Iceland: Cycle Touring the Ring Road, pt.2

On the second half of the trip, did things remain brutally hard or pick up? Watch and find out! At this stage I have 10 days left to get back to Reykjavik, taking in some of the country's most iconic locations.
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[@guulyian]

Great videos, thanks. I like the comment you made about there being no medal when you opted for the bus. Sometimes it takes more courage to swallow a bit of pride for the greater good, rather than stubbornly continue on with something just to prove a point, and it looks like you called it perfectly! I love Iceland, and dream of doing a similar trip to yours one day. Stunning photos too btw. Thanks for sharing.

[@billystevenson3477]

Really enjoyed watching these, very inspirational !

[@auke1959]

great job, Keep posting, you have great content.

[@JamesStevensonPhoto]

Thank you Auke, appreciate you watching :)

[@vedhed21]

Fantastic vids. Enjoyed Iceland all over again.

[@Manuelrehse]

Thank you for these videos about your trip. Im actually thinking about just doing that kind of trip in a couple of years. So Im sure I will get back to you in the future

[@petercho6233]

Stunning photography. Good for the soul. Many thanks for sharing!

[@BeatPoet67]

Nice vid. Looks like a mind blowing place. And yes, there's nothing worse on a bike than fighting a brutal headwind for hours so I don't blame you for taking a bus at one point!

[@BicinViaggio]

Wonderful videos and useful material which we’ll certainly treasure for our trip to Iceland (hopefully in 2023…). Cheers!

[@maxmartian9622]

Amazing. I drove the ring road. I can’t possibly imagine biking it? Wow!

[@colour.retreat]

Hi James! Thanks so much for sharing this, super insightful as my partner and I are planning a similar trip, smaller one, bikepacking around Iceland in about a month! I am currently going through your camp sites and locations, it's super helpful.

[@JamesStevensonPhoto]

That's amazing! I'm still really happy that six years on from my trip, I get such nice comments and hear from people planning their own trips! I'm always happy to answer any questions, and excited to hear about others' adventures. Hope your planning is going well - I found most of those campsites were really quiet, some didn't even seem to have any staff around, and that it would also have been easy to just put up the tent in fields alongside the road for wild camping in lots of places if you need to change plans on the fly. Another tip someone gave me was that the buses you see passing you on your travels will always pick you up if you thumb for a ride, wherever you are. So of you have bike troubles, that's an option too. It's a very safety conscious place, I found, and the people were warm and kind. Hotel owners in the slightly larger villages would always be happy for me to hang out there and get a little comfort if I just bought a coffee. It'd be great to hear how you get on, all the best!

[@colour.retreat]

​@@JamesStevensonPhoto Fantastic!! Thank you so much for sharing these tips, it definitely gives me more confidence if ever we run into any trouble. My bigger fears planning this trip are 1) how bad the weather is going to affect our plans and our confort, because we will mostly be bikepacking + camping. 2) how fluid and easy is it to travel by bus (we are planning two big loops - one in the east, one in the west- and will need to travel by bus at the beginning and in between these loops) with the bikes and the bags on them. We also found someone in Reykjavik that can keep our bike boxes when we arrive, so that we can take them back before flying out of Iceland. I was wondering how you managed that when you went? Did you leave your bike box/travel bag at the airport in Keflavík?

[@euanforrester7723]

We just got back from a trip of our own to Iceland and really enjoyed watching these -- they brought us back and reaffirmed our desire for a return trip. I didn't get a chance to talk with you about your trip before we left, but I read your articles and used them to help plan (while trying to avoid the photos so as to not spoil things too much). But it was these videos that I really enjoyed: they had a lot of heart. Throughout our trip we kept seeing people cycle touring, and we wondered from our warm car what it would be like and why on earth someone would choose to be out there in the rain and wind pedaling up yet another hill. Now I understand a bit better: I really got the sense of being *in* the landscape from your videos, whereas from the car we more saw it go by. Awesome work on these videos, and I'm looking forward to chatting with you about our respective trips the next time I see you!

