August 8: "16%"
Considering our exhaustion of the previous day because of the 80 km, the short
night, and difficult road conditions (1 km of of unpaved road with a staggerring
16% grade!!!), we planned on only cycling a relaxing 36 km to the first campsite.
The formidable hill was so steep that I had to rely on Anne's pulling with
a bungee cord to help push the bicycle. And when we stopped to rest, we couldn't
rely on the brakes to prevent the bike from sliding backwards on the slippery
ground! It turned out that the campsite was in fact only 30 km on. Since this
was really a bit too little to maintain a decent daily average, we decided
to continue, aiming at the next campsite 70 km further on without really believing
we would make it. If we were too exhausted to continue, we would simply set
up camp in the wild. When we made a short rest stop on a carpark at the edge
of a marsh with a hundred swans we were invited by a family from Lille (north
of France) who beckoned us into their camper for a couple of cups of coffee
(each). It is shortly afterwards that we christened our water-proof gear.
The Gortex overbooots brought back to warmth our numbed and damp feet. On
the other hand, our Gortex jackets and pants breathed a little too well in
both directions. We nevertheless kept good spirits and maintained our will
to arrive at the campsite at all costs. The price unfortunately was a little
Icelandic (expensive) because the amount of unpaved road was more than expected:
one 5,5 km stretch under construction with course gravel making pedalling
impossible. With this interminable section as well as the 16% climb at the
beginning of the day and many small bits of road too steep to ride up, we
walked in all 9 or 10 km and mostly under the rain. When close to our goal,
we asked a policeman on the scene of an accident (a car had left the road,
apparently a rather frequent occurrence especially for foreigners who rent
cars here, not accustomed to driving on dirt and therefore slippery roads)
the remaining distance: "5 or 10 km" was his answer not imagining
how painful this inaccuracy was for us. The second estimate turned out to
be the correct one since we covered 103 km all told instead of the 98 we were
planning on. At the store we stopped at to ask where the campsite was, we
discovered that it also offered fast-food. A delicious cauliflower soup and
the best hamburgers of our life! We blessed our laziness that evening since
it turned out that the campsite had no covered eating facilities. The tent
was set up in record time under the rain and while doing so, we discovered
that all belongings except those in the BOB trailer were wet! In the latter,
our things were not wet but lubricated because the cap of our spray can of
chain oil had come off and when tightening the bag, the nozzle was pressed
thus releasing all it's contents! Fortunately I had bought the mini model
to save space and weight. This damage was nevertheless a pretext to throw
away our two oil soaked novels which we had not yet had the courage to start
reading. Enough problems for one day. We "hit the sacks" in Djupivogur's
campsite and decided to worry about these difficulties the next day.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Fleeing
sheep
|
The 16%
grade
|
Closeup
|
Under the
rain
|
and in the
fog
|