Michael Ho - Personal Website

Day 1 of my Iceland cycling trip. Starting off from the capital city of Reykjavík, with some fjord detours, natural thermal baths, and heavy traffic.

Monday, 24th of July 2023

I woke up early to stuff myself full with the breakfast buffet but it was very spartan with only some toast, eggs, and cereal available. Beware the complementary breakfast in Reykjavík! Not the most solid starting meal to begin cycling with but I worked with what I had.

I transported the bike bag (now filled instead with my hiking shoes and luggage that I wouldn’t take on the trip) with the local public transport (bus) to the bike storage facility to meet Velgeir from bikerent.is at the arranged meeting time. The bus system was simple and I could handle everything through a single mobile app (which worked albeit very buggy in English mode) and there was no issue pulling the bike bag onto the bus through the front door. It was time consuming though to travel there by bus and then walk 15 minutes with the big bike bag (and travel in reverse to get back to the hotel) so I had a late start to cycling.

I quickly did a last minute recharge of my phone at the hotel while adjusting the bike bags and double checking my equipment before setting off west. I followed the coast line closely trying to avoid the main road but later I learned this was not the easiest route to take out of Reykjavík. If you look at my return cycle on day 14, it shows a better route that sticks to a cycling path all the way out of Reykjavík.

Most of the coast line was either bicycle paths or suburban roads but at some point I exited Reykjavík and had to join the No. 1 main road. The traffic was heavy and there was almost zero shoulder to cycle on so I was embedded closely with the cars. Most of the drivers were respectful and gave me space but there were several times I had very close shaves and witnessed people happily overtaking from the opposite direction without a concern for me.

Some days later I found that the traffic quiets down as you get further from Reykjavík but I would say it’s vital to anyone planning to cycle on the No. 1 road that they have experience cycling with fast moving traffic without a shoulder. If I had not had past experience, I could imagine being extremely scared to share the road with cars moving at 90km/h. The key thing is to be predictable, to keep control of your bike and maintain a straight direction, and to not worry about the cars whizzing by.

After some hours enduring the traffic, I reached a milestone where the No. 1 road enters a tunnel that bikes are forbidden to ride through. I was forced to detour on the No. 47 road that stretched the long way around a fjord which may seem at first to be a curse but is actually a blessing.

The No. 47 road was peaceful and quiet with almost no traffic, a welcome change from the No. 1 road. It was very scenic with the fjord views and there is a hidden treat here with the Hvammsvik Nature resort & Hot Springs secreted away on the fjord coastline. This is a real treat that I highly recommend. It’s not so populated with tourists so it’s a very peaceful enjoyable thermal bath experience. I lost some hours here soaking in the fjord views while literally soaking in hot water before continuing on with my cycle.

After some hours circling around the fjord, I eventually reconnected to the No. 1 road. The sun was beginning to dim as evening set in, so I turned on my bike lights before joining the cars again. The road had begun to quiet down and I think if you dislike heavy traffic, then cycling later in the day is a viable plan to help avoid it. Since the sun doesn’t set until very late (if at all), you can do some unique cycling timetables here.

I crossed the bridge to Borgarnes to discover a small town with most of the shops and restaurants were already closed up. But there was luckily an N1 service station still open for hot dog dinner. The campsite in Borgarnes wasn’t anything particularly special. It’s next to the main road so not very quiet (traffic is moving all night long) but there’s a beautiful lake view in the mornings and cute neighbourhood cats roaming the area. I met some friendly bikepackers and had a chance to learn what others had packed and planned. An older couple were particularly interesting, with their plan to cycle for over a month and pulling trailers that carried their gear. I got the feeling that most people embarking on cycle tours in Iceland were riding for a longer period (30+ days) and carried significant amounts of gear rather than the slim lean style I had opted for.