[@JamesStevensonPhoto]

Hi Euan! Thanks so much for watching and I'm glad you enjoyed this! That's great that you read the articles too, I had no idea! I can completely understand not wanting to spoil things and not looking at photos beforehand. I loved my trip there and have no doubt in my mind that I'll return someday! Iceland has a special place in my memory now, I had my ass kicked for a lot of the way around but will always value the experience. I think when I drive around next time I'll wonder what on earth I was thinking cycling round! I look forward to chatting with you too, it will be great to hear about your trip and how you experienced travelling there. I'd love to see your photos too.

[@CheGevara2]

Very inspired video. Thanks for sharing. Good luck on the road!

[@JamesStevensonPhoto]

Very kind, I'm glad you enjoyed this. Safe travels to you too!

[@linesided]

Love your pictures and an inspiring trip - thanks for sharing!

[@JamesStevensonPhoto]

Really glad you enjoyed these videos! Safe cycling, best wishes from Vancouver!

[@WanderingSoleTV]

Wonderful images. Bike touring is my favorite mode of travel!

[@JamesStevensonPhoto]

Wandering Sole Images thanks! It’s definitely rewarding and challenging, I’m glad you enjoyed this 😊

[@thesnudge1]

Beautiful video. Thank you for sharing

[@debaddel]

I like your wonderful images :-) Thanks for sharing. Greetings from Germany !!

[@JamesStevensonPhoto]

Thanks Gerrit! I'm glad you enjoyed it, greetings from Vancouver Canada!

[@jonnygeez]

The second film tells you all you need to know, you clearly had a lot more time to enjoy, stop, absorb and smell the roses. I've cycled many destinations, and spent a lot of time in Iceland (perhaps a dozen visits) and I honestly would not want to ride the golden circle on a pushbike, the north is too extreme for me and cycling it would become more of an endurance battle and less of an tour. For my money I think the best way to explore Iceland is on foot (perhaps walking the southern volcanoes)...or with a motor. You did the right thing for you, which was to do whatever you wanted to make the trip enjoyable, jumping on a shuttle bus is part of the adventure. Nice video(s)

[@rusty1991]

Hey, just watched this. A really inspiring journey, the planning always is exciting - what will your next adventure be? As a person watching this the first time I probably would like more info about your gear, bike choice, things to pay attention to but since the video's focus wasn't about that maybe it could be shorter vids supporting this bigger project. Keep sharing! Really liked the project.

[@welshlad6427]

Great vlog mate. Some great photos and memories made I’m sure. I am heading to Iceland 🇮🇸 for 8 days soon and am travelling the ring road albeit in a campervan. Cannot wait.

[@JamesStevensonPhoto]

Happy you enjoyed this and great that you have your own trip coming up. I'd love to do it again in a van and have access to lots of places I couldn't quite get to (like the west fjords). Have a safe and amazing trip!

[@JamesStevensonPhoto]

Thanks Richard - it really was. Oh man yeah that headwind, it really did beat me up!! No trees to break it up either so it's constant. The trip was well worth it though, it really was. I will return there one day in the winter for a different trip, seeing the places I couldn't reach by bike. Thanks for watching Richard!

[@twsoh4260]

Thank you James for sharing about the trip, something I wanted and thinking of doing next year. Fingers crossed. Wishing you well and like to know more about your works in the website soon. Cheers!

[@JamesStevensonPhoto]

My pleasure! I'm glad you enojoyed watching, hopefully you get to go yourself. Hope the links to campsites and such in the info here are still active and valid now we're a few years on! Happy to answer any questions you might have when you come to plan your trip! Best wishes and thanks!

[@anandarackal188]

it was amazing.. great photographs

[@yarno_the_irondad9685]

thanks for your films, leaving soon for iceland

[@alyssatorres5897]

3:21 OMG! I was there 2 weeks ago and that same dog was at the falls! She/he was playing fetch with me with a rock! I got a video of it! So sweet and so cool!

[@JamesStevensonPhoto]

Haha wow! That's so sweet to hear that he / she is still doing well and playing with guests! I guess she must belong to the campsite owners, I'd figured she was with some other campers!! Come to think of it though we barely saw anyone running the site - not uncommon at Icelandic campsites on this trip! Nice that you played catch, and thanks for sharing this story, made me smile! PS: 2 weeks ago and reminiscing about Iceland already? You'll be planning another trip before long, I sense!! Hope you had an amazing trip.

[@KitBetts-Masters]

Great videos! Keep it up!

[@mcbainish]

Great videos!

[@JamesStevensonPhoto]

you enjoyed them!

