Cycling around Iceland in Winter

Last December I had what I thought was a decent idea: cycle around Iceland in winter.

Despite most people I know
( and quite a few strangers on the internet
https://www.reddit.com/r/VisitingIceland/comments/1nylrs5/biking_the_ringroad_in_december_places_worth/ )
advising me against it, I had the uncontrollable urge to give it a try.

The first days actually went suspiciously well. Clear skies, frozen landscapes, empty roads. Iceland in winter is absurdly beautiful and for a moment it almost felt like I knew what I was doing.

Then the weather turned.

My steady progress slowed to almost a crawl. Sunshine turned into sideways snow. At one point I spent a day on a remote farm during a storm wondering why in the frozen hell I was doing this.

Not wanting to lose too much time (I was on a tight schedule), I decided to take a “shortcut” through the highlands.

In December. Afterr a storm.

The road disappeared under snow. The wind was unbearable. Progress slowed to pushing the bike. The shortcut has become the worst day of cycling in my entire life.

And that was around the time my tent decided to break.

But somehow, I survived all this and more to tell the tale.

I filmed most of the trip if anyone is curious what bad decisions look like in practice

https://youtu.be/9Wn_Wra0hlo