Thoughts on peak hours on the ring road in Iceland
04-09-20, 07:18 AM
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Thoughts on peak hours on the ring road in Iceland
Anyone who has biked the ring road around Iceland care to share observations of what the hourly usage peaks and valleys are?
6-10 AM
10-2PM
2-6PM
6-11PM
6-10 AM
10-2PM
2-6PM
6-11PM
04-09-20, 08:10 AM
#2
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Bored peanut gallery here looking after older parents, so this is an aside.
Re all the consistent reports I've read over the years about the omnipresent and formidable winds , I would lean heavily towards a drop bar bike for a ring road trip. My experiences in southern Mexico and Nicaragua in wind farm country cemented this into my view. I'm not a classics type rider, not chunky and strong, so appreciated the drops big time.
back to regular programming
Re all the consistent reports I've read over the years about the omnipresent and formidable winds , I would lean heavily towards a drop bar bike for a ring road trip. My experiences in southern Mexico and Nicaragua in wind farm country cemented this into my view. I'm not a classics type rider, not chunky and strong, so appreciated the drops big time.
back to regular programming
04-09-20, 08:19 AM
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yeah the wind and elevation gain are intimidating especially when planning this with consideration for various ability levels.
One thing I did not find a lot of information is the utilization of this road. People tell me it is super busy and off putting but I wonder if it is super busy 24/7 or what the peaks and valleys are. At the same time planning to bike early morning and later afternoon and evening could help mitigate the winds and traffic on that road...that is my early uneducated thinking
One thing I did not find a lot of information is the utilization of this road. People tell me it is super busy and off putting but I wonder if it is super busy 24/7 or what the peaks and valleys are. At the same time planning to bike early morning and later afternoon and evening could help mitigate the winds and traffic on that road...that is my early uneducated thinking
Last edited by PedalingWalrus; 04-09-20 at 08:22 AM.
04-09-20, 09:10 AM
#4
Bike touring webrarian
This page has 5 link to information about bike touring in Iceland. I don't know if any of them address the question you posted, but maybe the people whose pages these are can help if you contact them.
04-09-20, 09:41 AM
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I was there in June and July in 2016. The news reports I am seeing out of Iceland this year suggest that tourism may collapse this year due to the virus.
https://icelandmonitor.mbl.is/news/n...rious_trouble/
Are you just curious or are you planning a trip?
For what year?
I think I was on highway 1 which some people call the ring road for parts of three days, I did my best to avoid it. Stayed on the secondary roads as much as I could.
I usually started riding about 7:00 to 7:30 am. Roads were often almost deserted until 9:00 to 9:30 am. Keep in mind that in Iceland, most roads do not have paved shoulders, so you are riding in the traffic lane. Normally in light traffic, that is not a big deal but in heavy traffic where people can't pass as easily as they would like, that can be a big deal.
The photo does not show the rumble strip well but this part of highway 1 did have some paved shoulder along the edge and there was a rumble strip that was very hard to miss. Roughly the left 60 percent of the shoulder is darker in the photo, that is where the rumble strip is. Thus, the non-rumble strip part of the shoulder was quite narrow. A few times I got on the rumble strip and the vibration was so bad I could not see in my mirror any more. And when I can't look in my mirror, I can't turn into traffic lane on a busy road. A rumble strip like this is not prevalent, in this case I was less than a day of travel to Reykjavik and that close to the population center, the traffic is heavier. But the amount of traffic I saw on that road is prevalent.
The comment above about wind is correct, there were two days I quit early due to wind, one of those days I quit at 10:30am when I was unable to pedal up a hill. But there were two days I got to my destination early due to a tailwind, and I hate to waste a tailwind, so I kept going farther on those two days.
Keep in mind that if you are used to riding in the mid-latitudes, you often assume that wind is nil early in the morning and towards evening with peak winds around 1 or 2pm. Not so in Iceland, the wind blows when it wants to blow, the clock has nothing to do with it.
It does get wet there, I think I wore my rain jacket part of the day on one third of the days. I use two AAA powered taillights, one of them died from corrosion, water got into the electrics and killed it, but my second one kept running.
The secondary roads look more like the photo below. I was going to stop to take a photo of the clouds, but when I saw the cyclists, I delayed my photo so that I could get them in the picture. The lack of traffic on the back roads often looks like this. Note the shoulder.
Another typical road photo of the secondary roads.. This photo, I was really trying to get the fields, but you can see the road too.
There is a great cycling map that I picked up for free there. I do not know if updated every year, but my copy had the current year. It is printed on cheap paper, so assume that the map will last about a week assuming it gets damp occasionally. I picked up my copy at the Reykjavik hostel next to the Reykjavik campground, they also had free copies at the campground.
