A claggy day in the saddle 😎

The curious tale of the dog on the seafront...

It all started so well...

Not exactly according to plan 🙄

Herding cats 😜

After 2 years of dreaming, planning and training, it was the big day at last… 128 miles through the lava fields of Iceland and nobody shouted ‘Gravel!’ even once… 😀 

The ride stats don’t tell the story… it looked not too much ascent, and the second half mostly downhill… but the trail conditions are brutal, with big rocks, hellish washboard and deep volcanic sand. The first half into the volcano fields was amazing. The second, that was expected to be easier,  was a war of attrition with the terrain and sustained headwinds. However, no rain, hurrah!  And no technicals aside from annoyingly losing power data for the ride… though did help out a guy who had lost a cleat bolt… he was understandably pretty happy 😀 Also It’s probably only in Iceland that you would meet a guy at the top of a volcano offering you a share of his beer 😜 

Would I recommend it as a bucket list adventure life experience? Absolutely! Would I do it again… hmm. Maybe when the reality has faded in the memory 😀

It was tough and relentless, but I’m pleased I managed it, as I was one of the 2 joint oldest guys on the ride. Really proud of Jon… only started training 4 months ago and he absolutely smashed it 👏👏👏

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Ian Ryder

The Rift - Iceland 2023. We came, we pedalled, we conquered 😀 🇮🇸🌋🚵🏻‍♂️😰

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A claggy day in the saddle 😎

The curious tale of the dog on the seafront...

It all started so well...

Not exactly according to plan 🙄

Herding cats 😜

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