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Morocco and Further
by Mathew Jackson
As soon as we crossed the border into Morocco we saw our first camel just to lets us know that the trip was about to change now we were out of Europe.
Morocco on the hole has been very interesting, the further south we go the friendlier the people seem to get. I was very lucky in the town of Goulmima with a few others to get invited back to a family’s home for tea. We spent over an hour talking about a range of topics from football to global warming! We were treated to home cooked bread, fresh mint tea and date wine.
On our Travels down we have been to a camel market although no one bought any camels even though I’m sure they would have been comfier than my bike at this stage. We have cycled past the Atlas film studio, seen the night markets in Marrakech and wondered around the medina and tanneries in Fes. We have been van surfing in the gorge dTodra, a gorge with sides over 300 foot high either side and only 10 meters across in places.
We are now making our way down through the Western Sahara and so far both the wind and temperatures have been very favourable. We have been flying along with tail winds at over 30km/h most of the time and the sun has not come out until after lunch (around 11).
We are now seeing camels at the side of the road and road signs warning of camels and some showing that horse and carts are not permitted on particular roads. There is not much traffic on the roads now but what there is moves pretty fast. Although the biggest danger seems to come from two different sources, one the potential risk of exhaustion trying to ride with, I will not be beaten Arnold, and the second more sporadic danger the risk of Kevin throwing himself under your wheels.
The distances are long this week but they are passing quite quickly with the favourable wind but the cinerary is not changing too much as we cross the desert so we spent an afternoon playing white line slalom, bicycle tennis and trying to steel a tow of the rider next to you without him noticing. It was at this point that Kevin was going to demonstrate to Tim the technique of steeling a ride when he then decided, once again, that staying on the bike was boring so instead tried to use his body as a brake and make a swift stop, three stitches in his elbow later and he is back on the road, and bike.
Today we saw the first sign for Dakar, and its only 1740KM to go so were nearly there! (Almost).
Stories
from the novice cyclist part IV
by Kevin Crow
We
are now well into the western sahara, a disputed 900km stretch of land
between morocco and Mauritania, and a lot has happened since I last updated the avid bike-dream readers.
The
kiwi and I formed team Kiwaii for the team time trial, and to make my bike
as fast as possible I stripped the remaining nonsense from the frame … so
gone are all the reflectors, the fenders the racks the pump … and yet we
still failed to win (of note, I found out that the pockets in the bicycle
jerseys are huge and are more than adequate to hold everything I need …
someone should go into business and sell them for profit). Team bazuin,
composed of arnout and his father and Team Britain, paul and matthew both
went out in a sprint while we started slow since I was unsure how much speed
I had in me … and we suffered
the embarrassing loss to both squads (almost as embarrassing as new
zealand’s loss to france in the world cup … sorry john.) Team Britain
dominated, taking first with such ease that one had to question my decision
to leave the air in paul’s tires and team bazuin finished third. (Marius
looked like a cat who had found an ocean of heavy cream when it woke up in
the morning)
Speaking
of embarrassing losses, a few new cyclists have joined the trip, the new
doctor (Wout van der meij) being a ridiculously fast addition. However, on
the stage into sidi ifni we were successful in checking him off ‘the
list,’ as we tore into the rest day roughly two hours before the hapless
mapreader showed his face. So the kiwi remains the only unchecked box …
shenanigans still to occur later, and for good measure we will take down the
doctor again, the young pup needs a little ego deflation.
As
quickly as she was added, Liset was felled by the same bug that tagged about
75% of the camp, and has decided not to rejoin team Hawaii (my version of
the sickness left me bereft of energy, shivering with the fever and having a
nasty case of the ‘hello Moroccan facilities!’) so now we ride the
sahara with whomever will join us as we chug along, Wim and Elle on most
days.
Also
of note, I may not be the most gifted cyclist in the art of staying upright,
there is a mounting pile of circumstantial evidence (Racing rick says that
there is nothing mechanically wrong with my bike, though I sense a shifty
undercurrent in his tone) that indicates I may be reckless and somewhat
clumsy … but we still have another fifteen stages to put these baseless
rumours to rest.
Sahara
stories by Arnoud Bazuin
By
now we are cruising the Sahara in order to get closer to our final tropical
destination, Dakar. Yesterday we encountered the very first sign that Rob and Wilbert are
actually showing us the right way. At lunch Dakar
was signposted for the very first time, at
1720 KM
away. Still a long way to go, but if one thinks about the fact that we have
already done
5480 KM
to get here it seems that we should be able to make it. Nevertheless, there
is the
Sahara
to be conquered before we get there.
Now
that we are currently doing the seven day crossing ( almost
1000 KM
) through
Western Sahara
everybody suddenly became a far better cyclist than before. This has nothing
to do with everything else but the wind. Being able to completely destroy a
cyclist when wearing the mask of a headwind, as we have seen on the very
tough
179 KM
day earlier in Morocco, the wind now seems to have become our friend. During the past six days we
have had a tailwind most of the time, making life much easier since now it
is not a problem to cruise the long days in a very short time doing
35 km
an hour.
Since
this boosted moral for most of us, a smile on the faces of the cyclists is
not uncommon, even on the very long stages. Since the landscape is nice but
does not change that often, one sees to get a little bit bored. Yesterday we
encountered the same thing. Kevin, Matthew, Liset, Tim, Geerten and I were
cycling together. As much as we were enjoying the tailwind, we got bored
with the landscape. Since moral was still good, we started to slalom between
the white markings on the road, getting it up to
50 KM
an hour doing it. Geerten quickly thought of cycle-tennis. In cycle-tennis
there are two riders on each side of the road and one in between them going
from one to the other like a tennis bal. All of these games were naturally
played with the greatest of care. Kevin decided to show Tim how t get a ride
of the rider in front of you. This technique requires precision and skill.
Although Kevin has made the step from novelist cyclist to a semi-pro, before
his hand had reached Matthew his shoulder, Kevin and his friend the tarmac
decided it was time for another get together. Yet another fine donation o
American fat to the roads of Morocco
and three stitches later, Kevin was fine and yet again smiling.
Yesterday
we stayed in a bushcamp. After the stage of the day, an unsuccessful attempt
to buy fish in the village by Rudy, a swim in the ocean and a lovely
spaghetti with delicious meatballs instead of fish, everyone went to their
tent. Since it is very common for everybody to be in bed before eight, the
following happened at nine and everybody was already asleap in their tents.
Suddenly the whole camp was awakened by a really loud outcry ‘NO NO NO NO
!!!`. A very heroic Adam decided this should be investigated. Gathered up
his team he checked every tent. With everyone still there and besides maybe
a bit scared and shaken but nevertheless doing fine, it was quickly decided
that it must have been Wout just having a bad dream.
The
next morning, being Madelian her birthday, which makes her a scorpio, had
yet again another surprise. While the talk of the town was still the outcry
of the night before, Bob managed to divert the attention. While folding up
his tent, a real scorpion fell out. While the brave ones among us took their
pictures and everyone had gone back to their morning rituals, Bob already
had forgotten about the scorpion and decided it was time to pick up his bag.
While the scorpion had decided to take shelter under his bag, Bob once again
had a god scare and camp was shaken by an outcry.
We
have now safely done the 6th and longest day (
174 km
) of this crossing ( another will follow in Mauritania
). We are yet again in a bushcamp with the possibility to swim in the ocean
and Madelaine is preparing dinner for us which will be no doubt fantastic.
Tomorrow we ride into Dakhla and I am sure most of us are looking forward to
the deserved restday.
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