Selfoss lies on the Ölfusá, the biggest river in Iceland by volume, which comes down from the highlands in a wide grey-green sweep and passes right through the middle of the town. With around 6,500 people it is the largest settlement in South Iceland, a farm and service town on the Ring Road, and for riders heading east from Reykjavík it is the first place with every kind of shop, cafe and fuel station.
There is a bit of history here, too. The old suspension bridge across the Ölfusá was built in 1891 and was the longest in Iceland for a time, and it opened up the south coast to wheeled traffic. The great chess champion Bobby Fischer, who spent his final years in Iceland, is buried in a quiet churchyard just outside town at Laugardælir. West of Selfoss, the long hump of Ingólfsfjall rises above the plain, and on a clear day you can see the volcanoes Hekla and Eyjafjallajökull on the horizon, sitting like snow-capped teapots over the lowlands.
The ride from Reykjavík is not the most dramatic part of the Ring Road, but it is memorable in its own way. The road crosses the Hellisheiði lava plateau, past steaming geothermal fields, then drops to the farmland of the south, where the road is straight, smooth and fast. Wind is the main danger: gusts can be strong enough to move a loaded bike across the lane, so grip the bars and keep a gap from lorries. Weather changes quickly, with rain and sun alternating, so carry waterproofs even in July. Speed cameras and police checks are common, and fines are heavy.
Hveragerði, twelve kilometres west, is a small town of greenhouses heated by geothermal steam, famous for growing bananas and tomatoes in a country that has few trees, and its ice cream factory is a favourite stop. Þorlákshöfn, to the south-west, is a fishing port with ferries to the Westman Islands. In Selfoss itself, there are several petrol stations, supermarkets and cafés, so stock up on food and fuel before the next stretch, where services thin out.
Plan the day around the light. In summer the sun barely sets, and you can ride late into the evening, but in autumn and winter the days are short and the road can be icy.