The map is also on line in PDF format, may help for planning. I do not know the link but I am sure you can find it. The key to the map is in the photo below, that shows how useful that map can be. Almost every community has a campground.
I wanted to see the interior so I briught a bike that can go off road without any difficulty. And that meant that I could ride on the gravel roads quite easily too. An example of one of the gravel roads below, but that road was down where normal cars drove.
The interior roads can be a bit rougher, they are posted for 4X4 vehicles only. Photo below:
I had a great time and I might go back again. I put my route from my GPS onto Google Earth and did a screen shot of that, below.
Before I went, some people had posted on youtube movies of their trips. If any are of highway 1, you might be able to see a fast forwarded version of what the road and route is like.
A better photo of the bike I took, below.
Watch out for traffic jams.
https://icelandmonitor.mbl.is/news/n...rious_trouble/
Are you just curious or are you planning a trip?
For what year?
I think I was on highway 1 which some people call the ring road for parts of three days, I did my best to avoid it. Stayed on the secondary roads as much as I could.
I usually started riding about 7:00 to 7:30 am. Roads were often almost deserted until 9:00 to 9:30 am. Keep in mind that in Iceland, most roads do not have paved shoulders, so you are riding in the traffic lane. Normally in light traffic, that is not a big deal but in heavy traffic where people can't pass as easily as they would like, that can be a big deal.
The photo does not show the rumble strip well but this part of highway 1 did have some paved shoulder along the edge and there was a rumble strip that was very hard to miss. Roughly the left 60 percent of the shoulder is darker in the photo, that is where the rumble strip is. Thus, the non-rumble strip part of the shoulder was quite narrow. A few times I got on the rumble strip and the vibration was so bad I could not see in my mirror any more. And when I can't look in my mirror, I can't turn into traffic lane on a busy road. A rumble strip like this is not prevalent, in this case I was less than a day of travel to Reykjavik and that close to the population center, the traffic is heavier. But the amount of traffic I saw on that road is prevalent.
The comment above about wind is correct, there were two days I quit early due to wind, one of those days I quit at 10:30am when I was unable to pedal up a hill. But there were two days I got to my destination early due to a tailwind, and I hate to waste a tailwind, so I kept going farther on those two days.
Keep in mind that if you are used to riding in the mid-latitudes, you often assume that wind is nil early in the morning and towards evening with peak winds around 1 or 2pm. Not so in Iceland, the wind blows when it wants to blow, the clock has nothing to do with it.
It does get wet there, I think I wore my rain jacket part of the day on one third of the days. I use two AAA powered taillights, one of them died from corrosion, water got into the electrics and killed it, but my second one kept running.
The secondary roads look more like the photo below. I was going to stop to take a photo of the clouds, but when I saw the cyclists, I delayed my photo so that I could get them in the picture. The lack of traffic on the back roads often looks like this. Note the shoulder.
Another typical road photo of the secondary roads.. This photo, I was really trying to get the fields, but you can see the road too.
There is a great cycling map that I picked up for free there. I do not know if updated every year, but my copy had the current year. It is printed on cheap paper, so assume that the map will last about a week assuming it gets damp occasionally. I picked up my copy at the Reykjavik hostel next to the Reykjavik campground, they also had free copies at the campground.
The map is also on line in PDF format, may help for planning. I do not know the link but I am sure you can find it. The key to the map is in the photo below, that shows how useful that map can be. Almost every community has a campground.
I wanted to see the interior so I briught a bike that can go off road without any difficulty. And that meant that I could ride on the gravel roads quite easily too. An example of one of the gravel roads below, but that road was down where normal cars drove.
The interior roads can be a bit rougher, they are posted for 4X4 vehicles only. Photo below:
I had a great time and I might go back again. I put my route from my GPS onto Google Earth and did a screen shot of that, below.
Before I went, some people had posted on youtube movies of their trips. If any are of highway 1, you might be able to see a fast forwarded version of what the road and route is like.
A better photo of the bike I took, below.
Watch out for traffic jams.
Last edited by Tourist in MSN; 04-09-20 at 10:06 AM.
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04-09-20, 10:02 AM
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excellent info. Thank You! Yeah so, it seems that early morning and late afternoon would work well to avoid the most annoying traffic. That was what I was thinking. Sort of an "Arctic Siesta" :-)
The wind info however throws my hopes out the window but I have kind of thought that was likely.
I do not know where we will be in August as a nation with respect to the virus but I was hoping that by August there might be a chance. 2020.
The wind info however throws my hopes out the window but I have kind of thought that was likely.
I do not know where we will be in August as a nation with respect to the virus but I was hoping that by August there might be a chance. 2020.
04-09-20, 11:13 AM
#7
Senior Member
Never been there, but my memory of the Pilot Chart for the North Atlantic shows pretty much the nastiest spot in the whole place is off the southeast corner of Iceland, Winter or Summer.
