Life is full of uncertainty. Things happen that are beyond our control, events that can only be observed from the outside. Our trip to Iceland is also one of those occasions marked by uncertainty. A trip that grew from an idea into a concrete plan over two years, but which only came about as a result of sudden twists of fate. It was cancer that brought us together, Jürgen and Silke, when we met at the Hamborn Rehabilitation Clinic in 2023. Cancer is always a time of uncertainty, but it taught us both something very important: that life is too short to put things off. And as the Iceland countdown ticks down to its final day, we strap our bikes onto the bike rack and say goodbye to our apartments for the next three weeks, we still can’t quite believe that it’s really happening. We’re going to Iceland. We’re cycling across Iceland. We’re really doing it!
From Lübeck, we are accompanied by Hans-Ulrich Pielow, a friend who is an Iceland tour guide, teacher, and geologist, who will be sharing his knowledge and accompanying us in a support vehicle over the coming weeks. Together, we drive to Denmark, or more precisely to Hirtshals. We arrive late in the evening on the day before the ferry trip and cast a worried glance at the sea that lies in front of the city: it is rough and seems almost as agitated as we are. Fortunately, the next morning we see that the waves are no longer so high. We have a relaxed crossing with a short stopover on the Faroe Islands. On the ferry, we meet Petra and Chrissi, two women who are also going to explore Iceland by bike.
After two days on the ferry, we finally see land. As we enter the fjord, our excitement grows, and when we finally feel Icelandic soil beneath our feet in Seyðisfjörður, we have to pinch ourselves. Our Iceland adventure begins! And right away with the first challenge: the mountain that leads us to Egilsstaðir has a gradient of almost 10%. Petra and Chrissi accompany us for a while, and so we not only conquer the mountain, but also finally reach Egilsstaðir hours later, where we make a short stop at a breathtaking lake. Chrissi tells us that her son Joshua is also on a bike tour with a friend, traveling around the world. On the way to our first campsite, “Svartiskógur,” Chrissi and Petra say goodbye, and we cycle for a while longer on the busy ring road before finally covering the last 10 kilometers in drizzling rain. Finally arriving at the tree-lined campsite, we pitch our tents and reflect on the first day. The quiet conversations of the Icelanders who will be spending the night in their campers next to us fade away as we proudly talk about our first kilometer. As the rain increases, we retreat to our tents, exhausted and happy.
