Now I've mentioned the negative parts of the last days.
Since last post, I have passed what are probably the most boring part of the whole circle, that is Mýrdalssandur and Skeiðarársandur. This is about 140 km of desert and steppes, and the last 70 km went through the most affected areas after the eruption last month. At distance, the fields looked green and fine, but at a closer look I could see the thick layer of ash. Luckily for me most of the ash was wet, but at some places it had dryed in the wind and started blowing around. I had no problems with breathing, but the ash got stuck in the oil in my chain and made it a disgusting jam of ash and oil.
The worst thing about these plains, however, was that I didn't take it as easy as I should. Because of the freezing headwind I wanted to get as fast as I could to my destination, and so I skipped taking brakes. A little too many hours in a row for a butt that had a little too few hours of practice resulted in a little too painful wound. And voilà, I
got what I tried to avoid.
The plan for yesterday was to camp near by Jökulsárlón, but the dream of hot dinner made me continue for another 13 kms, and I certainly got my reward for that. By a coincidence I stumbled upon Gerði Guesthouse where I could camp outside and use all the facilities of the guesthouse - a nice bathroom, living room, wifi and last but not least, the dinner, wich was amazingly good!
At the dinner, I was invited to sit with a very friendly and cozy couple from Boston. What a privilige to get to travel and meet such fine people. They even partly paid my dinner! If you read this - Thank you so much!
So today, june 21. Because of the above mentioned rear-problems (in spite of vaseline and baby powder) I decided to have another day off. This means I cannot reach Egilsstaðir before the others come without taking bus parts of the way. So I already today got on a bus to Höfn, and I'm probably going to stay here one more day before bicycling or taking the bus further east. Time will show how I solve it! Anyway, I have come to the conclusion that it's better to take bus past the boring parts and have better time for the exciting parts of the route.
Since last post, I have passed what are probably the most boring part of the whole circle, that is Mýrdalssandur and Skeiðarársandur. This is about 140 km of desert and steppes, and the last 70 km went through the most affected areas after the eruption last month. At distance, the fields looked green and fine, but at a closer look I could see the thick layer of ash. Luckily for me most of the ash was wet, but at some places it had dryed in the wind and started blowing around. I had no problems with breathing, but the ash got stuck in the oil in my chain and made it a disgusting jam of ash and oil.
The worst thing about these plains, however, was that I didn't take it as easy as I should. Because of the freezing headwind I wanted to get as fast as I could to my destination, and so I skipped taking brakes. A little too many hours in a row for a butt that had a little too few hours of practice resulted in a little too painful wound. And voilà, I
got what I tried to avoid.
The plan for yesterday was to camp near by Jökulsárlón, but the dream of hot dinner made me continue for another 13 kms, and I certainly got my reward for that. By a coincidence I stumbled upon Gerði Guesthouse where I could camp outside and use all the facilities of the guesthouse - a nice bathroom, living room, wifi and last but not least, the dinner, wich was amazingly good!
At the dinner, I was invited to sit with a very friendly and cozy couple from Boston. What a privilige to get to travel and meet such fine people. They even partly paid my dinner! If you read this - Thank you so much!
So today, june 21. Because of the above mentioned rear-problems (in spite of vaseline and baby powder) I decided to have another day off. This means I cannot reach Egilsstaðir before the others come without taking bus parts of the way. So I already today got on a bus to Höfn, and I'm probably going to stay here one more day before bicycling or taking the bus further east. Time will show how I solve it! Anyway, I have come to the conclusion that it's better to take bus past the boring parts and have better time for the exciting parts of the route.