Day 10 - 11: Myvatn to Akureyri

Miles: 65.96

I rode alone today.

Holly was too sick to ride and said she'd take the bus to Akureyri. We first went to the hot springs to bathe and to decompose. It was just as good as the Blue Lagoon but more than half the cost. After that we parted ways. I had a mostly downhill ride. Saw a coolo foss and then made the climb because that new tunnel doesn't allow bikers. I hate when they ruin everything like that. What harm is there to add a bike lane?

Oh well, we're staying here for two days to enjoy and observe the Sabbath Day. This town has a house of worship in it which is much needed, 

Here's our campsite.

This foss is so huge. Puts Niagara to shame huh?

I love the looming mountains. The lake effect can't be matched either as you bask in its Glory and Majesty while riding next to it. 

I said goodbye to this valley and hoofed it over the hill.

Wonder what this means in English. I'm still surprised by the amount of Icelandic that is spoken here. How's it not a dead language yet?

My reward for the climb.

"It is glorious and beautiful."

"It is Michael."

Day 9: Guesthouse Skjöldólfsstadir to Myvatn

Miles: 79.38

After yesterday's debacle we were determined to do better. After all, we have to make it to Akureyri for our hostel reservation and Sunday worship by tomorrow. Winds weren't that bad but it did come with a price of rain. So now we're going slow from a headwind and getting wet and cold. Like yesterday, it didn't dampen my moods as much. Maybe it's because I've been engrossed in my audiobooks. Every since we left E-town, Iceland has taken on a different ambiance. It's much more like Mars or the Moon in this part of the country. Grey-brown jagged rocks. Not much vegetation. Even the sheep aren't as prevalent. There were no towns that we passed through all day, which was queer. Thankfully, we found a nice café to dry off and went bankrupt ordering a small bowl or soup with a sandwich. 

We abandoned our plan of staying at this haunted campsite after not getting good vibes from it and high-tailed it down to Myvatn. I made a brief detour to see where a scene from the movie, Oblivion, was filmed.

Holly and I love to see the swans out in nature. Especially when they have a squad with them.

Here's that blessing of a café we had a small lunch at.

When are they going to make a camera that captures how our eyes see it? None of my pics do them justice when I post them here.

I like to post pics of my faithful bike just waiting patiently for me to get done peeing by the side of the road.

You may remember this football field from the Oblivion.

It's all that's left of planet earth. Watch

While I was riding it was literally hendykavejuresa. There's an old fable in Paraguay that I'll share with yo. A long time ago, an older caballero was mounting his horse. This gentleman was rather wealthy you see. For in his pockets were stashes of gold coins. As he swung his leg up over the horse, the weight of the gold coins caused them to spill out of his pockets and pile on to the ground. The gold was so glittery that it sparkled in the horses eye. Hendukavejuresa. In guarani that means the horses eye is shiny. translating to I'm poor because all my money fell out of my pocket. My eye glittered like the horse when I saw all these gold krona's on the side of the road. 
To quote Ben Affleck's Batman, "I'm rich".

Right before town we sawl this coolo geothermal activity.

I wondered what it'd be like to push someone in these mud pits. Would their face and head melt right off?

We need more of these in the world. 

Day 8: E-town to Guesthouse Skjöldólfsstadir

Miles: 32.1

Do you ever just hate everything? I hate when plans don't get met. And today I can thank the fiercest headwinds for that. Cut down our route by 50% or more.

But we prevailed.

"Still tired of being the fat guy, though." (Heavyweights. Got it.)

In other news, I've been reading a book each day during my rides, and I love it. Makes up for all the lost time reading during the school year since I can't listen to audiobooks while teaching, unfortunately. I have a lot of books on my libraries holding list that I've been finally whittling away at.

And our friend, Lisa, that we met in Hofn has been with us for three days now. It's nice having a 3rd party companion. But today we got separated in the winds so this may be the last time we all ride together.

First time seeing a proper colored sunset here in Iceland. Usually it's just cloudy. And this was at 1AM. 

