Gravel/Bikepack nerds enter...

[MagnificentUnicorn]

The first time I met Grant was around 1995? I went to the Rivendell office which was like a storage unit to pick up my expedition frame. We probably talked for a couple hours. He comes off as far out sometimes but in the end he just wants to live simply without a lot of consumption.


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[bodywhomper]

Yeah. I have always enjoyed my interactions with him. I have several components that he sourced on older bikes of mine, and my gravel bike has 650b wheels. A friend, who is very close to Grant, thought it was a well written article. I am looking forward to reading it.

[Tailwind]

Attempted bikepacking trip up in the Western Fjords of Iceland. Photos show some of the good weather moments but this was a tough trip from a weather perspective! The original goal was to ride the Western Fjords route outlined on Bikepacking.com.

Doing the trip with my wife, starting just before six months post Achilles rupture for me. I tore my Achilles this spring and had lots of hours on the bike trainer hoping the trip would work. Thankfully no Achilles issues at all and fitness was good. I was on a Canyon Grizl that was a bit loaded down and my wife was on a Specialized Epic Hardtail (converted to more of a gravel bike). We went a bit heavier with a four season tent, warm sleeping bags and some redundant layers based on the wet climate.

We flew into Reykjavík arriving at 9am and had a 5:30pm flight to Isafjordur. We had bag storage in Rekjavic (using the Bounce app). Day 1 we arrived, took a bus to Rekjavik and built bikes outside the bus station. I walked bike bags a few kilometers to our storage area. We then biked over to the domestic airport only to find out our flight was canceled due to high winds. We stayed in a hotel for the night and biked around the city. Not a bad way to stave off jet lag but it put us a full day behind on our itinerary.

We made the flight the next day. You can walk bikes onto domestic flights in Iceland, it was a fun experience grabbing the bikes out of the back of the plane and rolling away. The first night we spun into town, tried to buy fuel (they were out of the type we needed which meant we bought a new stove) then biked about 15 miles down the coast to our first campsite. The first full day of riding started out great, we rode at about an average of 15 miles per hour for 30 miles under mostly sunny skies going up and down Fjords this was sadly the best weather we had all trip. Temps were in the upper 30’s which felt cold but manageable. Winds kicked up in the afternoon. I knew wind would be a factor on this route but it ended up being our determining factor in the end. Upper 30’s, 90% humidity and 30mph headwind was less than comfortable riding. Average speeds dropped a lot once the wind kicked up but it also made it tougher to eat. My wife bonked a little about 15 miles and then got pretty darn cold (less effort = less heat). We made it into camp behind an old closed hotel that had a hot springs pool and recuperated for the evening. 77 miles on the day and chilled from the wind but otherwise okay.

Rain and wind in the forecast for the next day so we started early. Temps for the first few days were 30’s - low 40’s but the high humidity and intermittent rain meant that drying stuff was challenging. Condensation builds up and we were starting day 3 a little damp in temps around 35-36 degrees and persistent rain. Winds built throughout the morning and we had about two hours or riding before coming to our first pass of the trip. Unfortunately the wind was a direct head wind for almost the entirety of our gradual 13 mile climb. It was a 2-3% grade for most sections but wind speeds were 13-15 meters per second (consistent wind speed) which is around 30 mph and higher up top. Consistent rain turning into sleet up higher. Temp at the top was 33 degrees and gusts were picking water up off the road and spraying us. Riding in tights under gore tex rain pants, a wool base layer, nano puff and Event bike shell arrived at the top moderately cold which meant that the descent on the backside was freezing. We dropped through heavy rain and wind, my wife was at least borderline hypothermic at this point. It was about 15 miles to the next town so we elected to try and just slowly pedal our way through that as opposed to setting up the tent. I started getting some knee pain on my left side that I think was either from low cadence, riding in cold for a few days, or the rain pants messing with my pedal stroke. This stuck with me for the rest of the trip.