[@federicofloresmoy8385]

I liked your journey James., and the way to explain it thank you. Nice place. How many days did it take you to get all the way around the island. Thank you for sharing. Kind Regards from Mexico.

[@Jeff.Slavich]

Exceptional photography. I consider myself an amateur photographer (very amateur) and the black and whites were fantastic. Thanks for sharing.

[@JamesStevensonPhoto]

Very happy you enjoyed this - and I hope you get to check it off your bucket list when the world reopens!

[@massagetoheal6715]

Simply amazing

[@JamesStevensonPhoto]

Wow, thank you, happy you enjoyed this!

[@massagetoheal6715]

@@JamesStevensonPhoto I did enjoy and i am truly inspired.Thank you 👍

[@Antagonistic]

Hi James, a bit late to the party. Headwinds are the cycle tourers nemesis. It is easy to end up countng clicks (KMs) rather than having fun. To avoid family revolt we tend to cycle 10am-2pm and 25km-40km on a route with plenty of villages/towns and interest as have found over the years scenery is lovely but you can become a bit punch drunk. Like your route map annotation - how did you do it?

[@susancronk8512]

What a great finish to your journey. You were truly blessed to have seen and experienced that wonderful country. Curious, just how flat is the landscape or are there some pretty tough inclines?

[@JamesStevensonPhoto]

Hi Susan! Thanks for watching. Some inclines were a challenge with the weight of the bike but by far the biggest challenge was the wind at the start. For the most part the landscape rollls gently around route 1, save for a few sections which are mountainous, but some days even the flat days took a long time and hard peddling. Looking back on it now it was a great challenge though, the tough parts were well worthwhile!

[@sharatchandra2743]

Hallo James, Really an amazing video . As myself planning to cycle ring road this year in June. Your video helped me really with great lot of information . At end of two part , I have question now in which way to start my tour .clockwise /anti clockwise?. Can you please help me out? Is there any reason you to start clock wise? Thank a lot in advance .

[@markushackstock1956]

Really great Video! One Question, if you had 7 days Cycling on Iceland, where would you go? Normally I do About 100 kms per day during a bike trip, so for 600-700kms where would you go? Thanks

[@MykeyboardIsBroken]

Hey, great video! I’d like to read some article about small things like expenses, or where did you left a bike box, in airport? How did you check the weather and wind, did you buy a local SIM card and how is internet access overall, how did you decide which route to take, hat is the best season to go there, etc.. id be very appreciated :)

[@JamesStevensonPhoto]

Hi! Thanks for watching. To answer some questions: 1) Bike box, my local shop gave me one in Canada, I ditched it at the airport and got kriacycles.com/ in Reykjavik to box mine for the return trip. They charged a small fee but it saved me finding place to store the box and I was grateful for the help at the end! 2) Weather, I just chose late summer for the best temperatures and lack of snow. I was never really cold, around 10 degrees most days was great for cycling. Otherwise the weather is notoriously unpredictable - the only thing you can be sure of is that you'll be hit by some hard conditions at some stage!! 3) Route, I just opted for route 1 as it was straightforward to plan and had little-to-no off-roading. 4) I used Wifi at every petrol station, N1 stations are all around and they all had data. Also look up the safe iceland travel app. If you check out the video description there are links to the camp spots I used along the route and to more details on my website, hope this is useful and best wishes on your trip, let me know how you get on!

[@johnroamer4048]

hi James. I lived at Jokullsarlon for nearly 3 months in 2018. It.s deeply imprinted in my heart. want to return to iceland and explore all of it by cycling. you said you have some tips and improvements as to how you.d do it this time. could you give me some pointers/tips on days, distance, equipment, so on and so forth please?

[@JamesStevensonPhoto]

Hi John. Wow, that must have been amazing! In short, I'd say if you're planning to do a trip around the whole country / ring road by bike; - Allow several days contingency / 1 rest day every 5-7 days - Don't overpack. - Ride your bike with ALL the gear you plan to carry before your trip. This might sound obvious, but I did my training rides with a few things left out and I really noticed this come the trip! - Distance will very much depend on your level of cycling. I planned for 40-50 miles a day based on previous trips, ave. Some days this was really easy, others.... well... you saw!! - Carry some essential tools and if you don't know already, learn how to deal with basic bike issues like broken chains or spokes - at least to patch up til you get to a shop as they're quite spread out. - Give yourself time to enjoy each location on foot, rather than just hit distances each day. You'll be tired so having an extra day or half day in key locations would be amazing. Hope this is helpful, is there anything I missed that might help you plan?