Impending doom looming ahead.

The fosses are glazed over with sand.

This is how we rode while pushing our bikes for hours. Surprisingly, I wasn't that miserable as I thought I'd be.

We got some triple foss action going on here. 

You can see how strong the winds are in this pic. Look at the grass.

Well it's the end of the day. I'm worn out. and disappointed. 

But we did manage to hitchhike to this coolo gorge, which helped because it was out of the way so we don't have to make up this section since it was off route 1.

A guy flew his drone down it and I watched it all on his screen. Looked all rich. 

Since I minored in Geology I was teaching HQC all about these rock formations. She suggested that I get a Master's degree in Geology. Now I'm thunking like a monk.

If you looked down through the grates it was kinda scary. 

I'm in my element. This is my sanctuary. 

Day 7: D-town to E-town

Miles: 52.96

When you're traveling by bicycle across the country the weather isn't those cringe worthy topics to make you pass the time as the bank teller is ringing you up. Today I was expecting a fine tailwind. And to quote Bob Barker,  "That was not [a fine tailwind]." We  had some steep dirt roads, too, which went smoothly with the tailwinds. I got lost in the Stranger Things prequel audiobook that I enjoyed today. Plus all the many fosses we found as we climbed out of the canyon was well worth it. however, there was a lot of traffic along route 939.

Can't beat these fine sunny mornings!

This is HQCH's road because she's the Ox!
Look at that grade. Man was it tough to push the bikes.

Slowly making our way up.

My mission companion, Decker, said he loves this waterfall that I posted a pic of on IG.

Each side had another waterfall every couple thousand of feet. It was all neat. 

This one was tough to go up. I came back down to help Holly because I'm that kind of guy.

First one to spot Holly, wins.

Now we're getting above the valley, finally. I love the layers of Igneous rock here on the central and right side. 

These purple flowers are the best. They're kinda like lilacs but not at the same time.

We each devoured our own peaksa. Then Holly made pancakes for us back at the campsite. She said in England they add ice cream to their pancakes so I tried that and it was all good. Yet, somehow she still has the nerve to tease us Americans about putting Maple Syrup on them. Cheeky girl.

So I put her to sleep for that.

Day 6: Hofn to D-town

Miles: 81

Like I said before, these Icelandic names are harder to pronounce than Japanese names. Lately we've been calling the towns by their first letter. You can use the map on the left that I update along with this blog to find out exactly where we're at. (Mobile browsers switch to view web version at the bottom of the page to see all the other features like the map.) 

We pass by many cyclists during the day doing cross country tours like we are doing. Today we made a friend that is going the same direction and roughly the same destinations each night! The extra companionship is fun. We'll see how long we stay together for.

Lots of first today: First time using our camping stove. Most of the campgrounds have kitchens we can use.

Love the quiet mornings with the bright sun. Weather has been much better than expected. 

Another first: The tunnel. There's one towards the end that we're not allowed to bike through. I was glad we were able to ride through this one.

In Japan we rode through 1000's of tunnels and it was the best. 

We're starting to see some Misty Mountains now. Weird being a sea-level,

I stopped to go pee and Holly kept riding. When I caught up to her I saw her with 6-8 horses taking some pics. Then these two came up to me and we started to pet them.

Don't like they different than the horses in your area?

Around this part of the bay we saw several hundred swans just hanging out in the ocean. The Quay and I have an affinity for swans. 

We were a sleeeeeeeeeeeeepy mushroom during lunch. Bottom left is Lisa, our fellow companion. 

Can't beat riding along the ocean!

The 35 year-old in me would have enjoyed pushing a rock from the top of the hill on the right and watch it gain speed and see if it can cause an avalanche and bury the road.

There's plenty more like this along the eastern side of Iceland.

I love these signs they have of welcoming people to the town. Then as your leaving town it has a big red slash through it. 

The view from our camp tonight!

Not pictured are the public swimming pool and spa where we decomposed and thawed out because it was pretty chilly today.