Tuscobia and Iceland

I'm sure that one thing important to me is bicycles.....

Tuscobia and Iceland....

Registration for Tuscobia is going to be August 1. I'm going to sign up for the 160, and so is Gary.

The 80m, by the way, is a great event for someone beginning winter ultras, and as a fist winter Ultra it is perfect, given the adjacency of towns to the course. It's great prep for Iceland and an ideal entry race for Arrowhead. I've seen freezing rain, rain and -27 there.

I am going to do Iceland in 2026. A few days ago I told Aaron it was not in the cards. But I will cross off a couple of other trips so as to reduce time away from home.

A number of folks here and outside IC have asked about doing an Iceland trip. I'll share the map I make that will be based on Aaron's route and itinerary on social media. Aaron will be coming to IC the week of Oct. 20 and we'll be doing some fabrication, the art & science work and a talk at the IC Bike Library about bikepacking in Iceland. There are a lot of folks who would love to bikepack Iceland. Who knows, a second group (4 people is optimal) may form and even want to use the route this summer.

I've mentioned to a couple of folks who have asked me in the past week about going that this will not be a trip for someone new to extreme bikepacking (some of the route is just fine, though). What most folks don't know is that the interior is very challenging and a trip that includes the highlands requires a good bit of experience. In certain conditions, 10 miles can take 10 hours. Just a portion of the route in 2026 is classified by Bikepacking as a 9 (and I maybe it's their most difficult route) and with the length - 707 miles - it will be at least a 9. When you thrown in weather like Iceland's in the Central Highlands the difference between a 7 and a 9 can in the moment appear to be a bit exponential.

Oh, and the bike..... It's almost together. The lava fields and sands will be tamed by, "Morning After The Revolution."