Woke to a beautiful morning and the nagging feeling that I should get the bus to Akureyri disappeared. I definitely need to do some proper cycling, my last full day was over a week ago in Denmark. Taking the bus yesterday was a really good move and gave me the feeling for the remoteness of Iceland as there was literally only two places to stop on the whole 165km leg (one campsite and one hotel). It was perfect as I was able to cycle back a few kms to the single sight I would have missed on the whole two day ride – the geothermal mud. The remoteness and distances in Iceland will need a different mind set!

Getting my camp packed up was a faff  this morning and I seem to be getting worse, but there is a strict order, and today included bike maintenance. It was further hampered by the flies everywhere! The campsite receptionist said they had got worse as the summer had warned up quickly this year, she said that the previous week there were no flies.

I got away about 9:30, and managed something like a record (for me) by averaging about 24 km/h for the first 40km (excluding stops). Talking of stops, I didn’t visit the shop before leaving, as the maps showed a few places I could stop and resupply if necessary. So I set off only equiped with a banana, two apples (although it transpired that one was a tomato), and a bar of chocolate. [I obviously had loads of food I could cook if necessary, porridge, pasta, plus two dehydrated meals – so pretty low risk]. However, there were many unforseen dangers that quickly made themselves apparent as I started to cycle. The first was the “Oyster catcher” bird, but these looked more like curlews (brown, not back/white) – anyway it appeared that I was a threat to every nest on the whole route. The birds would start alarming, then fly alongside me – swooping into me at times, then kindly lead me away from their nests. Initially I was quite scared that they may get too close (I did see one attack a crow just in front of me), but got used to them flying alongside. By the end my biggest fear, was that as they were swooping in front of me they might become victims of the speeding cars coming the other way, which were oblivious to the nature outside. The second, and more serious danger, were the flies. On downhill and the flat you didn’t notice them, but as I slowed to go uphill, they swarmed around my head – and were promptly breathed in as I puffed up the hill. The result was much coughing and spitting – I used most of my water to dislodge half swallowed flies. Eventually, I rigged my handkerchief as a wild west face mask.

There were plenty of cyclists going the other way, but I think I had the better of the topography and the wind. I stopped at a N1 service station at Laugar after about 35 km, and rather than visit the food shop decided to treat myself to a burger, and a few cups of coffee.

Pushing on, it wasn’t too far to Godafoss, an immense waterfall where the water cascades down almost in a half circle. I locked the bike up and took a stroll around the waterfall, its very impressive, and the power of it is hard to comprehend. This, and the geothermal area (especially the 100°C tank I saw yesterday), give the feeling of how hard it must be to harness these particular natural elements.

At Godafoss, I chatted to a French cyclist going the other way. Mainly to find out if he had taken the “short cut” showing on the cyclists map. He hadn’t, but he thought they were gravel roads. The route is much shorter, but goes over the mountain at 540m high, while the longer main road tops out at 325m above sea level. I decided to decide later, at the bottom of the short cut.

Almost as soon as I left Godafoss, the rain started, followed by the wind. Initially, the wind wasn’t too big a deal because it came from the south so was generally behind me, or coming on my left side pushing me into the kerb. When I got to the possible shortcut and the rain had increased, so I had a quick snack and decided to keep to the main N1. The road just climbed, and climbed and climbed. I had to stop a few times, but the gradient wasn’t too bad, it just seemed endless. Once at the top, there was a real switchback descent, which would have been really good fun on a dry windless day, instead I was on the brakes nearly all the way down. My destination, Akureyri, came into sight but my calculations said it should be over 20km away. I got my hopes up as it looked no distance at all. However, I hadn’t factored that the city is on the opposite side of the fjord, and I would need to go around the end and come back up the other side. As luck would have it, as I was becoming disillusioned a sculpture of a very tall man was at the side of the road, marking Safnasafnid – The Folk and Outsider Art Museum. It was raining, I fancied a stop and it looked interesting, so I stopped. It was actually very interesting, the buildings had a really good feel, and the curator explained it was an old school house that had been extended – it was really nice, and the setting with windows opening onto a stream down the side gave a really nice outlook – I’d live there! The art inside was interesting too, the work using Hama Beads (children’s iron together plastic beads), they looked very good en-masse. I was offered a free coffee and cake, as it was close to closing time (and everyone takes pity of wet cyclists!), and after I’d finished pushed on into Akureyri.

It was tough going, even pedalling downhill with a headwind, so the flat causeway across the fjord looked particularly unappealing. However, it wasn’t too bad as it seemed to be more sheltered. At the end of the causeway was the first cycle lane I had seen in Iceland, followed quickly by the first traffic light (with a nice red heart). I met a cyclist from New Mexico, who appeared to be walking, but insisted on showing me his tee shirt, proving he was a cyclist – definitely? It was the first proper town I’d been in since Hirtshals, with people wandering around and lots of restaurants and bars.

The campsite was up a super steep hill, I made a good attempt but had to walk the last bit. The site was a typical urban site, and I think because it was Saturday night there was a mixture of tourists, and Icelanders visiting the city for the weekend (I think). The sites facilities were not very good, and with no sockets so I couldn’t charge anything up.

As it was Saturday, I headed out for a beer and something to eat. I found the Beer Lounge, which sounded perfect. I arrived just as Germany scored an extra time winning goal against Sweden – it was hard to tell where support lay. I found a sofa next to plug socket, which is pretty close to heaven after a day in the wind rain. Initially I had a Brio, an Icelandic Pilsner (on happy hour at 600 ISK) which was a fine lager, and followed it with a Borg Double IPA (or something) it was superb (but expensive at 1800 ISK £12.50!!).

I planned the route for tomorrow, in the low light of the bar – which will explain missing a critical spot height on the map! I then decided on Fish and Chips – which may be the national dish of Iceland (or is it ice cream?). I went back to the campsite, which wasn’t too noisy – not that anything would have kept me awake. I was exhausted!