Where in the World? Icelandic Saga

When someone says Iceland, most people think of volcano, cold, vikings and maybe Björk. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Here are a couple of nerdy facts that you probably didn’t know.

Weather: Iceland is mostly green and is much more temperate than you think it is. The Gulf Stream is responsible for Iceland being much warmer than any other land that shares the same latitude.

Seasons: During the summer months they get almost continuous sunlight right through the night and the opposite effect during the winter with days and days of nothing but complete darkness. Sounds like fun huh? (Maybe a good setting for some sort of vampire series.) It may sound so very strange to us but it's the way of life there and you can understand why you can find some of the hottest clubs going in the capital city of Reykjavik. Iceland is known for their wild nightlife and the fact that 1/3 of the entire population lives in and around Reykjavik, you know it's the place to be. 

Cuisine: Sadly, gone are the days McDonalds in Iceland so you’ll have to settle on having something healthy like a delicious sampling of hákarl (fermented shark) knocked back with a glass of Brennivín “Black Death” (google that one Billy) or how about a bowl full of steamy cured ram’s scrota. (No google required.)

How's that for a backdrop for a race? This weekend's big enduro race will be held at the base of the volcano. Magnús Ásmudsson photo

Team Iceland first caught my eye at the 2007 Motocross of Nations in Maryland, USA. I took notice of them in the pits thinking, "Wow, that's pretty cool that these guys are lining up on the world stage."

I touched base with 22-year old Team Iceland captain, Aron Omarsson to give us a bigger picture of what life is like as a pro motocross racer in Iceland. With fiery red hair and chiseled features, he reminds you a bit of a young Marco Dubé. Omarsson lives in a town called Keflavik (about 30 minutes from Reykjavik), with population around 9,000 people. 

DMX: Hey Aron thanks for taking time for a little chat. Can you give us a little background on how you started into racing?

Aron: I started riding by accident. I was 13 years old, at a really difficult age, discovering girls and all that. My parents had a summerhouse 2 hours away from my home, which we used to go to every single weekend during the summer. When I got older, I wanted to stay more at home during weekends, with friends finding some troubles. My parents wanted to trick me to keep me coming to the summerhouse by buying scooter and keep it there, so I would always want to come over every weekend to ride the scooter. They bought a scooter and I kept coming to the summerhouse every weekend. After few months we discovered it wasn't a scooter, it was an Suzuki RM80 motocross bike. We started taking the bike home after the weekends, and I started going to some tracks and met some guys who were also riding. One year later I did my first race, and hokus pokus, here I am, Icelandic Motocross champion 2009, 3x MXoN contender and the captain of the Icelandic Team.

Tell us what you've been up to in your off-season. 

Well this off-season has actually been one of the worst for me. I had a fantastic injury-free season last year where I dominated the Icelandic championship with 13 moto wins out of 15. After the season (the end of August), I went to the Motocross of Nations in Italy and then went back home to work for 4 months. At the end of January I went to Spain with a friend of mine, Signy, who was supposed to be racing the Womens’ World Championship in Europe. She was also going to live with me in Belgium to train with me and do some races before the GP season. After only a week in Spain, I broke my collarbone in a race there and was supposed to be off for 3-4 weeks. I had a little misunderstanding with the doctors in Spain. They told me I had a fracture in my bone, but in Spain that means it is completely broken. I was so focused on keeping my fitness on the same level so I kept on running and doing some easy exercises on my shoulder and that made it much worse than it was before. So I ended up being injured for two months. I decided to stay in Spain though and help Signy out with her training. After the second week in Spain, Signy broke her right fibia and tibia and was out for 3-4 months. She flew back home but I decided to go back to Belgium and stay there until I healed up. After a very long two months on my own in Belgium, I finally started to ride again with no fitness what so ever. I had to start over again. Getting my self into shape and get my speed dialed in. Since Signy was back home, I was on my own so it has been really hard process for me to get back up again speed-wise. I’ve been trying very hard to be focused and be hard on myself, but it is just so tough when you’re living completely on your own and have no training partner or just even someone to talk to. It’s okay for couple of weeks, but for more than three months, you slowly keep being nicer to yourself. Skip one practice after the other and all of a sudden you don’t feel like training anymore.

Omarsson has returned to his native soil for some conditioning and to contest his MX championship.

Last time we spoke, you were living in Belgium to train. Where are you now?

Well actually at the moment I’m on a big ship called Norröna somewhere between Denmark and Iceland. I’m heading back home to set my head straight. Being close to friends and family and get my focus back. I’m very fortunate that one of my best friends has been my personal fitness trainer for the past few years. So I’m really looking forward to get back home to train with him and be prepared for the first race in the Icelandic championship.

