Day 6 - Cycling from Akureyri to Myvatn

Dragged myself up at 7. I wasn't in the best of moods - this was due to not liking the campsite and being cold. The cold start sped up the packing/getting ready process and I was pedalling out of the campsite by 8. After coasting down the hill back into the centre of town I found a bakery on the main street, and went in for a hot chocolate and pastry. It was a proper hot chocolate with cream and a sprinkling of cinnamon - this was the perfect way to start the cold day. Whilst sitting in the bakery I got my map out and made a plan for the day - this involved cycling to Myvatn - probably about 80km away. After another delightful hot chocolate I had a stroll around taking photos around the picturesque little town (Akureyri is the second biggest town in Iceland but is only about the size of Caversham). It must have been at least 10.30 by the time I finally started the day's ride, and nearly got lost straight away. I had stopped to take photos of some ducks on the road that continued through and out of the other side of town, and noticed that the N1 towards Myvatn was signposted to the left where I had carried straight on. Luckily I only had to backtrack a few hundred metres to re-join onto the correct road. Initially I went over a bridge across the estuary, and there was a long uphill offering awesome views of Akureyri on the other side of the water. On the way up I saw a couple of Dutch cyclists sat by the side of the road having a sandwich. They had come from the opposite direction, and told me conditions would be windy at the summit. There was a bit of wind on the ascent but nothing compared to yesterday's onslaught. Thankfully this didn't get any worse at the top. However there was a bit of damp mist that made it rather cold, and gave the place a Jurassic Park-like feeling. The road was mostly flat and I was able to maintain a decent pace for a while. The cold conditions and lack of civilization up there meant I had to keep the momentum going in order to stay warm enough. After a couple of hours of pedaling I came across this big hotel in the middle of nowhere. It had a restaurant so I went in to warm up and get some food. The plan was to spend 30 minutes there and charge my devices whilst eating. Neither of these happened. I had gone inside, and gone back out to the bike to get something. Whilst outside I'd noticed an old fully-laden mountain bike had arrived since I'd got there. I went back in and saw a girl in waterproofs who had clearly just come in from outside. As there was nobody else there it was obviously her that had been cycling. I introduced myself and we got chatting. Her name was Pauline, a lovely 23-year-old French girl. She had been living with an Icelandic family on an exchange trip, before embarking on cycling around the entire coastal ring-road by herself. This was her first proper cycle trip - she was certainly 'jumping in at the deep end' with this. Pauline had started in Akranes and was going clockwise around the coast, meaning she had also been to Snaefellsness as well as the beautiful West-Fjords. I was both in massive admiration and jealous of her trip. We chatted for an hour or so before making our way out to the bikes. Her setup consisted of a HUGE bundle of camping stuff on top of the rear pannier rack, including rather amusingly a 2-litre bottle of water wedged under one of the bungees. She didn't have any bottle cages so this was her method of carrying water. And then there were her shoes - Pauline had taped plastic bags around her feet to keep her feet warm/dry. Brilliant. She didn't like the look of my backpack - it was full with my sleeping bag, pillow and food, and had my bike cover and Camelbak clipped onto the outside. I can certainly understand why she wasn't a fan. We then set off. It was still very cold - I had to pedal quite fast to stay warm enough. Pauline was a bit slower, so we said goodbye and pedaled off separately. About half an hour after leaving I realized that I'd forgotten to pay for my meal - totally distracted by Pauline. Not wanting to backtrack/at the same time not wanting bad karma I decided the best option was to email/send the hotel a bank transfer when I next came across the Internet. At one point I saw a guy on a longboard going down a hill - this immediately reminded me of Walter Mitty. There were also these long-beaked ducks flying alongside the bike - these reminded me of Pterodactyls and made the place seem even more like Jurassic Park. After maybe an-hour-and-a-half I stopped for a pee by a field and ended up getting acquainted with some Icelandic horses for the first time. They are very attractive animals and came over when I approached the fence. I spent 5 or 10 minutes admiring/petting/feeding them grass before pushing on. It wasn't long before I came to a section of road that was being resurfaced. This slowed the pace down to a walk for the first few hundred metres, followed by crawling along on the bike barely faster than walking pace when the surface improved slightly. Thankfully this didn't last too long and within 30 minutes I was back onto good tarmac again. The weather remained cold but the mist from the morning had vanished by mid-afternoon making life a bit easier. The late afternoon was spent focussing on speed and momentum, as was very keen to get to The Naturebath in Myvatn. Eventually I reached the Myvatn region at between 6-6.30pm. It wasn't too long before I was cycling around the south side of the lake. This was definitely the highlight of the day's ride - there was the lake on my left, lava formations on my right and volcanoes/steam from the hot spring areas in the distance. Despite this amazing section of road I was longing to get to the Naturebath - eventually what must have been 2 hours after entering the Myvatn region I pedaled up to the town Reykjahlio (the town by the lake), and saw the sign for the Naturebath. It was just a few kilometres inland from the lake. My excitement levels were very high as I lent the bike up outside the entrance and went in. It was a very reasonable 3900isk to get in, and I certainly wasn't disappointed. After being cold all day there was no better feeling than submerging myself in the warm natural water. I spent the next 2-and-a-half hours in and out of the main lagoon, even warmer jacuzzi-like bath at the side, and sauna by the changing rooms. I was reluctant to leave and delaying having to get on the bike and pedal back to Reykjahlio for as long as possible. I consumed a roll and couple of bits of cake from the Naturebath restaurant, and bought a hat from their shop before finally leaving when it closed at midnight. Thankfully I was able to find a campsite straight away in the town, so went in, paid for the night, and found myself a great spot for pitching my tent by the waters' edge. I was tucked up in the sleeping bag going to sleep at about 1am, with the alarm set for 7am