2 weeks to go
I worked for an Icelandic company a while back, and one of the people I worked with is still based in Iceland, so we’ve made arrangements to meet up. In the emails he casually mentioned that there’s half a meter of snow on the driveway.
A lot of the cycling advice I’ve seen is “don’t underestimate Icelandic weather”. I’d been looking at historic weather info and the temperature in May is consistently above zero - which means my usual cycling wardrobe would be enough. A half meter of snow is a very different story. Am I underestimating the Icelandic weather?
From left to right: average daily temperature, hourly temperature, wind direction distribution (every direction!) and average wind speed.
Feels like I might be. So I’ve picked up winter gloves, balaclava, leggings, and cycling-shoe insulation. That last one is like a distant relative of an Ugg boot, with weatherproof outer, no sole (so the cycling shoe clips into the pedal like normal), and various straps and velcro and things to keep the water and the cold out. And of course: it comes in black.
Top half is my existing gear: merino base layer, fleece, raincoat. Just the last two are enough to keep me warm on the coldest cold days, so it really should be enough…
I still worry that I’m underestimating the Icelandic weather.
I didn’t have time to figure out a nice new route for this week’s training ride, so I’m going back to the favourite: the 160km loop around Houtribdijk, the near dyke, then back along Almere with its 22km straight run. On a whim I took the turnoff to Marken island, which has a small picturesque village and a nice picturesque lighthouse and a very big park for tourist buses. I rolled in with no plan, kept going to the far end, found the lighthouse. Tried to follow the coastline back but I got blocked by roadworks, and decided to be safe and not sneak through. Also it looked sandy.
From left to right: nice day for a ride. The approach to Marken, bikepath plus canal. Lighthouse; unfortunately backlit. View of Bukdijk. The construction where I turned back. A moment when there were no visible tourists in the village.
This was right by the Bukdijk (52.4757, 5.0995) which is a 2.5km ruler-straight dyke which was intended to connect up with Volendam and form the edge of a new reclaimed island - Markerwaard. But the work was stopped in 1943 and the vision changed and it was never restarted.
So I improvised a route back through the village, and can confirm it is extremely picturesque. It was early-ish on a Sunday early in the tourist season and there were already a few tourists, but so few that I was able to take pictures without any of them in the way. I can imagine that like Venice, the locals leave or hide in the high season.
The wind was a solid 24km/h from the SW, which is a tailwind on the way out, and a headwind on the way back - for both the Marken visit, and the ride as a whole. The Marken island added about an hour, but I’ve gone past that turnoff quite a few times and always wondered what it looked like… I’m glad I went, and especially glad I went before the tourist season.
From left to right: favourite bridge. Selfie on the Houtribdijk. Near Lelystad the bridge was raised. Stopped in Lelystad for a coffee. View of IJburg near the end.
The rest of the ride is just the same as always so there’s nothing new to tell. The Almere run was straight into the headwind, which was still full strength.
I did a half-hearted gear check this morning and everything seems to be there. On to the next tasks on the list: rescue insurance, medical insurance, Iceland eSIMs.
And trying to avoid worrying that I’m underestimating the Icelandic weather.
