Iceland - Day 7
The final ride on day 7 back to the ferry port was short but you can never underestimate Iceland.
Waking early in the campsite the weather was still and dry. Although it was forecast to rain in the morning I did think I might stay in my tent for the morning and leave in the afternoon, although I was keen to get moving in case the weather deteriorated. After having some breakfast and getting packed up I headed off back down the winding gravel road away from the campsite back to the main road.
The rain was starting as I left the campsite but I decided to not put my rain oversuit on, which would prove to be a mistake. It was going to be a short ride today back to Seyðisfjörður. My decision I didn’t need to prepare for the weather because I’d be riding for a short time was the wrong one and I was again reminded not to take this country for granted.
There were a couple of options to get back to Seyðisfjörður, either around 100km via the ring road which is exposed to the coast or taking a shortcut via the Öxi Pass. This route is a relatively technical gravel road over a mountain pass in the Eastfjords with steep sections of around 20%, blind corners, and a lot of potholes. In fact so many that in places it was totally made of potholes! The route takes you past Folaldafoss[1], “the hidden waterfall of Iceland”. This route isn’t recommended for inexperienced or nervous drivers and at times becomes impassible due to mud and runoff from melting snow.
Although it’s a technical road I was keen to ride it for the challenge but also because it cuts off 65km from the overall distance, if I was going via the Ring Road. Although I had plenty of time to get to Seyðisfjörður as the ferry was later the next day, I wanted to avoid the weather on the coast as much as possible.
Focused on my ride I took my bike over the mountain pass, bouncing over potholes and accellerating up steep, curving sections of road through a spectacular landscape. Of course by this point it was fairly heavy rain but I kept going because stopping might end up being harder than just continuing to the paved section of the road to put on my rain oversuit. This is to say I didn’t film much, just like other days, because my total focus was on riding the bike and to be fair the weather was pretty grim. But this route was amazing fun and I did really enjoy it.
However soon enough I was dropping down to Egilsstaðir and linking up with the road I had taken a week previously, completing my loop of this mind-blowing place.
The last part of the ride was a paved mountain pass, which I’d come over in the fog when I arrived, past Háifoss, Gufufoss, and the Stafdalur Ski Station. By this point the rain was bucketing down in droplets the size of marbles! I was getting absolutely soaked through, although I made sure to savour every moment, riding down into Seyðisfjörður. When I arrived 50% of me felt sad that the ride was over, and the other 50% of me was very glad that I could get into the warmth and find some food!
Dripping wet I trudged to the Aldan Hotel & Restaurant in the centre of Seyðisfjörður and went in for a welcome meal and coffee: my second fish and chips of the week.
After drying off (and probably outstaying my welcome waiting for the rain to ease, although the staff were lovely) I headed directly across the road to the Seyðisfjörður Camping Site, checked in, and then set up my tent in the easing rain. I then went back to the communal area and chatted to a few of the other people there including some French bikers and some hikers who also had been to the same festival as me a few weeks earlier near Bristol! I had a lanyard from the festival and they had a wrist band, so we chatted about that. They were both from Belgium so it was strange to meet people in Iceland who had been to the same quite small festival!
That evening I had some food from a local supermarket and then headed to my tent to relax as the ferry was the next afternoon.
Although I could have spent an extra day riding around, the rain was bucketing down again the next day and it was torrential while we loaded up for the ferry. Thankfully the staff allowed all of the bikers to park up and wait under some shelter until they loaded us first, which was much appreciated. As we checked in I saw the couple I’d been chatting to through the week and I was very glad to see they had arrived for the ferry. They talked about how horrendous the ride was from Höfn to Seyðisfjörður that day and I was very glad I had made the decision to push on to avoid it.
Thankfully we were able to load up on the ferry a couple of hours early which meant we could all get on board and get warm and dry. Heading to my cabin I had a hot shower and changed into warm clothes and then headed up to the sheltered spot on deck to watch the ship slowly slide out of the fjord and back towards Denmark, the memories of an incredible journey still running through my head.
Although I’d been planning this trip for a long time I still felt an immense pride that I’d achieved what I set out to do. The weather might not have been perfect every day and there certainly were challenges but I appreciated and enjoyed every second I was there.
When people asked me afterwards how my trip was I actually struggled to put it into words. “Incredible! …tough…” was all I could really muster. But I left with a reminder that I not only managed the ride around Iceland, I flourished. I thrived. I loved it and I can’t wait to go back again, next time with a lot more knowledge…
…and a warmer sleeping bag.
Stage Distance: 100km
Overall Distance: 1720km
Prev: Iceland - Day 6
Next: Iceland - Epilogue