One more tunnel, then done again
August 18, 2019 Filed under Curious
In the morning I packed everything up and then decided I needed more fish. So I went to a little restaurant tucked into a converted basement underneath an apartment building a few blocks from the hotel. It looked pretty janky, but there I had the most delicious fish and chips I’ve had in all of Iceland, and as I ate I abused their wireless network downloading software updates. Everything for the traveling geek!
Then I asked myself: “Hey is it time to get on the road?” And my stomach and legs said: “We’re not ready yet.”
So my next stop was a bakery one block down, stuffed full of tourists and Icelanders. Every table was occupied, but I noticed that people were following the local custom of offering unused seats at their table to strangers, so I did the same. A family sat across from me, then a couple of Spanish tourists. I got myself a cream-filled pastry and a hot chocolate and consumed both very slowly, looking over some code from work and texting with my co-developers and family members on the phone. Outside, the usual procession of curious people paused next to my bike to take photos or just gawp at it before hurrying on. It was a nice little bonus intermission before hitting the road again.
I did have to hit the road, but I knew it would be an exciting ride. To head south out of town I needed to pass through a pair of much longer, more modern, two lane tunnels, called the Héðinsfjarðargöng. These were built in 2010 and much closer to sea level so I wouldn’t have to press myself against the wall to avoid cars or ride up a gigantic hill to get to them. I was really looking forward to it.
And it was totally cool. Both tunnels slope up very gently to their midway point, then slope down again. So for two kilometers I pedaled gently along the first tunnel, then for two more kilometers I coasted effortlessly, and I was out. That put me in a narrow unpopulated valley right next to the ocean.
There was nothing around but the road, with the first tunnel at my back and the second tunnel waiting ahead of me, and the crumbled walls of a long-abandoned building up the valley in the middle distance.
It was very picturesque so I pulled aside to look around. First thing I needed to do was climb over this fence…
The building had some wonderful textures…
And the terrain itself was intersting as well…
And then, after I chomped another Prince Polo candy bar, it was time for the second tunnel.
This one was nearly twice as long as the first, and even more fun. When I emerged I was in the little town of Ólafsfjörður. I rode around scoping things out.
It was an industrial-seeming place, with lots of equipment sitting near the docks, one restaurant, one coffee shop, and some hotels scattered in amongst the houses.
I found a campground, and spontaneously decided to spend the night there. I had only gone about four miles but I wanted to treat my body gently for another day before returning to my current ride-every-day schedule. Once again, I was the only person in the entire campground.
I got a crepe at the one local restaurant, then ate some more vacuum-packed fish at the campsite and washed my hands thoroughly before crawling into my tent. With luck I could get more than a full night’s sleep and feel back to normal…
Back to “real” touring tomorrow!






































