Iceland Adventure to the Westfjords.

So this was the night I suggested Tom and Liam do the route we were all to do the following day, I've ridden it several times and thought it would be more of an adventure for them to go without me.

Well, they did have their own adventure

Smug said:

What a great adventure!

Such a variety of terrain and trails. Such beautiful scenery.

I even got to like my bike by the end of the holiday which was a bit of a surprise because I hated it at the beginning.

You scored ten out of ten Tim.

One night Liam and I set off on the following day's route in the opposite direction to get a good view of a promising sunset. Trouble was that Liam had a rear trye puncture just after the sunset and a long way from home (our campsite). To make things more interesting he had no tools or tubes with him and had a Tubliss setup. The screw that caused the punture had gone straight through the middle of a knobbly block, through the Tubliss carcase and into the inner Tubliss tube.

Luckily I had tools and a tube with me but had not come across the Tubliss setup before. Well we struggled big time to get the Tubliss bits out and realised a few days later that we should have removed the tyre completely and then taken the tubliss parts out. Anyway eventually we got my new tube in but unfortunately we now did not have a rim clamp because the Tubliss setup had previously performed that function. We put some gaffer tape over the rim clamp hole and pumped it up and got on our way.

Was an exciting ride back along the cliff edge in the dark as it gets light of Westfjords. Eventually we rocked back into camp at 3.30 in the morning.

Liam suggested a Jameson's to celebrate our return. Not being a drinker it went straight to my head of course. From nowhere Liam the Leprechaun rustled up some miniature bagpipes and suggested that Joe Harvey would surely like to hear him play.

Hence the video of Liam the Leprechaun serenading Joe Harvey. I think he was impressed!

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The following morning in brilliant sunshine, we're all raring to go, strangely Liam has a hangover

In good weather this can be one of the more spectacular routes in Iceland, certainly one of my favourites which even has a few stream crossings.







Dropping down to the beach section.













'Toddy the rather less Terrified'

I'd mentioned to take care on the far side of the peninsular, Jon (Jo Narvey) was showing a little concern with his big GS.

I soon reassured him that if he was carrying a parachute, then now may be a good time to unpack it.

Everyone rode it brilliantly

Here's Geoff's awesome 'Big Bore' KTM known as Knut.



Jon's Big GS, which if it were mine would named similar to Geoff's.....



My sweetheart.

After a great lunch stop in town, I take Geoff, Tom, Liam and ......Toddy up to one of my favourite viewpoints.



There's a particularly steep tricky uphill section on the way back, Toddy asks which gear to use ...... we're all tempted to say 3rd!

On the way down we pause to look at the view and importantly the valley and mountain we're going to cross to get us back to our campsite without using the main dirt road.

'Toddy the Intrepid' decides he wants fuel in town and not to join us on this last trail of the day but to head back to camp, perhaps he has need of his colonic irrigator.....he says it's a water filter but....

Us four head over this lovely trail.



We need to get over that col.



At the top we find the track in good condition with hoof prints the only sign of others passing this way recently.



We spent some time up there enjoying the views, the quiet and the company......no, not in that kind of way!



The following morning during a 5am pee, the sky is pure blue and there's ice on my tent.

An hour or so later we're woken again by every campers dream, the soft patter of rain.......

Absolutely brilliant pics Tim.

Loving it Tim

Coffee at the lovely old town of Flateyri, where I felt flattered....as soon as I pulled up the beautiful Icelancic woman began talking to....an old man with a grey beard....oh if only I were 10 years, erm 20, 30 dam 40 years younger




A little further we call in to Isafjordur for supplies before heading east......a few miles past the great burger diner in Sudavik........

Then the 'tyre issue'!!

It's a big crash, the bike's repaired, Liam checked out and although injured nothing's broken so courageously presses on to our next camp where Jon began his role as super hero in looking after him

They have beer in a fridge sold by a biker, I ask which one he would drink ..... I wake with a hangover.

Overhead, Arctic Terns see off a 'predator'!

The 'Tyre Issue' came as a bit of a shocker and I was lucky to get away with so little damage.

Still had Tubliss on front wheel, no issues - Was Running with Tom's tube in rear (from midnight ride where I left tools/spares in campsite).
I was checking the rear pressure every stop in as it was low when starting out in morning- valve was a tad loose, so presuming that was the issue and would be OK when I tightened it up.

26psi cold, rising to 28psi warm - and holding - happy with that..

Cracking on around 55/60mph on tar road, (Tim & Bryon really cracking on and half a mile ahead) the tube in rear tyre let go -
- didn't see it, but reliably informed the valve stem was sheared- no rim-lock didn't help, but at high pressure in theory should have been ok.. who knows.

Managed to scrub off some speed before losing control and hitting the deck.
Second time in my life I've hid the tarmac at speed, 1st time was 40 years ago.. anyway, that's another story.

It's true that everything 'slows down' - in the time it took to slide/grind to a halt, I had Gary Moore enquring 'is this the end?' - also time for a quick Hail Mary and a Decade of the Rosary.

When came to a stop on wrong side of road, pretty much knew most things OK, as long as nothing drove over me - could move everything except left ankle which was still under the bike.

