Mountain Bike holiday to Iceland. Anyone done it?

Didn't Hannah from STW do this recently? From memory it looked miserable. But some people like suffering!

icebike, i think are the original outfit. met them at landmannalauger campsite, and shared a beer when I was bikepacking a few years back.

their guided/uplifted trips look awesome but you've got to have some seriously deep pockets.

weather could be glorious or brutal. probably both.

Indeed, it did not quite live up to expectation:

On the basis of that trip, I would advise on avoiding March with a gravel bike. Might have been more fun with a fat bike, or later in the year on a gravel bike. It seemed like the kind of place where everything is so expensive and remote that going on some sort of guided/organised trip so that you know what it's all going to add up to before you go and then just having someone else do your thinking for you might be the way to go (unless you're deliberately going to have a self-guided adventure and have the time to get lost, faff around etc).

@stwhannah Thank you for sharing the tip.

I've been a few times to ride the interior cross island routes such as the Kjolur and the Sprengisandur. Both are totally untechnical gravel rides through stunningly desolate scenery. I'd repeat either-or both at a drop of a hat.

Lots of more 'local' riding too. The hot springs valley out of Heragerdi is a blast. Take your bathers and a towel.

Yep - few yrs ago. Interesting place with interesting weather (4 seasons in one day literally...)

Riding wasn't too challenging & could quite easily be done on a lightweight trails bike.

I enjoyed it.

https://www.ridebig.com/mtb-trips/mountain-bike-iceland

Over the years I have done 3 Iceland cycle tours. The first was a group led by the late  Dick Philips, the second there were tw0 of us, and the third I was on my own. All were excellent. I used touring bikes so was limited in where I could ride. 35mm tyres are too narrow.  We camped all 3 trips, either in local camp sites, or by the roadside in remote areas. Mostly cooked pasta which was not too expensive. And beans.  Spaghetti gives more food per pack volume than most forms of pasta which as tubes or spirals contain lots of air and so take up lots of room in your bag. Gas canisters widely available in petrol stations. I tended to go without alcohol to avoid spending too much. I sometimes bought dried fish as a snack, nt everyone will want to do this.

End of May, beginning of June was good, interior roads beginning to be opened, but weather can be anything.

If you go try the swimming pools of which there are many, and by Icelandic standards are quite cheap. They make you shower naked with soap before you can go in. There is something good about being in an outdoor pool watching the rain fall.

Near Keflavik airport is a car hire place which will store your bike bag for a fee. The road from Keflavik to Reykjavik is astonishingly busy, but  there is a cycleway part of the way. Last time I turned right and went to Grindavik, and on to Selfoss. I would advise against the Reykjavík camp site; it is large, very busy, and every time I have been there have been sad messages on the notice board from people asking if anyone saw their tent being stolen. On the plus side most camp sites have a shelf of stuff left by departing campers, and it is often possible to pick up tins of beans, and even the odd gas canister with a little left in it. Favourite campsites are Heimaey (reached by ferry), and Hvolsvollur.

Its very easy to put your bike bag on the shuttle bus from Keflavick to Reykjavik, and the Youth Hostel will store it for a fee. I found the campsite in Reykjavik very good, but more expensive than others in Iceland.

I went in May, the weather happened to be glorious , too hot for the hot springs!