[@neilsenior4975]

Do you think it would have been easier to start going to the East and around the island counter clockwise on is that wind going to get you regardless?

[@JohnMFlores]

Brilliant storytelling. Do you think if you had extended this trip to four weeks you would have had enough time for the photography and hiking that you had originally wanted to do? I'm a photographer too, so I'd like enough time for that on my trip.

[@JamesStevensonPhoto]

John M Flores thanks for watching John! Four weeks would have been great yes. That would have given me 1 week of contingency instead of one day which I lost from the get-go!! I think with four weeks you’d be able to take 4-6 days off just to rest, recover and enjoy some alternative activities exploring off the bike in places. Would love to hear how you get on if you do this! Happy to help where I can!

[@danielholman7225]

Yeah, that was a hell of a water falls

[@mike4233]

Can I ask why you went clockwise, and not counter clockwise? Any benefit from doing one or the other? I plan on doing it in the summer and looking for tips. I appreciate it, and love the video!! Thank you

[@JamesStevensonPhoto]

Hi and sorry for the late reply! Just a roll of the dice really - and also I planned to meet a friend in Hofn and it worked out that he could fly there and he only had a week, so we could do that last stretch together. Otherwise I don't think there's a real benefit to going one way or the other.

[@honorphillips]

Hi James very inspiring video. I'm planning on cycling Iceland in July of this year, but i am still pretty new to this. Are there any bikes you suggest or recommend?

[@JamesStevensonPhoto]

Thank you Honor. I actually asked the same question of Alastair (the author chap I mentioned). His advice was sound; You don't need a fancy bike. I'd just recommend one that has brazed-on fixings that you can attach racks / panniers to, and one that has a low-ratio mountain-bike style gear for those windy days on the hills. Commuter bikes generally don't have this very low gear, so I'd look out for that. Tyres, I'd also invest in something sturdy and puncture resistant with good road tread, I did and didn't get a single puncture even on roads near the city which were strewn with bits of truck!

[@johnroamer4048]

what does low ratio moutain bike style gear mean? would you recommend a racing road bike or a hardtail mtb? and what thickness tyres? and with some threads on them so you don.t slip in the rain right? was just thinking if a hardtail mtb woud be appropriate or can be done with a light road bike...but since it needs panier racks and all baggage I don.t think carbon would be ideal there

[@achnamara]

Really enjoyed that. I did Iceland the other way round in 2013. I had a similar experience of needing to take the bus at one point and absolutely share your feelings about it. As you said at the end, it was hard. Scotland on steroids. Thanks.

[@JamesStevensonPhoto]

Thanks Dick, glad you enjoyed it! Would love to cycle Scotland / British Isles some day too, one for future adventures!

[@alexmcglenn]

Hi James, my wife and I are planning this same trip for summer 2019. I have done two other tours (in the US) that bordered on 2k miles, but I've not undertaken something that is prone to such volatile weather. I see that most solo bike tourers have the full 4 panier set up, which I have, but my wife is new to touring and she only has a back rack and paniers at the moment. Do you think 2 people could get away with 6 paniers over all, or do you think each person should have the full touring setup?

[@alexmcglenn]

I'm also curious if you have an equipment checklist you used. We won't be taking a bunch of camera gear, but seeing what other ppl have taken will certainly help.

[@Hrshsngh_19]

What should be the daily budget for Iceland? I mean for camping and cooking our own food? And the best time to visit Iceland?

[@regvar8468]

Good questions, I hope answers to these are posted soon. However, I suspect "keep plenty of cash handy, and a high balance card too" will probably be best

[@Hrshsngh_19]

@@regvar8468 yep

[@sophiabrand2883]

Did you bring your own bike or did you rent one over there?

[@mitchellfrankish8127]

what did you do with the bike box during your trip?

[@JamesStevensonPhoto]

Sorry for the late reply Mitchell, I ditched my box and got this shop to box my bike for my return trip: kriacycles.com/ They were great, and bike shops will always have spare boxes if you ask in advance, many will also box for you for a small fee like this shop did for me in Reykjavik. Thanks for watching!

