Movie Review: Globerider's Iceland Expedition

I remember a scene in some TV show where guys in the Air Force are threatened with a sudden assignment to Iceland if they don't perform some mission well. After seeing a globeriders.com production of riding motorcycles in Iceland, I am now thinking perhaps it would not have been that bad a punishment.

Helge Pedersen, renowned world rider and author of "Ten Years on Two Wheels" where he rides the world on a BMW GS and Chris who makes a living as a pharmacist are the featured riders of this short DVD movie I got from the public library. His website is here: LINK, there's a video trailer about the Iceland trip here: LINK.

Courtesy of globeriders.com

It's about these two guys on BMW 650GS's with huge panniers along with a third rider acting as camera man. The trip happens during late August through early September. They started their riding from Seattle, WA, across Canada towards the end goal of Iceland which of course they reach via aircraft.

At the beginning of the movie, the roads and dirt trails they showed looked highly doable, though they moved across them much faster than I would have on Brigitta. The terrain becomes more challenging as they ride into the boonies where beautiful vistas, wind and solitude are their only companions.

The Icelandic countryside is filled with lots of waterfalls and a lot of volcanic activity which has allowed for about 86% of homes to be able to use geothermal heating. The predominant colors are the gray/black of lava and very green moss covering the areas where rain and humidity permit it.

The riders sought out 4x4 trails in their travels, even practicing riding on the same terrain where NASA trained astronauts to eventually drive on the moon.

Riding through the highlands, they were able to find and navigate pretty rough roads at last. One thing I liked was how they show the use of lower tire pressures in bad terrain to create a larger footprint for the tires.

The riders ride all day, stopping to camp by the ubiquitous hot springs and pools....enjoying the solitude. If you're seeking some time alone, with just beautiful scenery to keep you company, Iceland may be what you want.

They experienced all types of weather during their time in Iceland. This weather ranged from fog, rain, clear skies and wind. Iceland can provide high winds, don't forget to bring your tent stakes!

There are over 40 small river crossings in the highlands, and the riders crossed quite a few of them, making it look pretty easy at times and not so easy in others. I don't think Brigitta would do as well since her air intakes are lower, not to mention her exhaust pipes would be below water level in some of those crossings! They mentioned tales of other motorcyclists having their mounts swept downstream by the strong currents.

Some of the roughest terrain consisted of boulder fields! Small to large smoothly rounded rocks, embedded into the dirt! Probably the remnants of ancient glaciers.

Some of the scenery they saw and stopped at included Crater Lake, a geothermally heated, water-filled volcanic carter. It kind of reminded me of the big meteor crater in AZ, though not as big.

The local tradition of building houses into the sides of small dirt mounts against the ravages of the weather is shown. They also dine at a restaurant built in such fashion. The menu was pancakes and apple schnapps, which apparently was a quite satisfying change from their regular camp food.

Apparently, its pretty cheap to camp in Iceland with camping costs ranging from $3 in the boonies to $6 in more civilized areas.

One scene showed some of the soft mud that they had to cross. The camera shows Chris digging a furrow in the mud from where his GS had gotten its rear wheel buried.

Some of the varied terrain offered by Iceland included of course iceberg fields and glaciers with over 500 varieties of moss growing on the lava fields giving the Iceland an "Irish" look.

The riders then take a slight detour from riding in the boonies and venture into some tourist locations, to include:

A brief tour of the Capital of Iceland, Reykjavik including singers in the square and city dwellers bathing in yet another geothermal lake. I am thinking hot water is not a rare commodity in these parts. In some locations, the ever present volcanic/geothermal activity made living there kind of like living in Yellowstone National Park. Geyser watching is a popular tourist activity.

And then, back to the boonies:

Their first real mishap involved wet hard clay....they said it felt like being on ice and both the camera man and Chris went down, damaging the panniers and a few dents on the motorcycles. No injuries to the riders fortunately. A great McGyver type moment was when the film shows Helge Pedersen demonstrating how to unbend a bad 90 degree bend on the right handlebar....pretty smart. This accident Only delayed them a couple of hours.

More riding, lots of views of horses and the reaching of the Herring capital of the world according to Helge finish out the film They cover about 3000 miles of riding in their adventures and the film ends with Helge stashing their used knobbies in an abandoned structure. The GPS coordinates are shown on the screen so if you happen to be riding in Iceland, you may want to go and see if the tires are still there!