For three 麻豆传媒映画millennials, biking across Iceland was a breeze 鈥� an incredibly strong, freezing cold breeze.听
鈥淚t was almost comical, just how strong the wind was,鈥� said Oliver Jorgensen, one of the cyclists. 鈥淚t was difficult just trying to stay on the bike.鈥�
Jorgensen, along with two friends, Jalen Sekhon and Kieran Evans, spent three gruelling weeks on a north-to-south traverse of the island nation in the summer of 2019. Their film, A Vacation Gone South, documented their journey and will feature as a part of their presentation at this year鈥檚
鈥淛alen and I both ran track at SFU, so we had the endurance part down, but he was brand new to mountain biking, so he had a pretty steep learning curve,鈥� said Jorgensen. 鈥淚t was fun to watch him learning on the fly and taking a bunch of spills.鈥澨�
The friends trained as much as possible before the trip, loading up their bikes with weight and making regular runs up Seymour Mountain.
The trip to Iceland provided Jorgensen with a chance to visit his ancestral home. 鈥淲e started out in a town called Akureyri, where my family is from. It was really cool to immerse myself in the landscape and bike on trails that my ancestors would have herded goats on.鈥�
Jorgensen was also chief navigator and the documentarian for the adventure.听
鈥淚f Jalen鈥檚 learning curve was how to ride a bike, mine was how to use a camera, because I didn鈥檛 really read the owner鈥檚 manual,鈥� said Jorgensen, who would typically ride ahead, dismount and shoot footage of his friends as they approached. 鈥淚t鈥檚 funny that any time the weather got bad, we have zero footage. The camera wasn鈥檛 weather-sealed, so I just put it away, zipped up my jacket and hauled on. I just wanted to be done with the day and get dry again.鈥�
The trio biked through remote regions, along ridgelines overlooking fjords, up and over mountains, through glacier-lined canyons and across frozen, black lava fields.听
For Jalen Sekhon, many of the landscapes drew a close comparison to Tolkien鈥檚 Middle-earth. 鈥淚n some parts, it鈥檚 like the Shire, with nice green pastures, but in other parts, it鈥檚 more like Mordor, with these desolate volcanic ash fields, where nothing could really grow.鈥�
Supernatural mythology is right at home in Iceland; according to a 1998 national newspaper poll, more than half of the population believes in the
鈥淲hen I was a kid, my mom鈥檚 aunt, Oli, was always telling me stories about elves. You really understand why when you get to Iceland, because of the sense of the unknown,鈥� said Jorgensen. 鈥淟ike when a fog rolls in off the ocean, and all of the sudden you can鈥檛 see 10 feet in front of you.鈥�
The final leg of the trio鈥檚 journey followed Iceland鈥檚 most famous hiking path, the Landmannalaugar Trail. The route winds past the Eyjafjallaj枚kull volcano, which last erupted in 2010, shooting volcanic ash kilometres into the atmosphere and causing massive disruption to European air traffic.听
The epic trip ended with one final test.听
鈥淏asically, it鈥檚 a hiking trail, with lots of steep climbing, it鈥檚 not really meant for bikes,鈥� said Sekhon. 鈥淪o we were in a situation where we had to carry our bikes and they were all loaded up with gear, so they weighed like, a hundred pounds.鈥�
鈥淚f you know Lord of the Rings,鈥� said Jorgensen, 鈥渋t鈥檚 like the staircase up to the spider鈥檚 cave, kinda like that. Actually, you wouldn鈥檛 even call it a staircase. It was super sketchy.鈥�
All three cyclists made it safely to the end and were greeted at the last campsite with applause from the hikers who had witnessed them carrying their heavy bikes. 鈥淚t was like a hero鈥檚 welcome,鈥� said Sekhon.
Once it was all over, Jorgensen seized the opportunity to rest up and start replacing the 15 pounds he lost from the weeks of physical exertion.
鈥淎fter we finished in Reykjav铆k, all I wanted to do was eat,鈥� he said. 鈥淧retty much just French fries 鈥� salt and carbs and lots of beer.鈥�
A Vacation Gone South screens Feb. 26 at the Rio Theatre as part of the Biking Around the World presentation at the 麻豆传媒映画International Mountain Film Festival. Details at .
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