We hit the town and got into their community center at around 60 miles on the day and warmed up a bit. We got an alert from the Icelandic weather app that severe winds were anticipated. The area we were in had a forecast for consistent winds of nearly 30 meters per second (65ish miles per hour) and gusts higher starting around midnight and lasting through 5pm the next day. The next place we could stay indoors was over another pass and about 27 miles through more rain/wind/cold. Being a day behind from the canceled flight, we were tempted to keep going and that was my wife’s vote but she was still looking a bit shaken and I was worried about getting stuck in between shelters. It felt quite possible we’d get into a bad situation, so we snagged a hotel with the plan of leaving the next day at 5pm when the winds dropped and riding until around 10pm using lights.

The wind came in hard the next day and was a sight to behold. Gusts of 155 kmph (around 100 miles per hour) made it extremely difficult to walk outside. I was beyond thankful to be in a hard sided shelter and not stuck halfway to the next guesthouse in the tent. The forecast changed overnight and winds were expected to not taper until 9 or 10pm. We made the call around checkout time at the hotel to call dibs on a room and just take a zero day.

Unfortunately the weather forecast for the next few days shifted a bit as well. We’d been riding south into a headwind and we had about 2 days until the wind changed direction bringing cold and snow off the arctic. Temps for the passes were showing a high of -3C and coast areas around freezing. Wind speeds of 15-20 meters per second (35-40mph) from the north and an unknown amount of snow.

We decided to keep heading on route the next day with the idea that we’d make a choice about continuing south to Reykjavik or trying to mash out the back half of the route. Headed due south into a 30-40mph headwind for the entire day. Average power over 72 miles was 180 watts… average speed while riding 9.1 mph (I’m 160lbs riding a gravel bike). At one point we were a bit haggard and the wind was particularly bad I was trying to pull us into a town and did a ‘lap’ on my bike computer to check some stats… pedaling for 10 minutes at an average of 250 watts on a flat and going less than 9 miles per hour… the winds were just brutal.

Getting to the town, the weather for the next few days hadn’t improved. We’d have one day of heavy cross winds followed by three days of high headwinds, highs around freezing, and snow. We had a pretty solid consensus at this point that we’d have more fun if we adjusted the trip. We biked south to where we could catch a bus to Rekjavic, snagged a rental car and spent the last few days car camping, Going to hot springs, and doing a few rides in areas less impacted by weather.

I hate to say it… but the car was a great security blanket. It was a wonderful feeling to close a door and suddenly have solid weather protection. Wake up to high wind and rain? Hop in the car and drive somewhere else. Being in high wind is stressful for me when it’s incessant day after day. I do better with it skiing as it’s for a portion of a day and you’re dressed appropriately but biking it just slowly wears me down.

Bummed to not have the trip go the way we’d envisioned it but happy with the choices we made. Lots of “what ifs” regarding what if the first flight hadn’t been canceled and we had one extra day and had started heading back north when we still had a tailwind… I do think we likely could have cracked the back half of the loop even with our weather but it would have been full suffer fest. We were camping up north and there was a modest amount of snow up high (winds were pretty bad as well). 95% of the time I don’t question bailing but I wish we’d had a little more good weather (45 degrees and light wind for a day would have been great).

Regarding the Western Fjords - incredible riding. Insane weather. I don’t think I’ll give it another shot as it feels like rolling the dice. High humidity and temps in the 30’s are just hard to be out in consistently on a bike. All Icelanders we talked to said “there wasn’t a summer this year” and noted we’d had a particularly bad weather window but I think wind is a constant reality. Our average high temp was about 40 which is about 10 degrees (F) lower than average. We eventually adopted the idea that bikepacking you can have cold, wind and rain… one at a time is fine. Two at a time is hard but doable. Three is just rough.

If I was going to give it another go - I’d do it with a bigger group. An potentially have a sag vehicle as a backup if you get stuck out so you can skip sleep systems and just stay in hotels. That’s how the Bikepacking.com group did it and I get it having been there. Ride hard when you have okay weather and wait it out otherwise. We saw zero other tents during our time there… so that felt telling. Going in July would also be smart but we had to wait until I was a little further out from surgery.

