Mountain biker and cycling guide Magne Kvam is an energetic guy with a grey beard and a sleek scalp. When he smiles, one of his cuspids protrudes endearingly. He describes himself as something of an oddball.

“I’m probably very, very strange,” he confesses, while inspecting the ground below us prior to our descent. I had joined Magne in Reykjadalur to watch him fix the trails before summer. “I like to be alone in the mountains,” he observes. “I’m an old soul.”

We head out to the mountains near Hveragerði to speak with Magne and learn more about this unique area.