Brandon Roesler and I met during our first semester of college at Chapman University. A short while later, we became roommates and good friends. While in college, I conducted five long distance bicycle tours. However, I was never able to get Brandon to join me on any of my travels… until now!
Brandon will soon be joining me for 25 days of bicycle touring in Iceland. This will be my 12th long distance bicycle tour and Brandon’s first time ever riding a bicycle for days on end. It will also be Brandon’s first time ever to leave North America.
In the video above you will hear a long conversation that Brandon and I recently had with one another about our upcoming plans for bicycle touring in Iceland. The highlights of the video have been broken down below, so feel free to skip forward to the part that most interests you. If you, like Brandon, are in the process of planning or preparing for your first bicycle tour, there is some good information in this talk that you can benefit from.
- How Brandon and I became college roommates (0:00:35)
- Brandon’s fear of public toilets (0:02:15)
- What we did in college: Ping-pong and video games (0:05:05)
- The importance of packing up your belongings before you leave home (0:07:45)
- Brandon fails to ride his bike to every Major League ballpark in the United States (0:10:40)
- It’s difficult to do something when the people around you don’t support you (0:16:55)
- How Brandon prompted me to create BicycleTouringPro.com. (0:18:25)
- What was it that prompted Brandon to join me on this bicycle tour around Iceland? (0:19:20)
- The excuses that people have that prevent them from pursuing their goals (0:21:40)
- Traveling with another person – the good, the bad, and the ugly (0:24:10)
- The bicycle and gear Brandon will be using in Iceland (0:26:00)
- The bicycle I will be using in Iceland (0:28:35)
- Aspects of the bicycle tour that Brandon is looking forward to the most (0:29:30)
- What part of Iceland is Brandon dreading the most? (0:31:35)
- The one thing I am most fearful about on this Icelandic bicycle tour (0:33:00)
- What does Brandon hope to get out of his experience in Iceland? (0:36:55)
- The toiletry case that I use on my bike tours (0:39:50)
- How to pack your panniers for the airplane (0:41:10)
- Checking your bicycle in at the airport (0:42:10)
- What kind of pants, shorts, jersey and jacket should you bring on a bicycle tour? (0:44:15)
- The importance of knowing how to set up your tent before you leave home (0:54:30)
- Iceland’s hidden people (0:59:20)
- My additional bicycle touring plans for the rest of the year (1:02:00)
- How I can afford to travel for months on end without having a full-time job (1:05:00)
- Why I don’t trust most bicycle shops when it comes to bicycle touring clothes and equipment (1:06:00)
- How to wash your clothes and body on a bike tour (1:09:30)
Iceland is very cold and expensive. I was there for two days flying back to America from bulgaria in August and it was around 40 degrees F during the day. In May it will be very cold.
For sure bring warm weather clothing.
The hot springs are the bomb though.