Michael Ho - Personal Website

Day 7 of my Iceland cycling trip. A day spent detouring off the Road 1 to climb up to eat pasta at a scenic valley view before discovering the black sand beaches of the south coast.

Sunday, 30th of July, 2023

I woke up quite late in the morning, taking it slow as the exhaustion of the trip began to creep up on me. My left hand had started to weaken, probably from the pressure on the handlebars compressing the nerves, making it hard to move quick when packing. I bid farewell to my Spanish bikepacker friends and set off around 11am.

The weather was good however and the wind was finally to my back. I detoured off the No. 1 and onto the No. 95 and skipped the tunnels and flat roads in exchange for a mountain climb. At that point, I had become adjusted to cycling uphill and it no longer bothered me anymore. I had regained my motivation and the cycling was becoming fun again.

The No. 95 was quiet and relatively peaceful in terms of traffic. I had to push very hard to climb up certain sections with extremely steep slopes (>10%) but it was worth it to find a beautiful view point next to the rescue hut, named Stefánsbúd. Here I paused to cook up some pasta and enjoyed my lunch with a view.

stefansbud

After lunch, on the other side of the mountain, I was facing strong headwinds again making for a very slow and high effort cycle. I avoided more shortcuts given the poor road quality and cut straight back to the No. 1 road. Finally, I found myself on the south coast of Iceland. Black sand beaches, giant cliffsides, and a relief to be on the final stretch.

When I reconnected back to the No. 1 road, it was already evening and the road was extremely quiet. I found the road quality was superb here and my bike had almost no rolling resistance. The headwind disappeared and I soared along. A relief after so many days fighting headwind and mountainous climbs so far.

cliffs

I had originally planned to make a big push to Djúpivogur, a small town on the coast, but opted instead to detour off to a campsite named Fossardular. This was a great choice as the campsite was really beautiful, nestled at the base of some gigantic cliffs with mysterious pyramid like structures. They felt so huge but the giant steps carved into them made it feel like they were so close to you. The only indicator of the true distance were the clouds hovering alongside them.