When drop bar riders think of Iceland, they usually picture epic gravel rides and legendary races like “The Rift”. But this land of fire and ice has so much more up its sleeve! We took the new Lauf Cycles Elja into the mountains, and what can we say? Iceland absolutely blew us away!
I have to get off the bike. “This is madness!” I think to myself. I just can’t keep my line on the trail. So, I hop off, lie down, and hope the wind doesn’t blow me straight off the mountainside. Antoine, the French local I’m riding with, has done this trail a thousand times, but even he’s never experienced anything like this. Just a few minutes earlier, we were laughing in a 40°C hot spring, sipping on a tasty pale ale. We hadn’t expected the wind to change so quickly, but that’s typical of Iceland.
The Weather Doesn’t Care About Your Plans
In Iceland, you learn fast: planning is important, but nothing ever goes as planned. The reason for our trip was the launch of the new Lauf Elja – Lauf’s first full-suspension XC mountain bike. If you’re keen to know more about the bike, check out our in-depth review over at our sister magazine, ENDURO. In this story, we didn’t just experience the new Elja, but also the spirit of Iceland itself!
The plan? A thrilling adventure around Reykjavik – epic trails, 4×4 river crossings, and glorious glacial panoramas. But as anyone who’s been to Iceland knows, the weather can turn on you in the blink of an eye. Sure, you can plan your trip, but you’d better be ready to adapt on the fly. No sooner had we arrived than our planned tour around Reykjavik was scrapped due to a storm warning. Instead, we headed north to Akureyri. Our initial disappointment was soon blown away. Instead of rain and storms, we were greeted by deep fjords, blazing sunshine, spectacular trails, and hot springs. A day after we left, Akureyri got its first snowfall of the season. Welcome to Iceland!
Nomen est Omen: You don’t just ride the Elja, you live it
Lauf Cycles are well-known among drop bar enthusiasts, but if you speak Icelandic and know the Lauf team, you’ll quickly realise that their product names carry a deeper meaning. The new Lauf Elja is no exception: Elja is Icelandic for perseverance – much like Seigla (resilience), the name of Lauf’s gravel bike. It didn’t take long for us to figure out why perseverance is such a key theme at Lauf, thanks to a chat with the brand’s founder and CEO, Benni Skúlason.
First, it was an extraordinary gravel bike suspension fork, then an unconventional gravel bike, followed by a road bike, and now their first mountain bike with a unique twist. Lauf Cycles has always carved its own path, and with the new XC full-suspension Elja, they’re aiming to set new benchmarks and shake up the short-travel MTB segment.
Taking unconventional paths as a company is rarely easy, especially when potential customers first need to grasp the technological benefits, meaning there’s a lot of explaining to do. As an entrepreneur, you need a certain level of perseverance, especially when you really believe in your vision, pursue clear goals, and continuously aim to evolve. Running a business is never straightforward; whether it’s shifting market conditions, team dynamics, or new projects, there are always fresh challenges. But if there’s one thing that helps, it’s perseverance.
Headwinds and Contradictions Be Damned
Perseverance is key to achieving any goal or dream – and that goes for Antoine, too. He’s one of those people whose depth you only appreciate on the second glance. Antoine lives life on his own terms, completely detached from the expectations of others. After the Lauf press event, we spent a few more days with him, exploring Iceland together. With the best road trip tunes playing in his 4×4, Antoine shared the story of his journey from France to Iceland.
Antoine’s life was shaped by a profound loss: the death of his father. Naturally, this moment was marked by deep sorrow, but it also brought the fragility of life into sharp focus for him. It inspired Antoine to live life to the fullest and to constantly seek out new experiences.
Despite – or perhaps because of – the headwinds he faced, including a late-diagnosed eye condition, Antoine decided to pursue his dreams with unwavering perseverance. Against his doctor’s advice, he began welding his own bike frames and building his own bike brand. With no budget for a photographer, he took matters into his own hands and started shooting photos himself. Photography and poor eyesight? For many, that sounds like a contradiction, but Antoine found ways to live his dreams, even when the odds were stacked against him.
