May 2: Day 5, Akureyki to Skútustaðir
Another three round breakfast buffet this morning, which is my favourite way to start the day. Cooked breakfast, cereal, and pastries. Unfortunately the fridge in my room didn't actually keep my lunch sandwiches cold! They were room temperature this morning and I don't know if they're safe to eat - so I'm motivated to make the most of breakfast.
Repack the panniers, repack the bike, check tyres and brakes and cables, activate the GPS, the camera, and start navigation. Delete the rogue waypoint which I overlooked last night. Over the road, onto a bikepath - it's recent, and good asphalt. There's not much wind, there's a lot of blue sky, the cold isn't a problem while I'm moving, so this is looking like a very good day.
The route runs beside the road on a causeway across the bay. The bikepath ends partway across with a loop so you can turn around, but a lot of bikes before me chose freedom and I follow their tracks. On the far side of the causeway there's another bikepath, separate from the road and so near I wonder if it's actually a walking track? It has sculpted wooden sticks at regularly intervals: they don't look like they're supposed to be people but I can't figure out what they are supposed to be.
There's a roundabout at the top and Komoot announces "Take the first exit". This is not a good idea: there's a big sign on that road announcing that bicycles aren't allowed, because that road leads to a 7.5km tunnel with a toll.
Turns out that it's a misunderstanding about where to start counting roundabout exits; this happens regularly. My actual route is on the old road which takes the long way around, it goes 25km and meets up at the other end of the tunnel. Some great views of Akureyri, and the sea.
The peak is 340m high, there’s enough snow to be interesting but it’s not so cold it’s unpleasant. But it’s still cold, and I'm happy to get back down where it's warmer.
From left to right: on the causeway. The pathside stick that most looked like a man. No bikes, 7.5km tunnel. Nice day for a photo. Iceland can’t help but look unreal. I don’t think I even noticed the cloud at the time and it is spectacular.
I pass Vaglaskógur, which is one of the largest forests in the country, and has been protected since 1908. Hálsskógur was another forest to the north which did not have protection, it was destroyed through grazing and logging.
At about midday I spot an iron truss bridge for walkers, and on a whim I find a way down to it so I can cross it. It's going over a river with a great view of a waterfall, so I stop for a few pictures. On the other side is a cafe! I could do with a drink and something to eat that isn't a high-risk sandwich. So I pull in, lock up the bike next to a freaky mannequin and the prices for coffees and muffins is so low I get one of each.
The waterfall is Goðafoss waterfall, which was on my route notes for today - but it didn't appear in the route app so I nearly missed it. I need to fix that because there's many more things like this coming up in east and south Iceland, and I don't want to miss them.
From left to right: Goðafoss waterfall, same photo as everyone else. The bridge I detoured for. Frozen Masvatn lake. A pseudo-crater. Out of season warning sign. More iceland.
Next stop was Masvatn lake, which was still partly frozen. Then on to Myvatn lake, and the place I'm staying tonight. One of the reasons I picked this route is because it’s among a collection of “pseudo craters”: dips which look like volcanic craters. They’re actually formed when an ancient lava flow crossed wetland, and the trapped water was heated up, eventually leading to a superheated steam explosion that made the shape. These pseudo-craters are not common and this site is one of the best examples. But many can be seen on Mars...
Also the ice chase scene from Fast and Furious 8 was filmed here, but there doesn’t seem to be anything to commemorate that.
Today was good! Not cold enough to be a problem little wind, and so much sun I even put on sunscreen. The weather forecast predicts it’ll be like this for the next few days too. I hope it’s right.
