Welcome to 2015, the year that Peus is planned to reach the final of three European extremities.
The to-do list is still pretty long (as of yet, I am still in the depressing stage of adding more things than I'm crossing stuff out), but I am making progress on the framework that holds the trip together.
Chief component in that framework is how to get to Iceland. This is a problem ofcourse, as the island in all its remote awesomeness is closer to the Arctic continent of Greenland than to mainland Europe. There were three options.
Option A: Rent a bike in Iceland.
The easiest option of all, but the main drawback with this -besides not doing the trip with the Beast as I always have - was that renting a bike in Iceland is, if anything, more expensive than taking the ol' girl over. That the bikes rented are probably also BMWs is the final proverbial nail in the coffin.
Option B: Ship the Beast to Iceland, fly myself
In this scenario I'd ship the bike in a crate, fly to Iceland myself, after which I'd take the ferry home. Had brother-in-arms Heiko tagged along we'd have opted for this due to time constraints, but for a looser schedule like my own, it has a few drawbacks:
1. As the port companies that would ship The Beast only ship on particular days and are not open during weekends this will lead to what I call 'dead time' in a traveling schedule - time you can't ride, but are left hanging around a city. It makes you dependent on how well others do their jobs - a position I'd rather avoid as much as I can during a behemoth tour
2. The bike would be shipped to Reykjavik in western Iceland, and with Mt Hekla being in the South-West, this would lead to a less than ideal route.
3. I don't think there's anything more boring than going on a trip by airplane.
4. I hate leaving the Beast alone on a trip, even if it's in a secure crate on a ship.
Option C: Ferry all the way!
I decided to go for the option to take the ferry from Denmark to Iceland and back. This means I will first have to get me and The Beast over to Denmark before setting sail. It will take longer yes, but it will also enable me to do a full lap of Iceland, take my time doing it and, more importantly, start the trip with actual riding!
So yes, I've gone with the last option. Bookings are being made, and I'm already getting apprehensive of what lies ahead. And that's a good sign.
Time for a poetic trailer!
T Minus 6 months. Time to get the Beast in shape.
