Sometimes, squaring off against the elements for the shot can be worth the wait.
I sat on Exmouth beach as a storm front rolled in over the English Channel. The orange afternoon hues were soon extinguished by the choking, omnipresent clouds. Day was transformed to night as the wind suddenly picked up. Moments later, the heavens opened and I realised how exposed I was, sat alone on the stretch of sand.
A perfect afternoon as I recall.
Today is the first day that I feel tired after a ride. Had a prevailing wind so made the most of it!
Starting off from Kirkjubaejarklaustur. The pizza was rough and was only edible because I was hungry. Unfortunately I didn’t really get any sleep last night. A couple of hardcore Russian bike nuts rocked up at midnight and decided to shout at each other all night. I always camp near a bench so that I can tie my bike up and camp close by but unfortunately the bikers decided to sit on said bench and chat loudly all night before crashing out and snoring their heads off. Not fun, they revved off at about 5am and I dozed until 7. Went to local supermarket, had a decent breakfast with lovely patisserie. Cloud was grey so thought I had better get going before the rain comes. Today I had planned to go through Vik and stop there for lunch and then stay in Skogar. So I started off cycling through a lava field, the road appears to cut through where the lava had stopped but so it ends up looking like the moon but with moss on it.
The day was pretty flat with a very decent wind, I was cruising at 14/15 mph. Only 70 km to lunch so was rocketing along. But then it started raining, heavy, light, heavy. I was soaked to the skin knowing that I would be soaked for the rest of the day. I am literally getting webbed feet as my feet are wet all day and every day.
Started on my way, passed on old guy on a Recumbent cycle which is a kind of half seated, half laying down bike. Rode along with its rider, a Danish guy and chatted about his time in the armed forces. Then I got going faster again and was passing other cyclists going straight into the wind knowing exactly what they were going through. Rocked up at Vik at about 1PM so it had taken 3 hours to do 70km/45miles. I would normally expect 12mph so very fast and felt like I was really whipping along. Unfortunately the wet had made me feel cold, very cold so I needed hot food. Ordered big hot meal and cups of tea. I decided to have a nice leisurely lunch and take my time but it began to rain really hard. Just as I started leaving the guy on the Recumbent turned up and said that it was a bad day to have a leather saddle. I had learned that it was a bad choice for Iceland as the wet makes it all misshapen and it never dries out fully.
On my way out of Vik I needed to go out on a hill into small mountain range. It was a 10% ascent, cars struggling, so I cranked it down to 1st gear but on the way down it was a different story and I hit my PB 42 mph (!) One and a half hours later, I rocked up at Skogar, the lady there said that there was a severe weather warning for tonight so all of the rooms were full. She told me where there were other places 3 – 6kms down the road. So I cycled 3kms more but it was full, 6kms full, 20kms full. In the end I thought “stuff it, I am going to head down to the next town” which is Hvolsvollur.
My average speed today was 14mph so I was very tired and decided to treat myself to a hotel. A local recommended a hotel but it was £110 room so that was too much of a treat for a lone cyclist! I have now found a small place with a tiny room in a lovely B and B . They too were full but kindly cleaned out a storage room for me! It is full of Israelis on a birthday trip and I can hear them singing and celebrating downstairs which is nice. I have just had my shower and am now going to walk about half a km back to the centre to get some food. I therefore need to put my dry feet back into wet shoes. The good news is that there are now only 100km to Reykjavik so it looks like I am going to finish a day early and spend time with Dave doing touristy stuff on Thursday!
Please support Kids First Trust by sponsoring Julien on his Just Giving Page
Events Team
Kids First Trust
020 7841 8955
events@kidsfirsttrust.org
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
We woke up to thick cloud but there was no wind or rain. Planned to do 130km. When we got on the bike Dave began to suffer from the illness that had struck him on his way out here. It struck him quite early in the day and as it really kicked in he could hardly move. We attempted to do 35km’s before breakfast but Dave couldn’t make it so we stopped and set up for a hot drink. Cycled a little bit further. Julien then got his second puncture which was very annoying as he only had two inner tubes but it was caused due to the poor gravel road surfaces. We now have no inner tubes left, so fingers crossed.
By the afternoon Julien was getting really cold. Dave was very ill. Dave wanted to thumb a ride as he could go no further. Julien decided to go on to find a hostel. There was nothing, so he cycled on and on and on. 40 clicks down the road found a town called Litlahof.
A landlady said she had a house with rooms. Julien took the room at about 4pm and waited for Dave. He was in a bad way so arrived at 8 PM. When he got to the hostel we had a chat and decided that Dave should rest up and either meet up with Julien at the end of each day or head to Reykjavik. Four days to go. About 110km solo planned per day.
Please support Kids First Trust by sponsoring Julien on his Just Giving Page
Events Team
Kids First Trust
020 7841 8955
events@kidsfirsttrust.org
Today we were heading for Hofn which was 130km away. It was a long days ride especially after the previous one. We clung to the coastline. We cycled around beautiful fjords. It was still miserable weather and rained the whole day again. Body temperatures plummeted. But very stunning scenery. We couldn’t see in front of you. Passed shingle banks along the cliffs above and below all the time knowing that if it slips, the road would go from beneath you. Lovely seascapes but lots of gravel so hardcore cycling.
Stopped for lunch and whipped up a warm drink which made a big difference. No drama throughout the rest of today’s ride but spectacular scenery.
Arrived at Hofn 9pm. Went to the supermarket and bought high carb food. Crossed road to campsite and we were soaked to the skin. They had one cabin left so we took it and dried out. Could hear the rain hard on the roof the whole night. Went to bed trying to remember how it felt to cycle in the sunshine.
