After a morning spent slamming my pedals into the muddy sides of our “trail,” repeatedly jerking to a stop mid-stroke, I’m beat.
These crisscrossing sheep paths looked so promising from a distance, but each trough formed by tiny hooves is just too narrow for a bike. Rain splatters against my glasses as I take a minute, lying on the spongy moss carpeting the valley floor and wishing a trail would magically appear and make this whole exploratory bike trip worth it.
Steely blue water foams against volcanic cliffs far below while a high plateau towers into the clouds above us, radiant with green lichen, tufts of golden grass and shiny blueberries. An early fall sunset glows through hazy fog, casting long shadows across the stark splendor of Iceland’s West Fjords. By all accounts, it’s beautiful. But a mountain biking destination? I’m not so sure.
Two days earlier, our 20-seater prop plane dipped beneath thick storm clouds, zooming toward basalt cliffs dropping 2,000 feet down to a dark indigo harbor bustling with activity. After the short flight from Reykjavik, the airplane banked a U-turn at the end of a narrow valley and we touched down on the single, questionably short, ocean-side runway of the Ísafjör∂ur airport, the largest town and hub of the remote, sparsely populated West Fjords region.
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From Freehub Mag
At our core, we are mountain bikers and adventurers. Luckily for others, we are also storytellers, builders and advocates for all things bike, and we strive to bring mountain bike culture to the like-minded masses through our magazine and website. People are what drive our sport, and their stories are what motivate us to produce our printed publication, short films and web content. Whether it’s the tale of a world-class athlete, legacy of a local trail builder, or delineation of a struggling community turned mountain bike mecca, these are the narratives that drive innovation and inspiration alike—and the stories we love to tell.