[@calvinmak8996]

Amazing!

[@JamesStevensonPhoto]

Thanks Calvin!

[@louisbergmann5838]

Hey James, your website is down. Is there another place to find your Iceland summary/diary? greets louis

[@JamesStevensonPhoto]

Thanks for watching Louis - I did indeed rehost with squarespace and need to repost some articles. Once they're on the new site I'll link you up! In the mean time here's a link to my pack-list and all the places I stayed (the planning spreadsheet I mentioned in the video). drive.google.com/open?id=1wkc8cpXG30mTXRd6-K__CU5ptJZ-go9H Hope this is helpful, let me know if I can help further!

[@adrianlau11]

@@JamesStevensonPhoto Thanks for the update James!!

[@williams6334]

Bloody Dave @2:45 hogging the glory after just flying in ;)

[@JamesStevensonPhoto]

Haha this really made me chuckle... because it's TRUE!! Thanks for watching William!

[@williams6334]

@@JamesStevensonPhoto No, thank you for the great clips! Very good viewing and informative. My younger brother did the ring road ride in 2017 and I'm considering doing it in August this year.

[@smoniotte]

How easily did you find ways to recharge your external batteries, GPS, phone, etc... while travelling along ?

[@JamesStevensonPhoto]

Hi Stephane! Thanks for watching. I have a USB dynamo hub built into the front wheel of my bike, which was great for charging the phone - IF I could keep my speed above around 12mph. Sounds slow... but on those strong headwind days, sometimes I struggled to hit that. I stayed at intervals in places where I could top up, but had to ration the batteries on the gopro etc. I'd carry a good powerbank with a few days charge in it if you plan to camp most of the way round. I found when I was in places where I could have a coffee in the evenings, like hotels and such, people were really friendly. As a customer they were happy for me to spend time there, charge a couple of things etc. As long as you're respectful about that and not trying to recharge an arsenal of filmmaking gear, that's helpful too. Hope that's of some help? Anything else I can help with? Excited that you're planning a trip!

[@tomtafola4518]

So much inspiration in this video thank for sharing you n I should do a film on Hilo Hawaii let me know if u interested I will join you.

[@raeesmohammed3072]

Zero unlikes !!wow

[@JamesStevensonPhoto]

Hahah I hadn't noticed that... but now that you mention it! That's a pretty rare thing on KZbin, I'll take it whilst it lasts!!! thanks for watching :)

[@federicofloresmoy8385]

Excuse me I hear you Ten day all the trip .in the second view. Thank you Jame.

[@JamesStevensonPhoto]

Hello and thanks for watching, I'm glad you enjoyed this! The trip in total - the whole loop - took 21 days including flights / transfers. I think to cycle comfortably with rest days, maybe a month would be better. The ten days in this video were very much easier than the ten days at the start, it was amazing to be cycling with the wind at our backs!

[@oliverjackson5070]

How much money did you spend on this trip?

[@JamesStevensonPhoto]

Oof I wish I could be specific! One thing to say would be this was 2016 and a lot's changed in the world since... I can say this much, accommodation was reasonable as I only stayed a few nights in air bnb's and one lodge show in this video. Other than that the campsites often didn't even have a way to pay and I just left some honesty money if and where I could! Not all were like that, but at least half - it may well be busier now with more facilities at some of these places. My main costs were in buying evening dinners at the service stations. My plan had been to cook for myself but the temptation of hot food that was already prepared was very often too hard to resist!! Iceland is expensive, there's no escaping that food and drink costs will be high, but that's not to say it can't be done on a budget with planning and willpower better than mine! Sorry this isn't likely very helpful! Are you planning a trip this year? Thanks for watching these videos :)

[@oliverjackson5070]

@@JamesStevensonPhoto I'm just fantasizing. I would love to skateboard the ring road.

[@JamesStevensonPhoto]

@@oliverjackson5070 have you watched The Secret Life of Walter Mitty? You should ;)

[@WaqarAli-vn1zy]

428 likes 0 dislikes... here goes 429tg like

[@JamesStevensonPhoto]

I heard that dislikes mean you've made it on KZbin!! Like a badge of honour! ;) Happy you enjoyed this... nice that you noticed that too, I hadn't realised!