Sauðárkrókur to Hofsós (57km): First day of riding! We biked together all day, from Sauðárkrókur across the valley at the base of the fjord, and then inland to our lunch stop at Hólar, where we encountered more sod houses and other interesting features. We drove up the coast to Hofsós, which should have been our stop for the night, but it didn't have a hotel big enough for the group. So instead we went to an outdoor swimming pool and hot tub, and looked at the basalt cliffs, after which Will met us with the van and drove us back to our hotel in Sauðárkrókur. Dinner was a reasonable but random fusion restaurant, followed by some board games back at the hotel.
view to the water in the morning |
milling about: Gina, Bill, and Sarah |
milling about: Dana, Tom, and David |
standing with bike: Scott |
my bike, sadly without kickstand |
down the street in Sauðárkrókur |
mountains and clouds |
looking at our cue sheets one last time... |
rolling... |
rolling... |
rolling... |
and away! |
Tom and David underway |
mountain and shadow |
our road, for a little while |
the group, riding route 75 across the bottom of the fjord |
mountains and clouds |
looking across the water |
road across the water |
an island in the fjord |
Bill, Gina, and David encounter a hill |
mountain at the water edge, in light and shadow |
looking back to the west |
mountains and snow |
Scott is taking a picture too |
Bill and Scott enjoying the view |
Joe is clearly not in this photo |
water and mountains |
steppes and mountains |
a horse by the road |
the road, winding |
field, mountains, water, clouds |
a farm on a hill |
also more mountains |
the group, riding |
horses, running |
much horses |
cliffs and mountains |
grass between the road and the water |
a water feature |
the group, about to descend |
horses, hanging out |
horses, looking at the camera |
a horse eating |
looking back at road and water |
bridge over a river in the valley |
more water features |
side of a mountain |
riders, stopped after the turn north onto 76 |
fields and mountains |
a mountain pass |
many horses at a hilltop farm |
Bill arrives at the muster point, and off we go |
except one picture of this mountain pass first |
We are not going to any of these three places |
water, mountain, cloud |
horses outside of a metal-roofed building |
snow pattern on mountainside |
the road behind us |
cyclists on the road ahead, approaching our first purple mountain |
sign on the road to Hólar |
look at that mountain pass |
Gina, looking at that mountain pass |
view back, towards an island in the fjord |
let's examine these purple mountains a bit more closely |
we are going in one of these directions |
patch of snow at the top of a mountain |
road back towards the fjord, with bonus horse |
forget the road, let's look at that horse more closely |
much horses |
one lane bridge |
Bill riding over the one lane bridge in the shadow of a purple mountain |
we'll stop just across the bridge at Hólar, but the valley continues |
hay bales, equipment, looming clouds, at Viðines farm |
Scott reads a sign about Viðines |
the one lane bridge goes over the Viðinesa |
look more closely, there's a sheep just hanging out in the middle of that river |
cyclists approaching the town of Hólar |
Gina and Scott on the road to Hólar |
there are sod houses here too |
map of every structure in Hólar, literally shows the picnic table at which we ate lunch |
mountain view inland from Hólar |
mind if we have a closer look at that snow? |
The Icelandic Horse History Center (closed, sadly) |
farm equipment and a mountain |
view back towards the river |
bell tower |
Hólar University |
close-up of that map, to demonstrate that i wasn't kidding about the picnic table |
stone wall and plants back towards the river |
sod between two houses |
informational sign, possibly about some people who lived in the sod house in the 19th century |
Gina in the sod house |
attic of sod house |
cooking area of sod house |
an informational sign about sod house construction |
sod house interior, with some light this time |
close-up of sod |
another built-in bed situation |
close-up of attic floor |
Dana, Sarah, and Bill wait with our bikes |
Gina naps on the famous picnic table of Hólar |
wall around the church and cemetary |
a stone in the church |
another stone in the church, possibly having something to do with 16th-century resident Halldóru Árnadóttur |
church interior |
I don't think we ever learned what Jon Arason was up to from 1550 - 1950, but good for him |
mosaic at the base of the belltower |
little mosaic bells |
religious books at the base of the belltower |
stones in the belltower |
square staircase in the belltower |
Gina at the bell |
view from the window of the belltower (giant fly for scale) |
engraving on the bell |
another bell |
we all feel safer just knowing this grate is here |
the university, seen from the belltower |
town buildings and valley, seen from the belltower |
trees and mountains, seen from the belltower |
we were very excited to look at this house, which someone's guidebook had reported as being somehow affiliated with a sorceress |
it's not, it's the bishop's house, named after 14th century bishop Auðun the Red. but it was still cool to look at |
Gina tries the door cautiously |
that's just what a sorceress would say |
a loom, looming |
interior corner of the bishop's house |
book on display in the bishop's house |
prayer bench in the bishop's house |
skylight |
fields and mountains and water and sky and things |
Bill crosses a bridge in a field |
little flowers beside the bridge |
this is the emergency backup bridge |
Gina checks out Gvendarbrunnur well (it is important to note that none of us got giardia on this trip) |
i didn't even drop my camera down this well |
marker next to the well |
church in front of mountain |
we saw a lot of these flowers |
leaving Hólar and heading back to the coast |
Gina embarks on a treacherous gravel road |
we didn't like the gravel road very much, but here we are on it |
at least the gravel road was next to this cool river |
looking back at river and mountains |
a little farm across the river |
riders, progressing along the gravel |
still excited about the purple mountains |
the river going under a bridge |
Scott, with river and mountains |
many little trees |
plains and mountain |
we're actually going to both of these places! |
the river east |
the group, ready to be done with gravel roads |
more group assembling |
horses! and the fjord! |
a different ratio of horses to fjord |
many marshmallow hay bales and an island |
farms inland |
sheep climbing around |
approaching Hofsós |
view back along the road |
mountains and grass inland |
last cow grate on the road to Hofsós |
speed limit 70 on the infinite highway |
at the coast in Hofsós |
more fjord coast |
before hot-tubbing, we went to take a look at these basalt formations |
view north along the coast |
look at all those hexagons |
hexagons! |
HEXAGONS! |
a belt of green rocks by the fjord |
basalt cliffs and hillside |
top of basalt cliffs |
reference unit church above the slope |
sunlight on one patch of mountain |
the coast |
reference unit church in front of mountains in light and shadow |
driving back to Sauðárkrókur |
the road to the valley |
fjord and cliffs |
looking back northeast along the coast |
bridge |
a number of motorcycles parked in front of our hotel |
just a hexagonal planter |
informational signage at the Hard Wok Cafe |
calzone at Hard Wok Cafe |
the Nail Soup folktale in three languages |
table surface decorated with coins |
Sauðárkróks Bakari, where we intend to pick up baked goods in the morning |
my shoes on the hotel windowledge |