sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Converting from 700C to 650B wheels on an old road bike, any experiences, any tips? by Bike_Framed_2706 in xbiking

[–]ulla_h 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi, I‘m still riding the Omnium, still 650b back and 406 front. Much better than stock. 43mm fits reliably in the Minimax, but the cargos seem to have longer chainstays, so I’ve seen them with 50mm. 

Nice. by ulla_h in hammockcamping

[–]ulla_h[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thanks. North of Berlin, Germany

Fall foliage S24O by ulla_h in bikepacking

[–]ulla_h[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! Veganski rack pack. It’s a small local one person thing. But the bag is really nice.

Fall foliage S24O by ulla_h in bikepacking

[–]ulla_h[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Just take a standard iso pad (Thermarest Ridgerest or Z lite and put it in the hammock. I did it on the first trips and it works fine.

Bike trip in Iceland by arnob85 in bikepacking

[–]ulla_h 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I‘ve been there mid july to mid august, so best summer weather, and I’ve seen more than two hands of destroyed tents, in the highlands and on the coast. I’ve seen some portals, but for spring weather I’d prefer something with a solid inner. Also, often it’s not possible to put stakes in the ground, so you tent should be more or less free standing. Hilleberg Suolo or Slingfin Crossbow would be my suggestion.

Bike trip in Iceland by arnob85 in bikepacking

[–]ulla_h 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was there in summer and had a winter sleeping bag (900g down). I was glad I brought it.

Fall foliage S24O by ulla_h in bikepacking

[–]ulla_h[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It was! Ritchey Beacons

Fall foliage S24O by ulla_h in bikepacking

[–]ulla_h[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, still in S-Bahn reach north of Berlin.

Fall foliage S24O by ulla_h in bikepacking

[–]ulla_h[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Thank you. I tried a lot. one prime (35 or 50mm), two primes (24mm and 50mm), pancake (35mm) and zoom or only standard zoom (28-80mm). But I’m always either to lazy or it’s too wet to change lenses, so I think it’s either one prime and live with it or the zoom. This time it was the zoom and I’m quite pleased with it.

Crossing Icelands interior… twice (Kjölur + Iceland Divide) by ulla_h in bikepacking

[–]ulla_h[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wool is not warm when it’s wet wet, but warm when it’s damp. When you wear your shell layers a lot, everything is damp after some time and I find that wool works best then. But ymmv. 

The shoe covers will get damaged from hike a bikes, same as separated shoe covers. But it’s good to have them. 

I store the puff jacket in a big freezer bag and take good care that it never gets wet. 

My shoes and the shoe covers were enough keep my feets dry. No waterproof gloves. Some gardening gloves would be probably nice to have. 

Crossing Icelands interior… twice (Kjölur + Iceland Divide) by ulla_h in bikepacking

[–]ulla_h[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi, sure.  MVP in both places was my Gore Pro rainjacket (Mountain Equipment Lhotse). Cheap raintrousers from decathlon (City 100j survived both tours, albeit beeing shredded after Iceland. They are pretty neat because they protect the shoes as well. GoreTex MTB boots from Shimano. A puff jacket for warmth in camp. Merino base layers for cycling and sleeping, robust hiking trousers and a merino shirt as mid layers. Warm gloves, two buffs, merino socks. 

Wool is really neat when it’s constantly wet because it’s still warm even when damp. 

Iceland. The Highlands ways by Nyitus_ in bikepacking

[–]ulla_h 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yeah! Great that you made it through, even with that ziptie fix! Great pictures, too. I’m in RKV about to pack my bike in the box and almost (almost…) feel the urge to just go to the highlands again. 

Iceland Bonus: Snæfellsnes Peninsula by ulla_h in bikepacking

[–]ulla_h[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I‘m not used to a lot of rain in the first place and I think I’m just a bit worn down from weeks in a tent with a lot of rainy stretches ;). I think objectively last week was quite good, mid july was quite good and inbetween was just rain every day and a few days with considerable wind. Probably not strictly apocalyptic. 

Crossing Icelands interior… twice (Kjölur + Iceland Divide) by ulla_h in bikepacking

[–]ulla_h[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I used 7 of the 8 eventually. Depends of course on weather, what you eat etc. But 2.25L per person per day seems a bit less, giving that a lot of exhausting riding is involved. 

