Video: Horace and The Rough Stuff Fellowship

Jun 23, 2014 at 7:19
by Sebastian Doerk  
Images for the Horace article by Sebastian Doerk

Oh man, just checked it once more and according to Matt Dennison's brilliant "How To Make a Sick Edit" we messed up.

AGAIN. Shame, I promise to follow the rules next time…

So be warned, no "Sail" this time, no super tough shredding combined with Metallica and definitely no Enduro (it's a race format, dammit). Just plain single track riding and some old dudes who dared to bike the mountains 40 years before the mountain bike was even invented.

Horace and the rough stuff fellowship is the story of three guys who follow one and the same dream: To cross Iceland on their bicycles.

Views: 32,092    Faves: 386    Comments: 33


Iceland is Europe’s Outpost in the North Atlantic, the last rock to settle on before the infinite ice. And even though volcanoes, darkness, the cold and financial crisis couldn’t defeat the inhabitants it’s the most sparsely populated country in Europe.

Images for the Horace article by Sebastian Doerk

Check out icebikeadventures.com for a trip of a lifetime. Rider Harald Philipp infinitetrails.com

20 million years ago the world looked pretty much like today, all continents were neatly in place with one exception. Iceland was born late with an enormous volcanic eruption and keeps on rumbling as of today. Suddenly an elemental force like the volcano Eyjafjallajökull can paralyze global air traffic making it impossible to travel the world and stopping our high tech world from functioning.

Images for the Horace article by Sebastian Doerk

Images for the Horace article by Sebastian Doerk

Images for the Horace article by Sebastian Doerk

1933 | Horace Dall
The engineer and astronomer from England loved solitude. When Europe had its roughest times, just in between two world wars, he set out to make the first wheeled crossing of Europe’s greatest desert Sprengisandur, a landscape so rough, raw and remote that it was used by NASA to train their astronauts for the moon landing only a couple of years later.

A piece of paper, not much bigger than his hand, showed the entire island of Iceland and was his only map. Dressed in a suit, with supplies, which would hardly have been sufficient for half of his planned trip, he crossed the river Þjórsá - and stood alone in the desert.

Images for the Horace article by Sebastian Doerk

Images for the Horace article by Sebastian Doerk

Images for the Horace article by Sebastian Doerk

Images for the Horace article by Sebastian Doerk

1958 | Dick Phillips
Four men set out from England to cross the vast deserts of Iceland on their bicycles. The rough stuff fellowship was a club destined to get off the beaten track and ride where no bicycle ever went before.

Images for the Horace article by Sebastian Doerk

Check out Magne from icebikeadventures.com for some truly epic trips and summitride.com for some more of Harald's adventures.

Images for the Horace article by Sebastian Doerk


Author Info:
infinitetrails avatar

Member since May 8, 2009
19 articles

54 Comments
  • 17 0
 The Rough Stuff Fellowship is still going. I've always been slightly amused by the way they are reluctant to refer to themselves as mountain bikers, a lot of them still ride tourers and they purposefully shun the latest tech and trends. There is something quite liberating about their approach, and they deserve a lot of credit as pioneers of off road cycling. Having said that I'm not quite ready to join them myself, maybe when I'm older!
  • 13 2
 do they Strava?
  • 3 0
 @gnarbar - definitely not! Probably also quite unlikely to rock an x11 groupset or the latest flouro Evoc accessories.

There's a fun article about them here, which also has some more info about their Iceland expedition www.cyclorama.net/viewArticle.php?id=275
  • 1 0
 interesting, thanks for sharing
  • 1 1
 @gnarbar - that strava comment made my day Big Grin
  • 2 0
 good to hear, makes me happy
  • 13 0
 3 years ago I took my Surly Long Haul Trucker from Egypt to South Africa.I've always had plans to do another big tour just couldn't make up my mind where. No longer undecided. A stellar article in every possible way.Just perfect.
  • 10 0
 Amazing video, can't wait to see it in July. VOD!!!
  • 3 1
 VOD 4 sure!
  • 3 0
 Awesome, Iceland is such a beutiful place. I feel lucky to have seen the places shown in the vid in person - a life-changing experience. Thanks for bringing back the memories. And props for riding such tough terrain. Some of those trails are pretty challenging even on foot.
  • 7 4
 Now, we must get their Strava record, and beat their time! We will take the Öhlins suspension, larger wheels, latest Schwalbe tyres, elecrtic engine if necessary, huge film crew with more RED cameras and jigs than Life Cycles and sing that the man will always want to push borders of the sport. We will have a writer to post stuff on Twitter FB and flickR every 15 minutes so that you guys can stay tuned to what we are doing. So stoked, so pumped to go!

