road is just an indistinct line across gently rolling hills
of rock, sand and gravel. Colours vary from desert tan to dirty black. At times
it’s like riding through a car park, the land to either side looks like flat
tarmac!
The road is a patchwork of every surface imaginable, good
hardpack, loose fine gravel, potato sized rocks and sand. The tyres handle
everything well, apart from the sand in which I fall a few times.
At 12:00 I encounter my first ford, fortunately it’s only
mid calf deep so I put my sandals on and wheel the bike across. An hour later I
come to another one. The water here is over my knees so I carry the bike over
first and then come back for the panniers. The water is cold but it makes my
sore leg feel better.
There is quite a lot of traffic, I’m seeing a 4wd every
20 minutes or so and the occasional tour bus.
The occupants all wave at me, I’m not sure if it’s admiration or
pity. At least if I have a bad fall
or a mechanical there will be someone to scrape me up.
The mountain Heroubreid rears over the horizon and I’m
heading straight towards it. I hear a creaking sound from the back wheel and
stop to check. The constant vibration has shaken the rear mudguard loose and
also caused my pump to jump its mountings and rub against the spokes.
Fortunately nothing is damaged so I re-attach everything and carry on.
I reach the area known as the Kreppa and cross the bridge
over the river Jokulsa A Fjollum which is swollen and dirty grey with silt.
There are large black rocks like cinders on either side of the road.
A slight navigational faux-pas leads me to think that the
mountain blocking my path is actually Askja but I then recheck and realise that
it’s Upptypingpyar and that I have to ride around it.
The road is covered with patches of black sand, this is
impossible to ride on, my tyres sink in and I fall off.
It’s now about 8:00, I’m tired and my leg is still
hurting. I’m not going to make it to the hut and campsite at Dreki today so I
find a flat spot away from the track and pitch the tent. The ground is coarse
pumice on top of sand; I have to place the pegs very carefully.
I don’t think they’d stand a strong wind.
Unpacking I find the contents of one pannier are wet. At
first I think it must have been one of the river crossings but then realise that
my bottle of contact lens fluid has leaked and I’ve none left. Disaster! I
hate riding in spectacles.
It’s incredibly quiet but very cold. Even with a fleece on I’m shivering violently, so I cook and eat quickly before getting into my warm sleeping bag.