You mentioned to me that you had shared a little track time with Everts. Who else have you been mixing it up with?

Yeah, last year I was invited to do some riding on a track here in Belgium called Lommel, (which MXoN will be held in 2012) with couple of the top guys in the GP and Everts was there as well.

...and yes, if you’re wondering, he still got it! Believe me.

Since the recent volcanic ash blow out I think the world has Iceland fresh in their minds. How has that affected daily life at home right now?

It’s actually pretty funny, ever since the volcano blew off everything has been pretty normal in Iceland. The airport has been open and nothing really effected the daily live so much. But then I kept reading that airports all over the world were closed, except for one, the Icelandic airport 100 km from the volcano (laughs). We've had some issues about the ashes on the farms closest to the volcano. A couple of roads have been closed but it hasn't made such a huge problem as you would think. We’re going to have a big 6-hour enduro race this weekend really close to the volcano. Many people have been worrying that the race will be cancelled. There are no signs of ashes in the area or any damages, so hopefully the volcano will still be active while the race goes on. Should be pretty cool for the photographers.

Motocross is a fairly new sport in Iceland. Are you continuing to see the sport grow?

Yeah, I would say that motocross is a brand new sport in Iceland. I would say we are on the same spot you guys were on in the 60's. It’s still just a hobby over here, and I think there are many, many years until we will see a rider from Iceland on a top world level, if there will ever be. The biggest problem for us is that we have maybe 30-40 guys who can ride motocross decently. But then we have more than 1,000 riders who are just at their beginning stage and of course for the clubs who own the tracks, they focus on the money from these 1,000 riders by keeping the tracks nice every day, keeping the jumps small so they can jump it. There are no rhythm sections because it’s too dangerous. That makes it really difficult for these 30-40 guys to improve their riding because they don’t have anything challenging to ride on. We have to change the way of thinking while making the tracks. As I have seen both in America and all over Europe, there seems to be no problem making challenging tracks that suit both fast and slow riders. I think that’s the main thing we have to focus on to help the sport as well as the riders growing and improving. I hope some of the clubs request for my opinion on how to prepare the tracks for the races this year. I would love to share my experience I have from my riding and racing in America and Europe. I will definitely be involved with the sport in Iceland and as soon as my racing starts slowing down, I want to keep on being around and help to improve the Icelandic motocross scene.

So how long is your motocross season in Iceland?

I usually ride for 6 months, maybe 7. Some people put xenon lights on their bikes and helmets, tree screws in their tires and do some winter enduro riding in the mountains so they can ride for the whole year. Even though the season is 6 months, we have only 5 races in the championship, and 3 races in the enduro championship. That is pretty much it. We don’t have any races in between the championship, except for that one 6-hour enduro race I mentioned. So, while the guys I have been riding with in Belgium are racing up to 40 races each year, we are doing 5 in Iceland.

Motocross is still an evolving sport in Iceland with most riding at a beginner level. Jói Kef photo

What music have you got in high rotation on your iPod right now?

I got some good sh** as they say. I have a couple of new singles from the guys in Young Money, Drake, Tyga and Lil Wayne. I mostly listen to hip-hop. Nate Adams does some good music. 

Will you be racing any GPs this year or heading to Glen Helen this month?

No, there will be no GP's for me this year. I’m still far from my best shape, I’ve decided to go back to Iceland, mainly to get my physical shape back and get focused again. But I will definitely be watching live on the web! I’m looking so forward to seeing what will happen there. I sure hope some of the top Americans will show up and face the Europeans. I’m mostly looking forward to see Searle vs. Roczen-Musquin-Herlings. I also expect a lot from Alessi. I hope he will win both motos in the MX1 class.

Are there any other guys from Iceland competing in the GP series in Europe?

Actually Iceland has only one girl racing GP's at the moment. Signy, who went with me to Spain is still recovering. I think she's aiming for the last rounds of the season. But then we have my cousin, Bryndis Einarsdottir racing the Womens GP. She’s been doing really good this season and scoring top 10's in the Dutch championship and top 5's in the ADAC series in Germany. She was unlucky in the first round of the GP series in Bulgaria, but she will definitely be a consistent points scorer this year in the GP's, that’s for sure. She's Jeffrey Herlings girlfriend, so she should have pretty good personal trainer (laughs).

You are really big on the fitness training and looks like you have been making that into a bit of a business?

