600 KM ICELANDIC GRAVEL CROSSING

 

In August 2023, Julien Mazard and Loïc Doval set off on a self-supported gravel crossing of Iceland. The cold, the wind, the long stages, and the complexity of the route did not stop the pair from completing this arduous project. Julien tells us about the diversity of the landscapes, the wild places they traveled through, as well as the difficulty and the beauty of the crossing.

 

"The idea was to do a long-distance cycling crossing, not necessarily extreme but still challenging. With Loïc, we were looking for wild places in the heart of unique landscapes.

 

We were on paths where, for hundreds of kilometers, we didn't pass a single village or encounter anyone. It was barely punctuated by a few mountain huts.

 

We covered nearly 600 kilometers, all on trails taking us through very wild, lunar-like sites, similar to vast deserts. We traveled through landscapes of great variety, ranging from huge plateaus surrounded by glaciers to riverbanks encircled by mountains and waterfalls.

 

Generally, we did between 50 and 100 kilometers a day, depending on the condition of the trails and the weather. The hardest part of this type of expedition is not so much the distances to cover as the weather conditions. Despite the cold, we were lucky to have a tailwind and sunshine. We would start our days around 8 a.m., taking the time to wake up and have a good breakfast (the best meal of the day). Once the tent was packed, we would reorganize our gear, which was never packed the same way as the day before, and then we would start riding. 200 meters later, there was always a bag that would fall off. We would tighten our straps harder and set off for good.

 

The kilometers flew by—or didn't! You know when you start, but never when you’ll arrive. Rivers to cross, headwinds, technical problems—something was always happening.

 

We had planned for 9 days of self-sufficiency. In the middle of the trip, we found a hut where there were chips, Snickers, and candy. We were so happy; we ate all three at the same time. Our relationship with food changed a little during the trip. Our load was very heavy, so we could be self-sufficient while still eating enough to avoid the risk of 'bonking' on the road.

 

All of our stages had a particular story, but the very first one will remain a special memory. We had started from Akureyri, a city in the north of Iceland, to reach Vik in the south, in 8 or 9 days maximum. We hadn't planned for more food. On the day of departure, we decided to change our route. We were embarking on something too difficult, with stages where we would have had to push the bikes for tens of kilometers. What's more, a volcano was apparently ready to erupt. During that day, we would already have experienced a lot.

 

Leaving civilization behind is not as simple as we had imagined. We completed a long tunnel crossing, and after a few kilometers, we found ourselves amidst immense waterfalls, rain, cold, wind, sun, and heat, finally arriving at the first kilometers of trails heading toward the Highlands, the Icelandic high plateaus with their limitless expanses.

 

As we progressed, the landscapes became increasingly wild, the mountains took shape, and the last houses faded away to give way to a huge field of lava as far as the eye could see. We finally arrived at our destination at 11 p.m., a place out of time, in the middle of magma that had been inert for thousands of years. We were already exhausted after 8 hours of cycling and weeks of preparation. The pressure dropped, a feeling of freedom emerged, and the adventure could finally begin.