Day 25
Thursday 25th July – 98 Km
There was heavy rain and strong wind all night. It’s
still quite windy when I get up. I check the bus timetable again, the 13:00 bus
would get me to Reykjavik by 18:00.
I decide to ride and leave the campsite at 10:30. The track
is not as bad as people have told me; either that or they are in for one hell of
a shock later, as the road past Hveravellir is much worse!
Low cloud means that there is nothing to see so I just put
my head down and pedal into the wind. The land to either side of the track is
barren sand and rock; it would not have been a comfortable place to camp last
night.
At 2:00 I reach the junction with the track F347 that leads
to a ski resort below Snaekollur. I’ve taken 3 ½ hours to cover 28 Km. Not
good. I huddle out of the wind and cram down some bread and cheese then carry
on.
I meet several groups of cyclists, all going the opposite
way and being blown along by the wind. I stop and talk to a group of Danes and
tell them what conditions are like ahead. Shortly afterwards I meet a lone
Japanese cyclist who is spending 11 months touring around Europe and has the
most luggage I’ve ever seen on a bike! A Dutch guy from Friesland provides
another excuse to stop for a chat. He’s had 2 chain failures in as many days.
I’ve been lucky to have no mechanical trouble.
The weather clears a little and I’m able to make out the
mint coloured snout of Langjokull as it pokes down into the lake Hvitarvatn. The
turnoff for the hut at Hvitarnes confirms that I’ve done another 28 Km.
This improvement doesn’t last very long. As I begin the
long climb over Blafell the wind picks up again and it begins to rain steadily.
I stop and struggle to put the rest of my waterproofs on.
At the pass it’s terrible, the wind is gusting from all
directions and blowing me off the bike. Once again I’m reduced to pushing for
several Km.
My body and legs are warm enough but my feet and hands are
frozen. The “waterproof” gloves I bought before the trip are saturated.
Over the other side I still need to pedal going downhill! I
reach the Sanda bridge and there’s still another 12Km of undulating dirt track
to cover. The land either side is barren and it seems to go on forever.
I finally hit tarmac at Gulfoss and check my watch. It’s
11:00; the visitor centre and café are closed. I walk down the muddy path and
slippery wooden steps and have the famous waterfall to myself in the twilight.
Back to the road and I’ve got another 6Km to go,
fortunately it’s downhill. I see the lights of farmhouses in the valley and
then a ghostly white plume against the night sky, Strokkur doing his stuff even
with no tourists to watch.
The service station at Geysir is shut so I can’t even get a coffee. I find the campsite and put the tent up at midnight. I’ve been riding for 14 hours and am exhausted. I can’t be bothered to cook anything so I eat some bread and jam before crawling into my sleeping bag.