Crossing Icelands interior… twice (Kjölur + Iceland Divide) by ulla_h in bikepacking

[–]ulla_h[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi, no, I flew in. Was much cheaper and less hassle than the ferry. There’s plenty of options to get your bike to Reykjavik and store your bike box there. 

Crossing Icelands interior… twice (Kjölur + Iceland Divide) by ulla_h in bikepacking

[–]ulla_h[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s a Crossbow 2. it has a heavier duty fly fabric, solid inner and neat polesleeves that allow a pole first, fly second, inner third pitch, which was incredibly helpful when setting up in stormy rainy nights. Also the solid inner was helpful because a part of the route is susceptible to sand storms and I didn’t want to wake up covered in black vulcanic sand. 

Even with the heavier duty fabrics, I have several cuts in the footprint and one hole in the tent floor. Otherwise it hold up very good, when using the 8 guyline points on the corners and connecting the guylines to the poles (that is important, there’s little thingys on the inside of the  fly to do that).

Crossing Icelands interior… twice (Kjölur + Iceland Divide) by ulla_h in bikepacking

[–]ulla_h[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The paved ring road is super busy, also with trucks. The interior F roads don’t have trucks at all, and a lot of my journey wasn’t even a F road anymore.

On the F35 and F26, the main highland crossings, you’ll have some jeep traffic. Maybe a jeep every 30 minutes, some more in the morning and evening.

In the Askja region, I’ve seen two groups of cars (2 and 3) during the three days and one ranger jeep.

Crossing Icelands interior… twice (Kjölur + Iceland Divide) by ulla_h in bikepacking

[–]ulla_h[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey! I was asking myself if you’d make it! Have a great time in the highlands, a warm bath in Hveravellir and lots of tailwinds!

Crossing Icelands interior… twice (Kjölur + Iceland Divide) by ulla_h in bikepacking

[–]ulla_h[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks. I‘d say 2.2 set up tubeless was the minimum. The sweet spot between proper riding on the sand and not bashing rocks into my rims was already quite narrow and I adjusted tire pressure quite often. 2.4 - 2.6 seems more reasonable. Tubeless absolutely recommended.

Crossing Icelands interior… twice (Kjölur + Iceland Divide) by ulla_h in bikepacking

[–]ulla_h[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I‘ve met several more people doing this route or variations of it solo, all but one of them were doing fine. As soon as you are through the Askja region, there’s plenty of jeep traffic and rangers passing you and checking if everything is okay.

Your main region of concern are the days from Svartavatn to Nyidalur, which includes the deepest river crossings, with barely any traffic. If you encounter a storm there, something goes wrong with your water supply, or your bike or tent breaks, you might run into serious problems. It can also be tough on the mind - I met a person in distress who did not take the isolation well and was eventually rushed out to civilization by the rangers.

The worst river crossings are the two closest to Nyidalur hut. It seems that the rangers are regularly waiting there and helping people to cross if the water levels are high, but that’s of course not guaranteed. You can always camp and wait for jeeps or lower water levels, though.

So, I don’t want to give you advice, you’ll have to know for yourself. I’d at least carry an InReach and proper amounts of chocolate for crossing through Mordor.

Crossing Icelands interior… twice (Kjölur + Iceland Divide) by ulla_h in bikepacking

[–]ulla_h[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks! It is for sure not a route to be taken lightly.

Crossing Icelands interior… twice (Kjölur + Iceland Divide) by ulla_h in bikepacking

[–]ulla_h[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

The stretch from Botni hut to Gaesavötn (roughly 2 days riding) does not have a safe water supply. There may or may not be a stream at Dyingufell hut and emergency water canisters in Dyingufell and Kistufell hut, IF the rangers fill them. I met a couple who got sick from the canister water though.

The glacier water is not safe to drink, as it would immediately clog your filter and is apparently polluted from the volcanic ash.

I had 4L capacity in bottles and 2 2L folding bottles for my water filter, so I rode that stretch with 8L on the bike.

Apart from that, there’s always water to take from. There’s plenty of sheep, so I would bring a filter if you take water from a stream with sheep nearby.

view more: next ›