Saturday 31st July 2021 was a long-anticipated date on our diaries; the beginning of our first overseas holiday together in 18 months. Most of our friends would not consider this to be a holiday, as our goal was to complete a test pilot of the Rat Race Iceland Coast to Coast challenge. We were the guinea pigs who would spend five days travelling 450km from Blonduos in the north to Vik in the south by mountain bike, pack raft and on foot.
After juggling the ever-changing Covid-19 requirements and surviving a very early alarm, we successfully navigated a relatively peaceful Heathrow and enjoyed a comfortable flight to Reykjavik.
Fortunately, we had decided to spend the weekend in Reykjavik ahead of our challenge, which gave our airline time to locate and deliver our mountain bikes, which had not arrived with us. As a result, our first 24 hours were a little more stressful than expected ☹
The eery morning mist soon cleared and we spent a balmy day walking around the small city centre and soaking up the atmosphere. American tourists and electric scooters were omnipresent with locals opting to leave the city in their 4x4s on this bank holiday weekend.
The next day brought rain so an excuse to watch some of the Olympics. When the rain eased, we took the opportunity to become acquainted with Icelandic art. A 1,880Kr (£11/$15) ticket gave 24-hour access to three very different Reykjavik art museums. Our first stop was at an artist’s house with Botero influenced sculptures and another house that had been constructed to enjoy reflected sunbeams throughout the day. Next, a more earthy experience of paintings and sculptures using natural stone and comical giant and troll jewellery. Finally, a take on modern art included a glass of water on display, which gave us the giggles and we had to quickly vacate the museum.
We gained some last-minute calories by lunching on hot dogs, which are almost the Icelandic national dish. Sheep outnumber humans by nearly two to one, so they’re made mostly from lamb. They taste wonderful when topped with raw and fried onions and a sweet mustard. Dinner was at Ban Thai, which proudly claims 30 years of the same owners and location. The food was authentic and a 3 out of 5 chilli rating was already very spicy.
The following day we met our local guides, David and Keli, and the Rat Race gang – CEO and founder Jim, expeditions manager Abi, operations manager Rob and his wife Liz. We packed up our gear and drove up to Blonduos, 250km away. After preparing for an early start we wandered around the tiny town whose sights consisted of the sea, some Icelandic ponies, a handful of restored traditional buildings and guesthouses and a very friendly cat.
Day 1 involved a 120km gravel ride with gradual climbs along mostly gravel tracks. It started damp and grey, but our legs were fresh as we raced multicoloured Icelandic ponies and trios of sheep. As the skies cleared later, we had wonderful views over lakes towards the icecap. Our final climb opened up the landscape and brought us in sight of the geothermal pools at Hveravellir. After a delicious dinner of bacalao and skyr cake at the hostel, we lazed in the hot pools and watched the light slowly fade.
Day 2 was more technical and hillier as we continued south on our bikes. We covered 64km and climbed 900m from Hveravellir to Setrid, across a lunar like landscape of rich dark soil scattered with rocks belched out of a volcano. We had a large but basic cabin to ourselves tonight and Keli cooked up a fabulous dinner of fresh salmon.
Day 3 started with a short 22km ride down to the Thjorsa river, including a thigh deep crossing of one of its tributaries. The sun blazed down on us as we climbed into our dry suits. The fresh glacial water was a mere 4 centigrade. We pumped up our Kokopelli Recon self-bailing pack rafts (amazing piece of kit) and were guided by our Indian and Spanish river guides down the second only ever descent of this part of the river. The 27km navigating rapids, rocks and shallow water was akin to a fairground ride, lots of fun. Not quite so fun was the subsequent two-hour hike to the closest vehicle access point, still wearing the dry suits and with 10kg of deflated rafts and kit straddled over our backs. We laughed at how much we looked and moved like tortoises. We reached our accommodation at 11pm, and our aches and tiredness were temporarily alleviated when Keli dished up a delicious meal of lamb, potatoes and salad.
After too little sleep, day 4 was an even bigger bike day comprising 100km of very steep, rocky hills and a total elevation was more than 1,500m. We were treated to yet more incredible 360-degree views with ever changing landscapes, terrain and vegetation. The contrasts between the black rock, white snow and bright green moss were stunning. We picked up the Laugavegur trail in the afternoon which took us to the Emstrur-Botnar Hut. This was our first, and only, shared cabin and our evening meal of chilli and rice generated envious glances from others who had only dehydrated meals to tuck into.
Day 5 was our chance to shine on foot. For 10 hours, we continued along the Laugavegur trek part running/ part hiking for 44km up 1,500m. We crossed snow covered craters and ice-cold rivers and walked up and down fertile beech and moss-covered valleys with the most spectacular waterfalls. We had a wonderful greeting from David and Keli at the top of Skogafoss waterfall, one of the highest in Iceland, which was quickly followed by a cold craft beer at the bottom.
The dinner at Guesthouse Kverna, an old boarding school, wasn’t the same quality as Keli’s cooking, but the fish pie was most welcome and washed down by our duty-free red wine.
But the challenge was not quite over. Another early start on day 6 had us back on our bikes for a gentle 16km asphalt ride to Solheimasandur plane wreck on the southern coast. We celebrated the end of our journey with hugs and photos, accompanied by the Justin Bieber tune ‘I’ll show you’, which was filmed in Iceland.
From there it was back to Reykjavik where we dismantled our bikes, passed our covid tests, ate fish and chips and rested a little before a well-deserved blow out meat and red wine fest, followed by extra burgers for those who were still hungry! The rest of the team had about 4 hours sleep before leaving for the airport, but we had the luxury of a lie in and one more summer’s day in Reykjavik, stretching our legs and replenishing our lost calories.
For more photos of this beautiful island, go to https://www.flickr.com/people/vickybruce/
