Day 2... Flowing like Lava

 Day 2 began like  Day 1 ended... with the wind rattling my tent! I'm not going to complain too much about the headwind... just assume that it is there and making my life hard!

Before I start todays blog, I must just mention an incident yesterday that I forgot to write about.  I was heading into the headwind for what seemed like forever and was just thinking about stopping and having a drink of water. I slowed to a stop at the side of the road... as I did so, a car coming the opposite way slowed down, the driver rolled down the window and asked. me where I was from, no doubt wondering where anyone so CraZy could be from. I replied and asked him where he was from. Iceland was the reply. He asked something else but I couldn't hear from my side of the road so scooted over. He asked where I was heading so I told him... he then leaned over to his back seat, grabbed a bottle of coke. and handed it to me waving away my query about money. With a 'have a good day', he drove off leaving me astounded once again at the kindness of strangers and my good fortune to be given a drink, just when I was needing one! 

Back to today! 

I finished my blog... unwilling to jump straight out of my tent in the morning... knowing that today would be just as leg sapping as yesterday. The headwind has halved my speed and slowed me down to such an extent that I am conjuring up plan b and c in case it doesn't improve. It never hurts to have alternative plans... especially when this ride is for my general enjoyment rather than sponsorship.

That said my enjoyment often is proportional to the amount. of suffering, certainly to a point. If I get to somewhere having toiled and sweated then that effort means I appreciate the sight more. It's not as. much fun going downhill if you haven't sweated up it first! At least in my world, which yes... it is a little strange.

Packing up my MSR tent is a joy because it packs away so quickly and easily.. there is no struggle to get it into the bag... it just slips in with room to spare. The rest of my kit was stowed away on my bike pretty quickly... over the years, packing up has become second nature and is completed with little fuss.  It was is without a doubt the best tent I have owned.

The sleeping bag from  Alpkit and the Klymit V matt are similarly easy to pack away and keep me pretty warm and comfy in my tent. Neither weigh much and pack down small. Again, very good bits of kit.

And so bags packed, water bottles refilled, I set off once again into the headwind. The road followed the coast and there was very soon just me, the road and rock.... and very soon a steep climb. Whilst yesterday was not 'totally flat' as Garth suggested in one of his. comments🤣, it was flatter than this mornings road which wound up over the rugged hills. It helped that I had a little protection from the elements but given the gradient it did not feel any easier.

My first stop today was the lava fields of the recently spewing volcano, which happened to be right on my route. I had downloaded gps tracks for the walk to the lava and the  crater but I was aware that I would have to balance the sightseeing of stuff I may never see again and time.  

I rolled up to the carpark, whistfully looked at the closed food van(not much breakfast again) and headed over to the ranger hut. I asked if I could leave my bike with them and gratefully stowed it round the corner behind their hut. With that I set off for a walk, my arse feeling pretty happy that it wasn't on the bike saddle.. more about that in a bit!

The route was well marked, and there was no need for the gps track I had downloaded.  It was an easy stroll really and as I walked along, the sun came out lighting up the valley and the surrounding peaks. It was nice to be walking and getting a break from the wind howling in my ears... it never seems as bad when walking. Pretty soon, I walked up a slope where others had congregated at the top... as I took the last step up, I almost drew in breath at the sight for flowing down the side of the volcano. was a black stream of lava,  down it tumbled until it came to a stop just below where we were standing. In places you could see steam billowing out, a reminder that below the upper crust of the cooled flow was a very hot core. It was an astonishing sight. 

Of course I had to get closer and scrambled down to the lava... I reached out a hand and felt the rock at the very edge of the flow.. not warm even. You could see folds and where it had flowed by the shapes it had cooled into and it was fascinating to see up close. Of course I picked up a little bit but stayed away from bigger rocks that I would have to carry on my bike the rest of the holiday. I walked round to the other side of the flow where there was more steam rising and traced along the edge towards its beginning. I could feel warmth eminating from the depths the further I got round.  I did resist climbing fully on the lava as it wouldn't take more than a slip down a hot hole with steam rising to get burnt badly. 

I turned round slightly reluctantly and made my way back... I did consider going up to the crater but 2 guys on their way back. from there said that it was pretty much the same. as. the lava flow and given that a round. trip would take 3 hours and a lot of energy, I decided I had seen the best bit anyway. and headed back to my bike for some downhill. 

Peddling downhill is always disappointing... one feels you should get some. reward for your toil. Still downhill better than up! 

I pottered along, the landscape dominated by the ridge of rock on my left and the sea on my right. I was hugging the coast as it wound its way round and up and down. 

The thing that was starting to concern me now was the lack of any running water, I had seen no streams or rivers at all. Im guessing because of the time of year bit still... in a land that was supposed to be full of them, I hadn't seen one! 

As I went onwards, the landscape changed ever so subtly... there was more grass! And then out of nowhere a sheep or two! First sign of animals I had really seen. With the sheep. came the first stream, though not one I would fill my bottles up from, but it was a promising sight. 

The ridge had retreated further away to my left leaving some greener pastures and on my right I could see the sea crashing against the black rocks. Black sand dunes appeared on the horizon and more birds. I saw some birds of prey soaring up above but they were too high to get a photo. I saw some birds woth curved beaks and the arctic terns began to create a noise as I crawled past. 

By now, I was knackered. The legs weren't too bad, but my arse really hurt, to the point where sitting in the saddle felt like fire burning. Never good. The sun came out and the wind died down a bit for the last 5 miles at last having pity on me. 

In Iceland the towns are so low lying that you can't see them until you are on top of them. So it was the case today, knowing I was close but not seeing it at all. Then on my right a smooth tarmac bike path appeared, which I took. just to see what it was like, as there was no busy road to avoid. It pulled me into town, which I finally spotted just as I entered it and I made my way to find food, both supplies and evening meal as I was too knackered to heat up the stove. Only. one of the 3 restaurants was open so I plonked myself down and ordered sweet and sour pork and veg... It was nice but not £20 nice! Won't be doing that again! 

I then stocked up on essentials, found some. noodles for the highlands and made my way to the campsite. 

It had been a hard day again, battling with the wind but hopefully that will improve tomorrow. Im going a lot slower than I thought I would so might have to re jig plans. 

Im. once again finishing this blog in the morning so its now time to pack up and head out. Don't say it out loud but my tent is not being rattled by the wind so fingers crossed for a better day!