Made It

I made it to Santander and it was a lot more pleasant than i expected. A perfect way to end the foreign leg of the trip. I couldn't blog from there so this is sent from British waters. This is going to be my last post so i'm going to say thanks to: Jenny and Richard for their hospitallity and regular texts, always good to hear. Also to the parentals for their ace travel agent skills, Thomas for sorting the car out, Keith and Jen for agreeing to have me on Tuesday, Imogen for listening when i was blethering about motorbikes and Becka for her regular blog comments. Thanks too to everyone who texted or commented, it was good to have a link back home. For anyone in Edinburgh next weekend i'm having a catch up chat/lunch maybe turning into drinks later. Sunday 1st November, 1pm, Double Dutch. Probably best to drop me a text if you're coming just in case there are any last minute changes. Hope to see you there.

Alex arrives, town looks scruffier

I'm in Salamanca today, reputed to be the most graceful town in Spain. Then i arrived on the oily bike:) The amphitheatre this morning was evocative but this place feels more like a showcase. Beautiful but unreal. While my almost total lack of Spanish is not hindering me in everyday things it is isolating. Even/especially in Morocco people were game for a conversation in broken French. Be prepared for me to talk everyone's ears off when i get back.

Roman theatre in Melida

Melida is a small town in Spain with loads of Roman ruins. I got here in good time and stumbled on a lovely hotel. I'm having tapas and the first beer in two weeks. Perfect. I thought this bit of the trip would be a drag but it is turning out to be a good wind down from the challenges of Morocco.

Moroccan Driving

I've done a lot of Moroccan traffic dodging recently. The last few days have felt like an extended farewell to Morocco and i'm bad at lingering goodbyes. This afternoon i arrived in Spain after a night in Rabat. I'm in mountainous Andalucia and the change of pace is appreciated.

Bike makes it to ruined kasbah

My minor off road excursion today was to this single remaining wall of a kasbah. Tonight I'm in a town called Taza with nothing really in the way of sights, it was an easy ride through the country in the right direction. The atmosphere tonight is fantastic, the streets are teeming with people and roads tooting and full of freestyle driving. There's been no hassle either which is refreshing after a day where people look at the bike as if it is a spaceship. I've been suprising myself with my abilities in getting tricky stuff done using only crap french - normally this is the kind of thing i find hardest about travel. Tomorrow should see the tires changed and the rear axle greased, if the scooter guys are up to it...

Outside my Comfort Zone

Before I headed to the cities and then to the ferry port I wanted one last adventure in the mountains. I got two for the price of one. The above photo was from the first slightly misguided piste and Flickr shows the second.

The above piste had a very rough section that spooked me so that on the way back I tensed up and fell off. No damage to speak of and I enlisted the help of two kids to right the bike. Strangely the fall seemed to relax me and the rest was completed without incident. And yes it really is as scary as it looks.

I spent the night near a spectacular waterfall and planned an easier route for the following day, got a bit lost and ended up on a very well used piste to nowhere. At 8,500 feet the rock was black, the cloud low and the rain started to set in. It felt like something out of Tolkien.

I beat a hasty retreat before the road ran out this time and set course for Marrakesh. I'm here another night before heading north again.

Land of Big Sky

It felt fantastic to be back on the road today, so much so that I ended up riding for about 9 hours. The first 10 seconds felt so right and the ride over the High Atlas was everything I was hoping for. There was just gnarly enough riding, there were jaw dropping panoramas, the tourists were begining to swarm at the start but were totally absent after 20 miles.

As I descended onto the North side of the Atlas the people seemed wealthier and better dressed, even the farmers. The road seemed to get busier and the land was tamed to a greater extent. Finally, dropping onto a main road to my chosen sleeping town there was traffic and modern cars. Towns gripped the Atlas foothills like barnacles and I felt hemmed in. To add to the sense of unreality I was riding towards the low sun which combined with my shades to reduce vision to shades of burnished bronze, the road was a blazing arrow.

The town of Beni Mellal is larger than anywhere else in Morocco that I've stayed but not really notable for anything. It is however utterly invigorating to wander around the souk after sunset. I'm planning one more foray into the Atlas before heading towards Rabat and then the ferries, but Beni Mellal has made me think that maybe the towns aren't so bad.