Please support Kids First Trust by sponsoring Julien on his Just Giving Page
Events Team
Kids First Trust
020 7841 8955
events@kidsfirsttrust.org
Woke up the next morning to the sound of rain. Had to pack away a soaking tent which was a bad start. The wind was phenomenal. I was due to meet Dave so had to cycle 8km back up the gravel track. It was very hard so I waved a coach down and loaded the bike on to travel to Egilsstadir. As I left, I heard that there were Country wide warnings about the wind. It was so bad that Campervans and cars with caravans were being warned not to drive. A couple of cars were blown over very close to our route, this made the whole day very intense and the weather was still horrific with terrible rain.
Once we had left the bus we had lunch and aimed to set off again. It was getting really cold and unfortunately I had given Angelique my fleece to take back to UK during the warm sunny spells last week. Fortunately I found a shop to by one and got on the bike to follow route 1 south. Cycled through the valleys but after 25kms it turned into a gravel road. It was very hardcore and still incredibly wet. We had to climb in the rain, going uphill in progressively worse winds. There was a shortcut recommended by locals down a track. She had said it was downhill and easier that way. But it wasn’t. It was uphill and only wide enough for one car – we felt very vulnerable in the teaming rain through thick fog. Rivers were bursting their banks and it was really cold. Everything was wet, it was as miserable as hell. Then we had the issue of descending down a 17% extreme ‘slope’. It was incredibly steep. Fierce wind, pissing with rain, water and gravel everywhere. We both needed to use brakes all the way down. Dave’s brakes started to fail first and then Julien’s. We had to stop and tighten both bikes brakes in the torrential rain. As well as the Hollywood like conditions around us, we also experienced a real movie scene moment. A car stopped with two passengers within it. One opened the window and just handed Dave a big bar of Cadbury chocolate and then drove off (!). We just stopped and crammed half each. At this point, Julien was suffering from mild hypothermia. It was very difficult to hold on to the brakes. Dave’s were so bad that in the end he ended up running down the hill with his bike. It was horrendous. Like a bad horror movie.
We eventually got down to sea level in the East. Looked at map and found a safe place to stay called Berufjordor. We had to climb 2kms back up the hill to find it but it was dry and warm, we were not in the mood for damp tents and found a lovely hostel. It was very cosy.8 other tourists had passed us on the way up ( 6 Israelis and 2 Dutch) and they had said that they would have the soup on ready for us. The landlady was lovely and offered to wash and dry our clothes. We had a lovely evening, we were both exhausted but enjoyed chatting to our new friends. Got to bed at 2am. Found out at the end of the day that it was the worse rain that the country had experienced all year.
Please support Kids First Trust by sponsoring Julien on his Just Giving Page
Events Team
Kids First Trust
020 7841 8955
events@kidsfirsttrust.org
Day three and just a quick update today as Julien is having trouble getting a phone signal so our communications have been limited to text messages!
It sounds like Julien has done incredibly well today, covering 84 miles across the northcoast of Belgium and making it into Haamstede Burgh in Holland. This whilst contending with heavy thunderstorms and hail. Holland’s well known flat landsacape meant that he had no cover – ouch!
Julien has found that the roads in Holland are excellent for cycling and a real improvement over those in the UK. If the weather permits and Julien keeps up the fast pace tomorrow he hopes to get past Rotterdam and close in on Amsterdam. I’m sure he will make it!
Please remember why Julien is undertaking this epic journey and visit his Just Giving page and the Child’s i Foundation website. Thank you!
Julien again faced bad weather and useless maps as he continued his cycle to the coast. Much like yesterday Julien had to make a 30 mile detour off the planned route to get back on track. This meant that he only just made the 2 o’clock ferry to Dunkirk. The rain died down as he crossed the channel but sadly picked up again as he set foot in Dunkirk.
Julien got off at Dunkirk along with a large number of trucks which he had to cycle alongside until he found an alternative route. Eventually he ended up getting a bit lost again and kept ending up back on the motorway leading out of Dunkirk. After a while, Julien decided to pull into a shop where he used his best French to communicate with the locals – one of whom cycled ahead of Julien for around 6 miles to the main road into De Panne!
After around 20km Julien made it to the town of De Panne. As the bad weather persisted he decided to spend the night in a local hotel. Julien is hoping for better weather and the chance to camp out in the open tommorrow. The good news is that Belgium has great cycle ways, so from here on in, progress should be a bit quicker!
Please click the buttons on the right to sponsor Julien and help out the Child’s i Foundation. Thank you.
Hello, my name is Tom Phillips. I will be updating Julien’s blog with news from the road as he travels from London to Nordkapp, the most northern point of mainland Europe. Julien is embarking upon this epic journey of around 2,500 miles, to raise money and support for the wonderful charity the Child’s i Foundation. So please do your bit by donating money on Julien’s Just Giving site and by visiting the Child’s i website. Thank you!
So on to the first day – unfortunately things haven’t gone exactly according to plan! This morning Julien discovered that his bike and gear was going to be a little too heavy for such a long trip. Once some excess baggage was removed Julien set out only to discover his speedometer had broken, this was then followed by a puncture on the rear tyre of his brand new bike!
To add to this Julein had to contend with some very inacurate ordinance survey maps which had him cycling down dead ends and alleyways. To catch up on his mile target Julien decided to veer off the planned route and head along the A226 for some quicker riding. So there weren’t too many exciting sights on the way today, but Julien did mention that he saw some great views whilst cycling through Erith in South London. As the weather turned nasty late this afternoon Julien decided to forgo camping and has instead settled down in a B&B just outside Faversham.
Overall he clocked up 70 miles today – not bad going considering the slow start. Let’s hope for a better day tomorrow as Julien catches the ferry to Dunkirk and begins his journey across Belgium.
All Terrain Photography 