Dave

Julien is currently waiting for a pizza to arrive.

Woke up and had a chat with Dave. He decided that he couldn’t ride anymore. So left him behind in Hofn. Jumped on bike. Perfect conditions. Arrow straight road, glacier on the right hand side. Even saw the sun and although it was intermittent, it was a welcome change. Julien got excited by the conditions and caned it as he was so excited to see the sun. Not many kilometres left to cover but still a few days left to cover them in so am limited myself each day.

Cycled on for about 65 km and found a very random hotel in the middle of nowhere. Situated on a flat plateau and is a building that looks like containers from a big ship with windows at each end. Looks bizarre and crazy but is surprisingly smart inside. I wandered in and they looked me up and down. I asked them if they had any lunch but I was too late. Too late for lunch and too early for dinner but they did have their special so I was treated to bowls and bowls of lamb soup with a great waitress running back and forth refilling my bowl.

Headed to Kirkjubaejarklaustur and outside of the town I could see a rain cloud coming like curtains ahead of me. I thought I might get away with it but no, cycled 8kms in the pissing rain. Found service station, ran in absolutely soaked. Ordered a cup of tea. I met two German guys going around the island in a 4×4 so spoke with them for 1 hrs 30. Went to Tourist info to find out where I could camp. In the tourist office there was a great guy who was half Scottish and half Icelandic who recommended a campsite and a great restaurant where I have now ordered pizza. It’s arrival is imminent!

I have two days left and now I am solo am cycling about 17/18 miles per hour and getting excited about meeting up with Dave in Reykjavik and celebrating the end of the tour 🙂

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

Events Team
Kids First Trust

020 7841 8955
events@kidsfirsttrust.org

As I will be spending sometime in the saddle with Dave and Angelique, I thought I would dedicate a blog entries to each of my teammates.

Dave has been fond of travelling distance and the outdoors for most of his life. He completed his first 1km swim at the age of 8. He also walked halfway across Hong Kong Island the same year after forgetting his school bus money. He completed his first ultra walk of 160km at the age of 14.

Dave has since done more than 30 multi-day organised ultra-distance walks and runs. This includes over 10 finishes of the annual Nijmegen 4-Day Marches in the Netherlands where he is a Gold Cross Holder and member of the KNBLO (Royal Dutch League for Health and Fitness). He has the IML Silver Medal and is also an enthusiastic hiker.

Having proven himself in supported walking events, Dave has made the decision to return to his roots, by giving cycle touring a go. Indeed, prior to training for this trip, the only bikes Dave has used in the past 5 years were bolted to a gym floor.

Ultimately, Dave is hoping to gain experience of a new mode of long distance travel, bike touring and maintenance, with some tips on photography thrown in for good measure. Most importantly Dave is hoping to raise a good amount of money for a worthy cause while adventuring round the marvellous Icelandic landscape. You never know, he may just see his first erupting volcano.