Iceland With Sam Pilgrim And Grant Fielder
Words and Photos by Lunatyk
I remember that I was out grocery shopping when I received a phone call from Grant Fielder (also known as Chopper). What he asked me was, "Do you want to join us on a trip to Iceland?" I bet that you can easily guess my answer...
A few weeks later, we began our epic trip to one of the most beautiful and scenic countries in the world.
I remember that I was out grocery shopping when I received a phone call from Grant Fielder (also known as Chopper). What he asked me was, "Do you want to join us on a trip to Iceland?" I bet that you can easily guess my answer...
A few weeks later, we began our epic trip to one of the most beautiful and scenic countries in the world.
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 I believe that the introduction to these two lads is not necessary. |
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| Emil Thor Gudmundsson, our tour guide. He owns a bike shop named 'kria', and he was a bike tour guide and a model all in one. But most important, he's one of the coolest and nicest guys ever. I am more than sure that without him our Icelandic road trip wouldn't have been even half as successful. |
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| Most road trips start at an airport, and ours was no different. Long waits bring many crazy ideas into Sam's and Grant's heads! |
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| The hostel 'kex' in Icelandic means 'cookie' and takes its name from the cookie factory that was there before the hostel. It was a special place to us, it had a very unique atmosphere. Grant nicknamed it "instagram", because when you stepped into the lounge bar you felt like you were in a different world, one seen through a filter which made everything seem unreal, yet cozy and peaceful. |
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| I don't think we believed that we were were actually in Iceland until the next morning. |
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| only headphones, but so much fun... |
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| Nope, Sam never solved that puzzle. |
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| It's never too late to learn new things. |
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| Solfar, or Sun Voyager, is one of the most iconic landmarks of the Icelandic capitol, Reykjavik. Made of metal by artist Jon Gunnar Arnason, it's a modernized version of the ships Vikings used to conquer a large part of the Northern Hemisphere and it's a sight worth seeing. |
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| Breathtaking views... |
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| Sam's NS Majesty. |
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| The crew arrived at the one and only place where there are dirt jumps in the whole of Iceland. You can't see it in the photos, but it was windy as hell. The wind felt like 150mph and stabbing freezing cold needles through your body. |
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| Despite the hard conditions, Sam Pilgrim showed true class and skill. Well, we simply could not leave such an epic background without a single sick trick shot. |
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| Our next stop was a place with the biggest geyser on the island, and the third biggest in the world. As far as I remember, its record is around 80m high. |
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| It had been a long day...We had to chill out in our room for a moment, but it was not the end of exciting things for that night. |
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| Auroras are a magical experience, a truly breathtaking sight. Believe it or not, even these two triflers started talking about spiritual connections with the ghosts of their ancestors, but it wasn't too long until silly ideas came to their minds. The laser battle was heavy! |
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| The next day it was time to hit the road again... |
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| Emil took us to another stunning place, Kerid, a volcanic crater lake. |
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| Veho 'muvi' action cameras are set and ready, a quick interview, and then a fast roll down on crater's hill. |
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| Barspins are one of the hardest tricks to catch with perfect timing, but here is the result of the very first attempt. Stoked on the timing, style, and yeah, the background is pretty cool as well. |
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| Back to the roots, barspin off the curb. |
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| On our way to the next place I spotted this amazing summer house, a house out of the sweetest dreams. |
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| Emil, the tour guide. |
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| Emil surprised us all once again, and I think it was the biggest highlight of our roadtrip around Iceland's southwest coast - Seljansfoss waterfall. The waterfall itself looked powerful and magnificent, but as if this wasn't good enough, there was a path where visitors could walk behind the falling water. |
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| (left) Setting up the muvi gear, (right) Dan Joyce filming. |
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| Thanks to such a wide range of Veho products, not even one moment was missed, which was good because we definitely didn't want to miss any of the action that happened in that epic place. |
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| The next morning we teamed up with local BMX rider Anton Arnarson. |
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| It was time for a session on the Reykjavik streets, and thanks to Anton we had a chance to go to the best spots and warm up before... |
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| an interview for a local TV station. |
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| Winter was on its way. |
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| Grant 'Chopper' Fielder's bike. |
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| Massive thanks to Emil for making the trip unforgettable and truly worthwhile. |
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| Big shout out to the Veho crew for organizing one rad and epic trip. We have the proof, we have the glory! |
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b) It looks like this was also some kind of marketing deal for those Muvi cameras. They're mentioned a bunch in the captions and they're obnoxiously placed on the riders too. I'm sure this video company wanted somewhere that was visually stunning to shoot their product. Also not a lot of people go to Iceland so I found it interesting to check out the country. Derr's a few good reasons!
http://www.sterlinglorence.com/blog/?p=2639 check it out!
Kona still have a dirt jump team but don't sell top end dirt jump bikes so whats the point in having a team?!?!?!?
Why have riders on a Cowan or Bass frame when you can no longer buy one apart from second hand?
But, again, it really doesn't matter.
It's just cool to have a site like this where people from all over the world get to talk about bikes and see what people think from another geographic perspective.
www.flickr.com/photos/hrolfurinn/5755848798 a tipical icelandic jeep
Check out our gopro video of the epic sights: www.northboundanddown.com/2012/11/rekjavik-rockers.html
www.pinkbike.com/video/267273
Still enjoyed it, great dinner time read!
SAM PILGRIM ON TAKE ME OUT!!