Bicycle Touring Iceland
In June of 2019, good friend Duffy and I boarded a plane for Reykjavik. The plan was to spend two weeks bicycle touring Iceland. More specifically, Iceland’s Ring Road.
Iceland’s Ring Road (Route 1) is 1,332 kilometers or 828 miles around the island. Completed in 1974, the Ring Road connects most of the inhabited areas of Iceland and it is a national road. For almost the entire length, the Ring Road has two lanes. We only encountered one unpaved section on our bicycle tour. At least that’s all I can remember.
Cycling along Iceland’s Ring Road is breathtaking. There are snow-capped mountains, volcanoes, glaciers, icebergs, coastlines, high plateaus, and epic waterfalls. Every day of our tour, the Ring Road served up mind-bending scenery. I had a recurring thought of disbelief. Not only was I here, but I was also riding my bicycle. It was surreal.
Below, you will find a group of posts covering our Ring Road bicycle tour. In these posts, I provide a day-to-day recap of our journey. There is also a short video with each post. Each video follows our adventure in order and highlights the more dramatic moments and scenery. We captured the footage either on an iPhone 7 Plus, an iPhone 10, or a DJI Mavic drone.
I had done my homework and knew this would be a challenging tour to complete given the timeframe. I had no idea how tough. In the end, for me, cycling Iceland’s Ring Road is a once in a lifetime adventure. I hope you enjoy the posts.
If you are planning, or have done an Iceland bicycle tour, please don’t hesitate to comment. I would love to hear about it, and I am always happy to answer any questions.
Cycling the Ring Road Blog Posts
Buffer BoeschCycling Iceland’s Ring Road – Part 1
The headwind was relentless. Again we had to push the bikes. I had a profound feeling of hopelessness; completing the Ring Road was starting to seem like an impossible challenge. All I could do was grind forward by putting one foot in front of the other, pushing my bike.
Buffer BoeschCycling Iceland’s Ring Road – Part 2
We headed down the valley directly into the rain. It didn’t take long before I was thoroughly soaked. The numbness in my fingers and toes caused me some concern, but I pushed on. I diligently watched for ice forming on the road. I saw none, so assumed I couldn’t be at risk for frostbite. I pushed on ignoring the pain.
Buffer BoeschCycling Iceland’s Ring Road – Part 3
Later that afternoon, I cycled across an incredible 20 miles of crushed lava. I was on a glacial plain. It was the most alien of all the landscapes I had seen in Iceland. It was super beautiful and desolote, and I was having the time of my life.
Buffer BoeschIceland’s Ring Road Cycling Guide
Cycling Iceland’s Ring Road for me was extremely tough physically and mentally. Every day was an absolute soul-sucking struggle until the end. It took everything I had to finish in 14 days. Here are the things I wish I knew before starting my trip.
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