Two years and a pandemic later The Rift Iceland finally happened – and this event delivered!! That being said it was one of the biggest challenges physically I have ever come across, not just for the distance, but also the extreme weather and conditionsFirst in preparation was the packing. I was thankful for everything I had with me:
Marino Wool Socks – 2 Pair (Kitsbow)
2 pairs of cycling shorts – one knicker and one short (Kitsbow)
Base Layer (I opted for a warmer one for the race
Jersey
Arm Warmers
Warm Cycling Jacket (Ornot)
Waterproof Cycling Jacket (Ornot)
Neck Gator (Ornot)
2 Pair Cycling gloves – one winter weight one summer weight
Cap
Helmet
Shoes
Icelandic weather is unpredictable so you need options. Race day was cold and raining so I pretty much ended up wearing it all and was not sorry. Wool was my friend.
I arrived in Hvolsvollur on Thursday evening and checked into the Midgaurd Hotel (which is actually more of a hostel. My room had a double bed and two bunk beds. Thursday evening there was a dinner with story telling and axe throwing. I have to say there was not much story telling but it was an opportunity to meet some other people there for the race. The crew that was there was different than I imagined, I expected a more clean cut group and it was actually a bit more rustic than I had thought it would be. I attempted the hatchet throwing but never made it stick.
On Friday there was a scheduled recon ride at 10:00 which was delayed due to rain, Friday was also packet pickup. I went out to the start area at the 10:00 time anyway in the hope that there would be other riders and sure enough we got 8 riders together and headed out toward the course. It was rainy and windy but I did find myself getting warm, I was obviously overdressed. We rode until we hit the first gravel of the course and headed a few miles in before turning around.
Race day was a whole other story – It was raining hard, windy and chilly. I don’t thing the temperature ever got much above 50º. I dressed in knicker length bike shorts, base layer, jersey, arm warmers and a rain jacket, wool socks summer weight gloves and a cap. When I stepped out of the hotel I immediately turned around to get a warm jacket which I wore under the rain jacket. I was glad I did. It was chilly and it never warmed up.
Start time was 7:00am for the 200K event with the shorter events starting a bit later. There were a total of 350 riders for the entire event. It was a mass start without separating the various age categories or men from women, we were all together.
The race started with about 8 mile
s of tarmac before making a left turn onto the gravel – this is real gravel, no single track, no bouldering. The kind of roads which are a bit easier to ride (yeah right!!). Soon after we entered the gravel we came upon the first river crossing. I had watched the videos on how to cross the rivers and together with the other riders we looked for the ripples in the water which represented the shallower water and more easily passable. Unfortunately I was not able to practice river crossing, but I had studied the videos provided and made a successful attempt. Not everyone was so lucky, many riders went down in the water. Had to have been cold. What they don’t mention is the soft sand when you come out the other side!
We then continued on eventually hitting the first rest stop. I had plenty of food and water with me so I opted not to stop. The following miles were rolling hills on a smoother gravel – The Hekla volcano to our left and beautiful scenery to our right. We were following along a river and off in the distance waterfalls were cascading out of the mountains. The tail wind was welcome and eventually we came upon the 2nd rest stop. At this point I did see a few people I had met at the dinner and was never really riding alone. eventually we came to another river crossing which was deeper than the previous and would require a bit more strategy to get across – I quickly learned that when entering the river to go into a lighter gear. My friend Peter fell – Again! He liked to say in the first crossing he fell to the right, this time he fell to the left to be equally wet.
We then did a lollipop loop which had a rest stop in the middle and would bring us back to the same river. Here we were introduced to the rumble strip. Thing is in Iceland the rumble strip goes all the way across the road leaving little opportunity for a break. At this point they were not so bad. the lollipop took about an hour and we crossed the river
again (deeper this time) after which we had the opportunity to change clothes. Since I wore wool it was not necessary but by not going into my dry bag I also missed the opportunity to replenish my nutrition, something I wish I had later in the race.
The next 70K was bone shattering rumble strips into a headwind with little relief from the rain. The ridges went from side to side on the road so there was no way to go around them. There were times I had to stop just for a break. There was nothing fun about this stretch of road. Since there was limited visibility there wasn’t even the distraction of the scenery.