Jon/Toddy/Geoff did a great job managing the traffic/ site and getting the bike off me and confirming I wasn't any more dazed & confused than normal.

Tom saved my wedding ring by pointing out I should get if off before the swelling started (as it did very soon afterwards) - I'd backhanded the road on way down.

A local Icelandic couple Jeeped me to hospital back in Isafjordur, a Belgium couple followed on with all my gear and of course I made sure I had the only keys to the bike.

Being near 4pm (closing time for the hospital) , a quick X-Ray, a quicker 68,000K charge and a free cup of coffee later I'm proclaimed one lucky fcker and deemed fit for service.


Well done to Tim/Tom for sorting out the bike / tyre at the scene and Jon/Toddy for delivering the bike to me later.. Toddy, apparently you rode it like you'd just stole it.
Those CCM's bounce real well it seems - no damage, us Paddies - not so well.


Liam C.

SmallFoot said:

Toddy, apparently you rode it like you'd just stole it.

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'Toddy the Tester' said he was going to take it easy riding your bike back to Isafjordur, I joked, no Toddy you're testing the bike to make sure it's safe for Liam, so ride it like you stole it I could see he's taken my words quite literally when he took off

If there was a funny side to it, he found your bike much better than his own despite fitting a Power wotsit (ruining his fuel consumption) and that god awful exhaust.

Cracking piccies & write up as usual..

A plan was hatched after evaluating the extent of Liam's ankle injury, Jon would stay with him a while (soon to be joined by one other) intending to all meet up in a few days, luckily the campsite also had a hotel.

The manager couldn't have been more helpful, I'd met him twice before and also an avid 'offroader' using his truck, bikes and bikes converted to run with a track for snow, he showed me some his more secret routes although many impossible for us.

Here's his truck from 3 years ago.



We take a seldom used trail which luckily for us still has a bridge.



Steeper than the photo shows, more tricky in places.



Geoff looking a little camera shy.



The weather deteriorates drastically as we begin to head north following the coast into a remote but interesting area.
After fuel and coffee we're battered by wind and rain followed by thick mist whenever we climb much over 500ft.

Horrible and wet.



Eventually we reach Dupavik Hotel for free coffee, Ange and I only got this far last year due to bad weather before turning back.

We enter this lovely old building dripping wet, sprayed with mud, as I pull my helmet off an attractive woman approaches and says "Are you Tim?" ......... it's a long story, sadly not as sordid as we'd all like to think

Coffee moves onto cake and we're still adamant we'll press on to our camp much further north.

The attractive lady called Idunn, has phoned ahead she gives us our options:

1. There is a place in the north you can stay inside using your sleeping bags.
2. You can stay here in the hotel and you can have 30% discount.
3. Or you can sleep in a wet tent!!!!

Cake turns into dinner, the wind and rain continue outside, we can't even see the other side of the fjord, I know the weather will improve tomorrow but Geoff's weather radar app confirms it's going to be a foul night.

Finally and reluctantly dinner turns into a most comfortable room each for the night.

Idunn smiles triumphantly, she must be a woman who knows what's best for a man.........

A relieved Toddy buys a bottle of wine and Geoff's initial reluctance to stay has been forgotten.

SmallFoot said:

a quicker 68,000K charge

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Five thousand and eight hundred quid ? ?

Tarka said:

Five thousand and eight hundred quid ? ?

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You might want to check your maths, £488
Should get that back from travel insurance

Timolgra said:

You might want to check your maths, £488
Should get that back from travel insurance

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Thought it sounded expensive, but that's what the Bing converter came up with....on rechecking, that was in Swedish Krona, not Icelandic Krona.

But.. If I had my E111 card on me it would have been £0 - Eu regulations apply, what with the Uilleann pipes - something had to give.
Tom would have preferred if I brought another tube I'm sure - reminds me, Tom I'll get a replacement to you on bike pickup day.

.....

mspenz said:

I'm reading this and pissing myself about the Liam/Joe narvey piping moment, classic , nice one Liam.
I play an Overton whistle and a mate plays the Scottish small pipes but I'd never have thought of carrying something like that on a trip, maybe I will now

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Couldn't get the cello in, so took chanter, practice bag and bellows just in case I had to find myself and God knows I need the practice - packed down surprisingly well - nice whistles those Overtons, hard to come by - Tim is an accomplished fiddler (in the musical sense) by all accounts, maybe an off-piste ceilidh band in the making.

SmallFoot said:

Couldn't get the cello in, so took chanter, practice bag and bellows just in case I had to find myself and God knows I need the practice - packed down surprisingly well - nice whistles those Overtons, hard to come by - Tim is an accomplished fiddler (in the musical sense) by all accounts, maybe an off-piste ceilidh band in the making.

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And as I went home on Tuesday night as drunk as drunk could be
I woke to a piper and dancing Smug where my old bike should be, Will you kindly tell to me, Who owns those pipes, those dancing legs and why is it half past 3?

Ah, you're drunk,
you're drunk you silly old fool,
still you can not see

That's a biking legend named Smug that rode along with me
Well, it's many a day I've travelled a 60 miles or more
But Rim lock on a tubliss sure I never saw before