Extra activities

Day 7: Akureyri to Reykjahlio

| gloriakidsfirst

Blogging from a beautiful spot just ten metres from the waters edge. It has been very sunny in Iceland today but a big black cloud is approaching over the lake so tomorrow I may not be so lucky.

Started this morning in Akureyri, waved goodbye to Angelique and cycled on. Akureyri  is at the bottom of a watery inlet with lots of up hills and down downs all around the water, very hard and into the headwinds again. After leaving this area I cycled up another climbing road for a grueling 4km. The road was covered in very loose gravel which was tough to pedal through and hurt when it flicked up and hit my legs, there were also an awful  lot of lorries which added to the pressure. It was very hard and you would normally work up quite a bit of body heat but it felt cold. Cycling at a fairly slow speed and into the wind chill meant that the air temperature felt about 9 degrees.

Crossed into the next valley fighting headwinds and again felt demoralised.  Got to a spot at the bottom of a great big hill and decided to stop for a break to gather my thoughts before the next climb. The area just happened to be a local beauty spot and sported a stunning waterfall so it was a lovely place to rest and take in the scenery. The next enormous climb took an hour but when I reached the top I had a reward! The wind direction had finally changed and for the first time on this trip I had the wind behind me AND I was going downhill. It was lovely, a real bonus but I had to step on the brakes for safety reasons as it was easy to get carried away!

After lunch the winds were still being kind and for 25 miles I enjoyed the tail wind. I soon arrived at Myvatn. Lake Myvatn is supposed to be one of the places locals go for their holidays. It is an absolutely beautiful lake with mountains set back topped with snow. The ground is full of installations of lava and some would say it looks ‘other wordly’. I cycled through the lava fields to Reykjahlio and have now settled just 10 metres from the lake’s edge. The sun is laying  low over the water and I have even met three other Brits who are also cycling for charity.  We have had a good chat and shared our experiences so far but I am guessing that they are here for a good time as they have now headed off to the shop for some booze 🙂

Dave is flying in very  late tonight, he will head first to Akureyri and then on to Egilsstadir where I hope to meet up with him some time on Thursday. Keen followers will be pleased to hear that as Angelique left Iceland she was reunited with her cycling gear which had in fact been there since about two hours after we had reported it missing upon landing (!)

Please support Kids First Trust by sponsoring Julien on his Just Giving Page

Events Team
Kids First Trust

Bit of a mad dash

| gloriakidsfirst

Not a great deal to report on the cycling front. We suffered a bit of a set back when Angelique’s luggage did not turn up. The airline were fairly helpful and able to give us a budget to replace the vital cycling kit.

We thought that this would be a simple task but luck was not with us as shopping for cycling gear in Iceland is a bit of a struggle. After dashing around Reykjavik Angelique was happy to settle for some waterproof bags which we were ingeniously able to fashion in to panniers for her bike. That evening was spent putting the bikes together and consulting the maps with our kind host lady Bára ( www.270mos) who advised us to head north towards a spectacular glacier. We got our heads down for the night desperate to get cycling tomorrow.

Please support Kids First Trust by sponsoring Julien on his Just Giving Page

Events Team
Kids First Trust

020 7841 8955
events@kidsfirsttrust.org

Just before I scoot

| Zapfly

Finally, the night before I leave for foreign shores and my mind is awash with so many small details.  I think I am missing the virtue of the bigger picture here.  Just spoken to my good friend Leslie on Skype.  She is currently at home is the US after an operation.  Apparently, they are not quite so well equipped in Rwanda.  Anyway, I digress.  It was great to her from her and it got me to thinking just what an adventure I have stretching out ahead of me.  My cycling buddies from last year’s trip, Pete and Mary, were also on the phone tonight, wishing me luck with the tour.  I really wish they were joining me.

This weekend was my dear friends Caroline and Duncan’s wedding, in wet and windy Devon.  It was the best wedding I have been to in ages.  So many friendly faces and a lot of gossip to catch up on.  I think Caroline’s mother thinks I am nuts and there I cannot fault her.  However, comfort zones are there to be lived both inside and outside of.

Now, time to go to be as I have a very long first day of cycling ahead of me tomorrow.  I reckon about 90 miles through central London down to Dover.  Apparently, the rain will fall hard so I envisage a tough day in the saddle.  Something interesting to sink one’s teeth into.

So far, people have been pretty generous on the old charity donations.  I have raised almost  £750 on my Just Giving site.  Child’s I Foundation, the charity I am raising money for posted a story about me on their blog today.

Sports Programme Manager

| Zapfly

Along with my various photographic endeavours, I like to combine my work with expedition style material. This can range from mountaineering to trekking, or in more recent times, long distance cycle rides. To that end, I like to complete at least one sponsored ride per year.

This year, I may well end up completing at least two. The reason for this increase in altruism is mainly due to joining forces with a new charity called the Childs i Foundation (CiF). They are raising funds to build an orphanage in Uganda for all the parentless children who are abandoned after the recent turmoil the country has suffered. I have been given the lofty title of Sports Programme Manager, which is nice.

So, one of my new jobs is to create some exciting sports programmes to raise money for the charity. First on the cards for me is getting my plans together for this summer’s ride, which I shall be doing for CiF. There are a couple of plans afoot at present, both of which involve Scandinavia. Pete and Mary should be joining me, so that will be really exciting. At present, we are deciding whether to head to Iceland or cycle from London via a ferry journey from Harwich to Esbjerg in Denmark, via Sweden and Finland up to Nordkapp, at the northern tip of Norway. Either option should be exciting but time will be the critical determinant in the end.

The other ride I will be looking at completing will be a quick four day stint from London to Paris. This will be the first ride that I organise on behalf of Childs i Foundation, so hopefully it will prove to be a popular ride. If everyone is altruistic in their approach, giving their time to help put the even together rather than just raise funds in isolation, this should be both a very accessible and comparatively inexpensive endeavour for volunteers.

More on this once I have looked into it further with my lovely CiF colleagues.

I HEART JOSIE DEW

| marymazmouse

Well now, this all started a long long time ago, one wintry night wrapped up on the sofa reading a book, but not just any book, a book by Josie Dew. I was submerged into the tales of an intrepid cyclist, who once wished for a horse, got a bike instead, and never looked back.

And now here we are planning our own adventure, the long way up Britain, and I can’t wait to get my wheels rolling on this long and winding road to freedom/exhaustion/and huge bowls of porridge! x

This is me!!!!

This is me cruising the Japanese streets local stylie!!!!

Hardcore Training

| Peter

“You don’t have to be super-fit…” is a reassuring introductory line taken from the cycle guidebook ‘Land’s End to John O’Groats – The Great British Bike Adventure, by Phil Horsley’. I’m wondering if buying as much really expensive equipment as I can and occassionally reading the same first page of our guidebooks (usually on the toilet) counts as training?

Over here in Guernsey we’re slowly building up the miles with lengthy rides around the island several times a week, toughening the cheeks up on as many of the gruelling hills as possible. Although not on a bike, here’s a glimpse of our training circuit.