What do you really want to do with your life?
Existential questions change the way we see what we truly need. When answered honestly, they often reveal a clear direction for how we should shape our lives. Antoine confronted this question early on, choosing not to follow the typical career path: What do I really want to do?
For him, life isn’t a rigidly planned path, but rather a journey to discover what truly matters. He wants to strip life down to the essentials. For him, that boils down to three things: bikes, photography, and meeting new people. As we drive through Iceland’s lunar landscape, he repeatedly emphasises that he doesn’t want any unnecessary baggage – just the things that are genuinely important to him in his everyday life. From the outside, his life might seem modest – he lives in a converted garage in Reykjavik – but he’s grateful: trails right on his doorstep and a job that combines his passions, allowing him to delve deeper into Icelandic society.
Antoine fondly recalls how he randomly met Bergur, a local who quickly became both a friend and mentor, regularly connecting him with jobs that were exactly what he was looking for. First it was a position as a bike guide and mechanic at the tour operator Icebike, and now his current role at Lauf! Bergur is one of the pillars of the Icelandic bike scene, and heads up Research & Product Development at Lauf.
The answer is blowing in the wind
The ride in the 4×4 flies by just as quickly as the wind blows away the steam from the hot springs along our route. When we step out at the trailhead in Reykjadalur, about 40 minutes east of Reykjavik, one thing is clear: It’s going to be chilly. Really chilly!
Our original plan: the classic trail loop with a quick dip in the hot springs. But both in the car park and on the climb, we’re reminded of Iceland’s golden rule for plans: expect the unexpected. The wind is much stronger than we anticipated, so the more exposed sections of the trail up in the hills are out of the question. Is that a problem? Not at all!
At a snail’s pace, battling a fierce headwind, we make it halfway up the mountain. The wind whips the grasses into waves, howling in our ears. Every so often, we’re forced to dismount and push. Our hands are getting cold, but the destination is just too tempting to quit!
Skål
A hot stream – and two beers from the backpack! Could there be a better way to top off this trail ride, even if we skipped the summit this time? Hardly. Skål!
Less riding, more relaxing: we spend a full two hours lounging in the 40°C stream as the wind whistles above us, watching the sun dip behind the mountains. We keep delaying the inevitable moment of stepping back out into the cold and getting dressed in the wind. But eventually, it has to be done. So, gear up and let’s head down!
With the wind at our backs, we zoom down the slope, eyeing up the trail we’d planned to hit. But after the first corner, a gust blasts out of a canyon so hard it catches in our spokes, pushing us sideways and forcing us to stop. Ever sailed on singletrack? Neither had we – until today. Antoine and I exchange a look, lean into the wind, and turn the bikes around, only to watch them lift off: Fuck! Our bikes are like flags in the wind. Once again, Iceland makes it clear: not today!
We fight our way back around the corner, laying down twice along the way to avoid getting blown over by the gusts, but eventually, we make it back to the sheltered main path. Halfway down, we give it another go, this time with success and a tailwind! On the descent, we’re braking double time. As for the uphill sections? No need to pedal – just make yourself big and let the wind carry you right up! And wouldn’t you know it: we find our flow, pass a stunning waterfall, and let the now slightly gentler wind carry us down into the valley. Perseverance pays off!
We drop back to the valley floor, happy and buzzing with energy: we may have only ridden half the trail, but we got double the adrenaline!
Iceland blew us away in two ways: the breathtaking landscapes that both fascinate and push you to your physical limits, and the realisation that we have so little control over external forces like the weather or natural elements. But therein lies the power of this country: it forces you to stay flexible and make the best of any situation. It’s the same with achieving goals, whether it’s a race, a summit, or business success – our new favourite word is: Elja – perseverance.
You can find the review of the Lauf Elja over at our sister magazine ENDURO.
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Words: Robin Schmitt Photos: Robin Schmitt, Antoine Daures