Also, 'heavy traffic' means different things to different people. Then, whether that traffic is on a road with nice shoulders or not, and how mannerly the drivers are
Also, 'heavy traffic' means different things to different people. Then, whether that traffic is on a road with nice shoulders or not, and how mannerly the drivers are
04-09-20, 12:22 PM
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It would be a tough place to go for only a week long trip, but if you have at least two weeks so you could get some distance out of Reykjavik, it can be a great place to bike tour. I was there for four weeks, if I go again I would probably be there for five weeks. Campground fees were lower than I pay here in North America. Groceries are similar in price to here too. But, when you buy food that someone else cooked, that is where things get expensive. I stayed several nights in hostels, they were pretty affordable too.
I try to avoid peak season when it can be more crowded, that is why I went in June and early July. It was just starting to get busy when I came home.
The bike that I took is a Thorn. I wrote up a trip summary on the Thorn forum, if you wanted to look at that, the link is at:
Iceland - Nomad Mk II - June/July 2016
Two more photos, the fish and chips were my favorite food there that was cooked by others.
And a scenic shot. This was on a really windy day with a storm coming from the North Atlantic, I had to cross the bridge in the photo and the wind was from the ocean which was from the left, I waited until no visible traffic to cross the bridge because I rode down the center of the two lane bridge because the side wind was so strong.
I only met two couples from USA that were bike touring, almost all the other bike tourists were from UK or continental Europe. And I was really surprised how many I saw from USA in the tourist areas, but almost never saw people from USA in campgrounds. The travelers from USA all were staying indoors and many were part of tour groups.
I had no trouble at all getting by speaking english, almost everybody spoke that including the travelers from Continental Europe that I met in campgrounds.
04-09-20, 01:28 PM
#9
Senior Member
My wife and I rode the ring road counterclockwise in 2008. We spent 5 weeks and camped every night. The campgrounds are cheap and food at grocery stores isn't too bad. Like others have said, eating restaurant food or staying indoors is crazy expensive.
One of the highlights of the trip was visiting the public swimming pools that are found in pretty much every town. It's cheap to pay for a day pass. You get to swim in heated pools without chlorine and have a nice shower.
Don't underestimate the wind. Make sure your tent is capable of withstanding fierce gusts. We brought a 4-season tent, which worked well.
The only day we experienced bad traffic was our last day coming into Reykjavik from the north. No surprise, the further you're away from the main tourist attractions near Reykjavik the better the traffic gets.
One of the highlights of the trip was visiting the public swimming pools that are found in pretty much every town. It's cheap to pay for a day pass. You get to swim in heated pools without chlorine and have a nice shower.
Don't underestimate the wind. Make sure your tent is capable of withstanding fierce gusts. We brought a 4-season tent, which worked well.
The only day we experienced bad traffic was our last day coming into Reykjavik from the north. No surprise, the further you're away from the main tourist attractions near Reykjavik the better the traffic gets.
04-09-20, 06:16 PM
#10
Senior Member
Peanut gallery again
Ahhh, so many trip ideas, so little time in life.
Ive thought about this place, and tmsn, your photos and other folks as well, have made me go...oooo that would be a cool trip...
sheesh though, this summer was supposed to be a wife and me Europe trip (Holland was winning the vote) and then me continuing onto the UK to go up to Scotland, but I was just saying to my folks that as someone not afraid of traveling and prepping for vaccines etc and being realistic about risks, I really do wonder when I'll be comfortable traveling internationally.
The idea of getting this virus anywhere else than here in Canada is a very sobering thought...
Guess all I can say is that in the future sometime, if any of you would want a traveling companion for an Iceland trip, I'd be interested if it could fit in.
Re winds, I'm so glad I have that mtb triple on my troll. The times I've had to ride in the 22t chainring on the flats due to headwinds really has made me lol, but damn thankful I have it!
Ahhh, so many trip ideas, so little time in life.
Ive thought about this place, and tmsn, your photos and other folks as well, have made me go...oooo that would be a cool trip...
sheesh though, this summer was supposed to be a wife and me Europe trip (Holland was winning the vote) and then me continuing onto the UK to go up to Scotland, but I was just saying to my folks that as someone not afraid of traveling and prepping for vaccines etc and being realistic about risks, I really do wonder when I'll be comfortable traveling internationally.
The idea of getting this virus anywhere else than here in Canada is a very sobering thought...
Guess all I can say is that in the future sometime, if any of you would want a traveling companion for an Iceland trip, I'd be interested if it could fit in.
Re winds, I'm so glad I have that mtb triple on my troll. The times I've had to ride in the 22t chainring on the flats due to headwinds really has made me lol, but damn thankful I have it!