Once we had the rental car, we did a few more rides but it was nice to embrace the weather for 2-3 hours then leave it. Ended around 325 miles of riding on the trip and a few solid day hikes. I did a ride out to the western most part of the island which was likely my best gravel ride of all time. Smooth costal roads, couple of cool climbs and great views. Might be a fun place to just lug a bike along and do a handful of day rides.

[chaka]

Beautiful adventure, Tailwind! thanks for sharing! Yeah, wind blows

[joetron]

Sweet trip! Adaptation is key!
Iceland has been on my radar for a long time and this post is inspiring. Hmmm.


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[muted reborn]

Awesome pics. It's funny how most people book a nice hotel and dinner when they go on vacation, and outdoorsy types like us want to go camping and on top of that make it a bikepacking trip and risk having absolutely miserable conditions in the name of 'fun'. For example Joe is reading the story thinking "this post is inspiring. Hmmm." - haha.

[Peruvian]

What a lovely and varied ride today in North Central VT.





Moose calf print?











And proper post ride hydration.

[buttahflake]

That looks fun, nice and dry in the woods.

[Peruvian]

That looks fun, nice and dry in the woods.

We even stopped for cider donuts at Peck’s Orchard.

[buttahflake]

A quality outing indeed, those things are pure fuel!

[Peruvian]

They are adamant about something in these parts.

[chaka]

A few pics from my Solstice ride. Living eastside of Seattle, I'm fortunate to have riding access to the huge Campbell Global managed Snoqualmie Forest from my house. Nice 65 mile loop, mostly on gravel. You can stack up the vert depending on route, I opted for 'only' ~5k, topping out at Hancock Lake. Amazingly nice weather, but the door will close soon. Our riding days are numbered here for anything over about 2k elevation.

[buttahflake]

Absolutely perfect day for riding hard. Vermont RAS, Rare and Serious disease charity race/ride to increase awareness of how to better fund these diseases.
There are about 120 people behind me in this picture. 47 miles and 5,100 vert, nice long stretches of singletrack and class 4

[bodywhomper]

Anybody do the heart of gold ride/race today? https://www.heartofgoldgravel.com/

[buttahflake]

I’m watching the Gravel Worlds live from Belgium. This course is sick!

[buttahflake]

Look for it on YouTube

[Skistack]

Looks more like the Bike Path Worlds.


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[buttahflake]

Yeah, no. This is legit

[singlecross]

New Yorker article on Grant Peterson. I remember the first time I met him on a snowy morning on Mt Diablo (I was there to ski). What a trip.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2...taking-it-slow

Thanks for posting the link… nice Sunday morning read with my tea. I’ve been on the Petersen path for decades. Enjoy the ride

[buttahflake]

The best Woman racer of all time and a once in lifetime talent, win their respective races, course was totally legit! Way better than anything from Kansas.

[plugboots]

Hmm. Best woman racer? Not Jeannie Longo?

[Peruvian]

Yeah, no. This is legit

I don't really watch gravel racing, but is this course reflective of most of them? Obviously a rain storm would totally change things, but any course where the riders wear white shoes and socks doesn't seem chunky enough to differentiate it enough from road riding (which is likely why the field has so much cross over).

[buttahflake]

Have you watched any elite gravel races? They all wear road shoes, no matter what the conditions. The broadcast only showed the final loops, the first 80k was pretty rugged and way more technical than most. The flat corners alone made it stand out. I enjoyed watching it.

[Peruvian]

Have you watched any elite gravel races? They all wear road shoes, no matter what the conditions. The broadcast only showed the final loops, the first 80k was pretty rugged and way more technical than most. The flat corners alone made it stand out. I enjoyed watching it.

I guess I haven’t paid attention but somehow the fresh white shoes seem out of place in a gravel race.

No surprise the highlights show the fastest portions of the course. I’m glad it wasn’t all groomed gravel and asphalt.

[bodywhomper]

What’s wrong with socks?