Sunday July 10th - We have finished biking Kjöl

Our biking from Hveravellir to highway 1 was fantastic. I will write more tomorrow. We have been transferd to Bardardalur where we will start our journey back south accross Sprengisand.

Saturday 9th – a day of difficulties

We started our morning with minor repairs and were on our bikes at 11. The wind was blowing strongly in our face and the road was very bat. We had many difficult hills to climb and the road surface was very rough.  Many of the hills were simply not bikable so we had to walk up with our bikes. We made slow progress and the dust was bad when trucks and cars past us. Through the course of the day we however crossed the water divide of Iceland. At one point in time the rivers were flowing to the south and then they were flowing to the north. We also crossed the half way point of this road. To add on to all this were mechanical problems. Gudjons seat came loose and the bracket on the back of my bike (where I hook on the bags) came loose and I lost the screw. I have many loose ones in my had so I was able to replace it but all this took time. I am however very pleased with how will the bikes are standing up to this wear and tear. The statistics for the trip is as follows: We were moving for 6 h and 43 m and stopped for 2h and 15m. Max sped was 27 km/h but the moving average was 6,9 km/h but the overall average was 5,2 km/h. Our max elevation was 704 m.a.s.l. and our total ascent was 753 m which shows how hilly the terrain was that we travelled through. These are the worst roads that I have ever biked.

Friday July 8th - The first day a good success

Friday July 8^th  - The first day a good success

We had a later start on the day than planned and departed on our bikes from Gullfoss at 12:20 instead of 9:00 AM as originally intended. The weather was very good clods at the beginning but it cleared up as the day progressed. The wind was against us but it was not strong so it did not play a role. The first 15 km were paved but we were in for a shock when we entered the gravel road or should I say the sand road. For some reason the Road Authorities had used sand to fill the potholes a very futile process since the wind blows it away in a matter of days. There was no way we could cycle in this material. I saw a look of despair in my sons face. Is this what awaits us? Fortunately the part was only 3-4 km after that the road became harder but pretty rough. Then the obstacle of the day – Bláfellsháls. We had to climb 313 meters over this mountain pass but the road was excellent and the weather good. The road was good all the way to Hvítá river but the last 15 km were on rough roads. The statistics for the day are: we biked 43,95 km in 4 hours and 40 minutes which gives the average speed of 9,3 km/h. We rested for 1 hour and 25 minutes and our maximum speed was 33,8 km/h. Greatest elevation was 620 m.a.s.l and our total ascent was 581 m.