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Last night in Berumes the campsite  was filled out by a large Iceland safari group in rows of identical tents and big off-road buses having a much more civilised adventure around Iceland.

This morning there is broken cloud and sunshine, chilly at times when the sun disappears.  From Berumes I cycle 19 km to the head of the fjord and took a track that branches off inland up the side of the mountain, where I was off pushing part of the way. Where it levelled out  at the top, I met an Englishman cycling the other way. I remember seeing him on Monday at Porhofn in the northeast. He told me he had only 10 days to make it back to Reykjavik  along the south coast to catch his flight home.  I mention having ridden it last year and how scenic it is along the coast, though there is one long dull stretch. "At least there is a road through" he interjects "not like in the centre of Iceland south of Askja. There, there are only posts at interval through deep sand. And this lasts for over 40 km. Yes I had to push the bike for 40 km. It was terrible." I mention the way I plan taking, to Bru and then on the F910 to Askja. "Yes, thats the way I came after Askja. The track is not so bad this side of Askja. A lot of sand but at least you can ride most of it. Oh there were parts where you had to walk." I unfolded my map and say "So you rode F910 southwest of Askja?" running my finger on a double broken line north of the bluey-white Vatnajokull ice-cap. "Yes. I had to take a northern route due to flooding." The F910 splits into northern and southern routes, coming back together further on. The map sat on top of my handlebars without fear of being blown away as there is no wind. He quips "Normally you can't take your map out or it blows away.  But the weather has been exceptional. There were blue skies and sunshine the whole time across the interior. "

After he had gone, I sat down on a rock to eat lunch while looking back down on the fjord from whence I had come. While eating I reconsidered my plan. The English cyclist didn't make the F910 southwest  of Askja  appear so appealing, but the alternative is to double back to the Ring Road and continue west and turn south across the interior upon the Sprengisandur route. Though it is quite a detour  around to the far end of the F910 stretch southwest of Askja where it meets the Sprengisandur, a total of 350km. To continue southwest from Askja is 120km in comparison. But if I have to walk a significantly large part of it, the question is how many days would it take. And then there is the issue of the broken spoke. The decision is hard. But by the end of lunch I've decided on not allowing him to put me off and going for the F910 onward from Askja. Now all I had to do was get back to Egilsstadir by evening and I could begin tomorrow.