Iceland by Motorcycle

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This blog is only 2 years late - better late than never! I am on my way to Asia so look for my new blog , coming soon!

May 22, 2013 Toronto



After another great season in Florida, winning 4 polo tournaments ( 1 - 12 goal, 2 - 6 goals, and 1 - 4 goal), watching Zacara winning the US Open, entertaining many guests from Toronto, I returned to Canada refreshed an ready for my spring trip.

This year, my oldest son, Jeff (who lives in Nanaimo, BC), is joining me on a motorcycle trip to Iceland. Following Iceland economic problems stemming from the 2008 European meltdown, the country has been promoting tourism. One of their ads caught my eye, so I googled motorcycling in Iceland and came across the Biking Vikings (www.bikingviking.is).

There was a trip, Around Iceland in 7 Days, running from May 24 - June 2. This was perfect as polo season doesn't start til early June in Toronto. I called my son Jeff to catch up, and he mentioned that he had just read an article about motorcycling in Iceland, and he would enjoy doing something like that with me. So I guess it was meant to be!



We departed Toronto on the evening of May 22 on a red eye flight with Icelandic Air. We arrived in Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland at 6:35 am. I had arranged to have 2 free days before starting the motorcycle trip. This gave us time to get oriented with the time change (4 hours from Toronto), and to get organized for the trip, as well as spending time in the beautiful capital city.

After breakfast, we arranged to go horseback riding on the famous Icelandic horses at the Laxnes Horse Farm (www.laxnes.is). It's funny that because I ride polo horses so much that riding a new breed would be a piece of cake. Not so! These horses have 5 gears - 4 walk/trot and then straight to a gallop. Most of the time we were in a fast trot. Very awkward at first, but both Jeff and I managed to get the knack by the end of our 2 hour ride. I'm not sure , however, I would feel after 8 hours on one of these ponies. I'll just have to come back another time to try an overnight trip. Perhaps even a round-up in the fall!

After a short nap, we walked to thr downtown core in search of a good restaurant. As it turned out we found a GREAT restaurant - the Grillmarkadurinn (The Grill Market). The atmosphere was casual elegant, the service was awesome, the presenation of the meals was impressive, and the food was amazing. Jeff had the seafood sampler, with Monkfish, Cod, and Salmon, and I tried a local specialty - Grilled Horse. The horse steak was as good as any beef steak I have ever had!

After dinner, we went to the English Pub on the recommendation of the girl from the Record Store - her cousin was in the band. We met a group of students from Italy, France and Canada. We left around midnight and it was still Daylight!! It is only dark for about 3 hours this time of year in Iceland.



The next morning we spent getting organized for our Motorcycle trip. This involved sorting out our various layers of clothing, as you never know what this crazy weather in Iceland can bring. So far it has been rainy and cool, with the sun peekngg through once in a while. Also, we sorted out our electronics. I have a camera with an Eye-Fi memory card that transfer the photos toooo the Ipad and to the cloud automatically. Easier said than done. this onlt took about an hour and a half to get working.

Also, we both have Go Pros. If you done know what it is , check out the web sit at www. gopro.com. It is basically a HD video camera that attaches to one's helmet so that you can take movies while ridiing. There is a Wi-Fi remote control to turn it on and off while on the road. Anyway, this mess of electronics only took about 2 hours to get working! So basically our morning was shot.

After lunch at the Creperie, we did our cultural thing, visiting the Art Gallery and National museum. That evening we went down to the Harbour area, a very cool part of Old Town with many art studios and local restaurants. We went to the Haiti Bar, had a light dinner and listened to an awesome band.

Saturday, May 25 2013



This is the big day! We met for breakfast in the Hotel. All of the riders arrived safely, but unfortunately not all there bags. Carmen arrived from Asheville, North Carolina, without her motorcycle gear. She spent the previous 24 hours trying to track it down. Fortunately she was successful and her bag arrived at the airport just in time for us to go to the Biking Viking headqyuarters to pick up our bikes. Other members in our group were Jim from Texas, and Brian from Boston.



We sorted the bikes out, with 3 of us getting the Triumph Tiger GS 800, and Jeff getting the BMW 1200Gs, an Carmen getting a BMW GS 650. The Triuphs were great bikes, except they didn't have heated handlegrips like the BMW's. It was about 3 degrees Celsius (38 degrees Farenheit), windy and raining, with no clearing in the forecast for the next few days. Welcome to Iceland!!

Fortunately we were only doing around 300 Kilometers. Our guide

Hjörtur L. Jónsson

Biking Viking has had the priviledge of working with Hjortur since 2003. He has been riding two wheelers for 40 years now, or since he was twelve years old! Hjortur is known for his profound knowledge of Iceland’s history and culture and knows the country’s best motorcycle routs by heart. Hjortur is also known for the pipe that sticks out of his mouth quite frequently. Even though Hjortur has a passion for riding on a motorcycle all over the countryside, his favorite places are in the vicinity of Mt. Hekla and Landmannalaugar. Hjortur´s mail goal on our tours is to bring our riders back home safe and happy!



Our First stop was the Geothermal Power plant at --------. Iceland is the most Geothermally active country in the world. They derive 100% of their electricity from the earth. Also, most of the hot water used on towns and cities id taken from the earth and piped in. they hacve so much hot water, that they heat their sidewalks and walkways with hot water pipes.

Next stop was Golfhoss waterfalls. Being springtime, the water was running at close to its maximum. Very impressive, not quit Niagara Falls, but close. We arrived at out accomodations for the evening - the Hotel Hvolsvoll. It was in a very small village, but just what we needed. Good claen, large, warm rooms, with 2 Goethermal hot tubs on the roof.



Dinner was buffet style with quite an impressive menu, including: Lambs heart, marinated raw horse, cow tongue, smoked salmon, lamb and prork as the selection for main course. Im proud to say that Jeff and I tried some of everything. Not Bad.

ountered, it can only get better!

On our way back to our rooms, Jeff cammented on what a great day og biking he had. Its great that I have a son that's so easy to please. The weather was cold, rainy and windy, and he still had a great time!



Day 3: Hvosvoll - Hofn - 360kms



Our guide warned us that it would be a rainy day. Well he was right! We started with moderate rainfall and made our first stop at Vesmannaeyjan after 20 kms. There ia a beautiful waterfall there, but it is also known for a major flood in April 2010. A piece of the Glacier broke off causing a dam to break high up in th mountains. The water flowed over the cliffs flooding all of the lowlands. Bridges and roads were washed out. However, today things are back to normal.



We drove 80 kms further along the Ring Rd to Eyjafjallajokull. You may recognized this as it is the site of the 2010 Volcanic eruption that basically shut down the Airline industry between North America and Europe. We met the family that lives at the base of th e volcano, and watched a movie document this disaster and how they recovered from. Truly insiring to see how the community gather to recover.



On our way to our next stop, the weather got worse. It was raining very hard and the winds were very strong. So much so that it required a lot of concentration to keep the bike on the road. The weather let up a bit, then we ran into a lava dust storm. It was the equivalent of a white out in Canada. We stopped for lunch and all of us were exhausted and chivering. Only 200 kms to go!

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