That is the most toxicaly cynical thing I could write about prostituing every single thing we are doing. "f*ck" Stoke, go out and find your line. If that means dropping mountain biking - be it! Never, ever stop finding your line.
  • 6 0
 Damn! I need to go back to Iceland, this time with a bike.
  • 2 0
 +1, same here
  • 2 0
 Well there was 15 minutes of my life lost - lost to fantasy and admiration of those that accomplished these feats of endurance. I thoroughly enjoyed the video and accompanying photos. And riding in that cave was superbly awesome! Thanks for sharing.
  • 5 0
 Absolutely amazing and truly inspiring!
  • 2 0
 seriously that cave didn't go all the way through, I'm sure it ended and he had to walk back out... Iceland one place I really want to photograph, Now I know I can ride from place to place is even more of a reason to go.
  • 1 0
 Hey peddlein, the lava cave is just a metaphor / analogy for Jules Vernes "Journey to the center of the earth"

Hidden messages and stuff Wink
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journey_to_the_Center_of_the_Earth

PS. You have to go, Iceland is amazing.
  • 5 0
 Great riding too, that guy has some sweet skills
  • 5 1
 I felt really uncomfortable watching him ride on those icy rocks
  • 5 0
 For sure! Probably because we're not too used to ice down here
  • 3 1
 I know what pinkbikers usually think about municycles, but when its about ruff stuff and crossing iceland...:

vimeo.com/35540746
  • 3 0
 Man I'm going back home (to Iceland) on Sunday, will have to borrow a bike and hit some trails I think!
  • 2 0
 Great video, isn't that the plane bear grylls slept in, in one of his videos? lol
  • 2 0
 Yep. Chuck Norris used the plane as a toothpick and left it in the desert Wink
  • 1 1
 He used it as a buttplug...I wouldn't touch it if I were you...
  • 2 0
 So sick
15 minutes full of awesomeness and an epic landscape
really want to ride there one day Big Grin
  • 4 1
 awesomeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
  • 3 0
 Excellent Video, I like the DH first trailSmile
  • 2 0
 Wait if Horace Dall was travelling across that desert alone... Then who/what was taking those pictures? Wink
  • 3 0
 Camera + tripod + self timer = win
  • 1 0
 Barely enough food to survive but brings all that with? sounds like today's proirirties!
  • 1 0
 Haha true. You always gotta be prepared to shoot a nice selfie
  • 2 0
 Exactly what I want to do. Travel the world with my bike and discover new places.
  • 2 0
 There is flow in Iceland! Great story and amazing images.
  • 2 0
 Wow, beautiful, awesome, everything!
  • 3 0
 great film/adventure!!!
  • 2 0
 Can anyone tell me what bike he was riding in that?
  • 3 1
 Liteville 301, I think.
  • 2 0
 Yes, glad to see a Liteville getting on camera. If I had the money to blow I would buy a 301 and a 601.
  • 1 0
 It is indeed a liteville, awesome bike Big Grin
  • 1 0
 Thought so, looks bloody lovely
  • 2 0
 anybody notice the green anodized fox adjusters, so rad
  • 2 0
 Iceland, amazing. the end
  • 1 0
 I love what the old dawg says about the tires having too many knobs for sand...
  • 2 0
 This video an the pictures made me check for flights... simply stunning!
  • 2 1
 So enduro I think Specialized might sue
  • 1 1
 Cool video, I really didn't like the cliche ('what drives us to explore? etc.) narration though.
  • 1 0
 anybody know what kind of trailer that is? It doesnt look like a BOB.
  • 1 1
 Who think he was pissing at 8:39?
  • 1 1
 Why would you carry a perfectly good bike?







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