The Rift, Iceland - July 2019

Posted By Jonas Stromberg On the 28th Augustus 2019

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The Rift is a 200kms long gravel race located close to Hekla, the most renowned volcano in Iceland.

Sounds like fun, right?

The route was designed to be challenging - 85% gravel, 15% tarmac and more than 2000m of climbing, some of which was so steep even the best riders would have to get off and push. Along the route were five river crossings and four feed stations.

The landscape in Iceland constantly changes. One minute you’re riding on black gravel, the next you’re heading through white sand and then you lift your head and all you can see in front is green mountains.

What’s not to love!

2019 was the inaugural running of the The Rift. More than 200 keen riders met up 7 am. All kinds of riders were in the peloton - pros, ex-pros, gravel fans from all over the world and locals - just a really good mix of people.

The weather forecast for the day promised sun, rain, clouds and wind - pretty typical for Iceland. It might sound weird, but yes it was exactly what we got!

As the race started, a big group went straight out behind the start car. There was 9 km of tarmac before hitting the first gravel section. The pros went hard - full gas straight away and managed to maintain the high pace.

The first half of the route, leading up to the first feed stop was gravel. At the feed, riders picked up new bottles, sweets, sandwiches, coke. There were smiling staff everywhere helping out. Big arctic-adapted 4x4 cars parked up with the passengers watching the event. You could really feel this was a spectacular place to ride your bike.

In all my time racing I’ve never done anything like this. Hard, yes, hard as f**k, but even with the headwind, hard climbs, wet weather, it was all good.

As I crossed the finish line and had two cold beers put in my hands, all I could see were smiling people having a great time – there was definitely something special with this kind of event.

The winner’s time was 6h 40m, yet some participants took more than 12 hours – it wasn’t just about the race – it was about the landscape, the course was absolutely perfect, the views were epic!

A real gravel ride. Can’t wait to do it again.