Day 1 - travelling
By Pieter Vincent
After a short night - which wasn't even restful because I was thinking all the time about the stuff I needed to take with me - I woke up at 5:30 am. First destination was Brussels airport.
I was to meet Dennis in arrivals. He would be more difficult to spot than usual because he’d dropped a few pounds in preparation for the race. He is a stage-race veteran with South Africa 36ONE already under his belt. With three kids and a demanding job to juggle he still found time for some impressive training rides. On the other hand my training hadn’t been as intensive. I crammed in a few hard weeks of mountain biking but was largely relying on muscle memory from my road racing days.
Arriving there was quite an experience. We went to the check in desks to drop off our bags. Having a bike with you seems to be a nice conversation starter. People wanted to know where we are going to. When we explained that we are going to Iceland for a bike race, they wanted to know all the details. It turned out that Dennis was unpacking his bike to show and explain things about his bike, while waiting for check in.
After a 4,5 hour flight we finally arrived in Iceland. The landscape was impressive. Actually the whole island is rocky and we didn't expect that. At least not around Reykjavik.
We went out for a short ride to stretch our legs, do some sightseeing and grab some food but with the time difference being 2 hours behind our Netherlands home it felt like a long day. We headed to bed early.