One of the things I will never stop doing is taking care of my body. I’m very lucky to enjoy every time I hit the gym, go out running or do any physical training. A lot of motocross guys find it really hard to enjoy physical training and it affects their fitness on the bike. I was at Valkenswaard this weekend to watch the second round of the FIM series and there you can really see the difference between the guys in shape and those who aren’t. I’ve been digging deep into physical training the past two years, and doing some tests on what does and doesn’t work for me. After 8 years of training, (ever since I was 14 years old), without any personal trainers, I found a really good program last year which really suits my body. It does so much for your confidence just to know you’re in the best shape out there. I have a really good set up for this year and I’m really looking forward to get back in shape. As for the business side of it, I started my own racing school in Iceland last year, and during the off-season when we can’t ride a bike, I have some physical training going on with few riders.

Team Iceland's debut at the MXoN 2007 Budds Creek in Maryland, USA. Lissimore photo

 Will you be part of Team Iceland again for the MXoN in Denver this September?

Well, I’m the only rider who's been apart of the team ever since we started sending team to MXON in '07, and last year was the captain of the team. My goal is to be on the team, but of course that’s not my decision if I will be selected or not. I’m not even sure Iceland will send a team. I think the cost of it is just too much for a small country like ours with a small federation.

If Iceland does send a team, do you guys typically ship your bikes over to America or will you arrange to borrow them? 

In 2007 we all bought the bikes over there, but then the economy had a smile on his face. This year I have been talking to a friend in America to set us up with bikes, and a big "factory rig"! It’s looking positive at the moment that we can borrow the bikes over there, but nothing is sure yet. Of course we will have to see what the wallet says for the guys who will be selected. For the last three years, the trip has been mostly paid out of our own pocket. I even just finished paying up some loan I got from the bank for the MXoN in 2007. Now, I just have the 2008 and 2009 trip left to pay up! (laughs)

Aron puts the finishing touches on his bike at the MXoN 2009 in Italy. Jói Kef photo

Iceland finished in 30th spot at last year's MXoN. Canada wasn't far off the mark, ending the weekend as the 27th nation. Roger Trosell photo

The economy has been hit pretty hard in Iceland. Do you think that will affect the amount of participation in MX there and the level of support Team Iceland has been receiving?

For sure it will. I think last year was really bad, and I think this year will be just as tough. I think the top guys will fight their way through the season, but the younger guys in the youth classes, and the slower guys in the big classes will think twice about racing. The last races of the season last year, we had only 3 guys in the MX2 class! To make things even worse for our economy is that we live on an island, so everything has to be imported to the country, which makes all things even more expensive. I’m so lucky to have a contract with Kawasaki in Iceland. They have been helping me so much to make my racing go easier. Believe me, you would not want to be a motocross racer in Iceland right now. It’s just ridiculously expensive.

You mentioned you were a big fan of Blair Morgan. I guess he's a pretty big deal in Iceland?

Oh yeah! Blair Morgan is a big inspiration for me, and for all Icelanders. So many motocross riders in Iceland have either done snowmobiles for fun, or for racing so Blair is well known in Iceland. Even one of my good friends is called "Binni Morgan" and he has the most popular motosport website in Iceland www.morgan.is and is named after Blair Morgan himself. I have never had the chance to meet Blair, but I hope I will one day. He reminds me that even if I cannot ride my bike all year, I can still be good. That’s what he did, to be a pro snowmobile racer and a motocross racer at the same time is what impresses me the most. I had the opportunity too see him ride at MXON in Budds Creek '07 and that was a ride I will always remember.

Well Blair is a very approachable guy so I hope he comes to Denver and you can get a chance to meet him. Iceland sounds like a pretty cool place to come visit and ride.

Well if people want to come visit Iceland and go around the country and ride motocross the same time, there is one guy who is offering trips around Iceland, riding at all the tracks and stuff. You can check out his website here. It’s cheap now for you guys to come over because of the currency. So maybe it’s good idea to let people know its possible to come and ride here and take a trip around the country the same time.

Do you have anybody you’d like to give a little shout out to?

I would like to say thanks to my mom and dad for everything they've done for me. They have always been there for me. I would also like to thank Nitro and N1 in Iceland for all the support and understanding through our cooperation, you guys have been amazing to me and I sure hope this year will be as good as the last one! I also want to give big thanks to all my fans, friends and family.

Shout out to Jake Nicholls, Shannon Terrablanche, Nick Triest, Steven Frossard, Xavier Boog and my cousin Bryndís!

Thanks for taking time to talk with me Aron and I hope I will see you in Denver this September.

No problem. I’m pretty lazy anyway so I had a lot of time. (laughs) I hope I will see you also, especially for the McDonalds. We don’t have that anymore in Iceland, so I will definitely try to come over and get some McDonalds. Maybe I’ll do the MXoN as well.