Return Journey

After two weeks of heading south my route has doubled back for the first time. I'm now starting to think about my return route and about dates and times for the first time on the trip.

Keith and I parted yesterday. He is going to Fez and I would like to see some more of the country before I head back to the cities. I enjoyed travelling and chilling with him, I hope he makes it to the music festival in Mali.

I arrived in Tinghir yesterday but felt so tired that I went straight to bed. It wasn't just that I had to pick the bike up twice but also a dodgy stomach that has been playing up nearly since I arrived in Morocco. Today I'm trying to sort it by drinking lots of water and not doing much.

The ride here was notable only for the spectacle of the Saharo mountains rising up on one hand to face the High Atlas on my other side. The towns were the usual mix of frenzied taxis, sleepy pedestrians and haphazard mopeds. All intuitive though because of the water-like flow that everyone takes to get where they are going.

Photo's later if I can find a different internet cafe.

Desert Biker!

For the first time in this trip I have stayed more than one night in one place. Travelling with Keith is probably good for me at the moment. He's on a four month tour of North Africa having already been on the road for a couple of months. It means he rides slowly, goes short distances in each day and stays to enjoy a place.

I'm unwinding rather than treating each day as a challenge to conquer and it has altered my goals too. Perhaps I don't need to ride huge gnarly pistes every day and doing the occasional touristy thing is ok.

Today we ditched the bags at our lovely campsite/auberge and headed out to do a circuit of Erg Chebbi. Neither of us had any sand riding experience before so today was an opportunity to put theory into practice on the small stretches of sand on our rocky track.

In case everyone is not up to speed with sand riding theory it goes like this: when you hit scary, nasty, front wheel wobbling sand that is try to pitch you off, the trick is to nail the throttle and stand up. Not exactly intuitive...

We paddled our feet, wobbled and ate our hearts a fair few times but by the end of the 50 mile route we had learnt skills and gained confidence. It had also been a big rush, maybe some of the touristy thing will have to wait after all... Check Flickr again for more pictures.

Highs and Lows

As predicted I was not able to blog for a couple of nights, last night because I was at a campsite chatting to another biker all evening and the night before because I camped out in the High Atlas mountains, kind of in an unplanned way...

I rode out to Midelt, got a few provisions and headed off on the tourist track 'Cirque de Jaffa'. I dropped the bike once on a stoney oued crossing but started to get the hang of nailing the throttle to get through rough sections. Then the chain snapped. I remembered the thing that I kept meaning to buy on the way down - a spare link.

Still, this is a well trodden tourist route someone will be along soon. Thomas texted me to tell me my car had been stolen. Thomas texted again to say it was ok, it was 'only' impounded for tax evasion. After six hours and only two cyclists and a donkey riding boy (who assured me lorries came this way) I decided to pitch my tent as it was getting dark.

Just as I got to bed a 4x4 shot past in the dark tooting merrily at my waving! The next morning at dawn I set off on foot for Midelt a do-able 13 miles away, having hidden my gear and chained the bike. My bag contained water, the chain and food.

After only 20 minutes an ancient Renault van hove into view, picked me up, then my stuff and my bike. We passed 12 motorbikes and 3 cars on the way back to Midelt, Monday morning rush hour in the High Atlas.

So now I am travelling with another British Biker and have had great time at Erg Chebbi, a small dune sea. The chain is fixed up better than ever and I have a spare. The wobbly sproket that caused the failure is also sorted.

I've rambled on long enough already, you can check a few photo's at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/49817855@N00

I'm staying here tomorrow night so I may be able to blog then too.

A good tired

I am a good tired tonight. I left Taza at lunchtime after getting the tyres fitted and regreasing the rear wheel bearing. My plan was to take the back roads as I did yesterday and head for Midelt. It turns out not all backroads were created equal and though classified the same as yesterdays on the map, these were considerably slower going.

The road south of Taza winds up and up, hairpin after hairpin bend until it reaches a plateau of about 2000m, according to sat nav anyway. The tarmac stopped for a few miles of dirt road fun at 2700m then returned again better than ever. The hills are a lot greener than anything I saw yesterday and there was even some standing water.

There were so many times that I wanted to capture the wonderment I felt so that I could return to it or at least so that I would never forget it. I took lots of photos but I am sure that on looking through them at home it will be case of "mountains","more mountains".

Apparently the best is yet to come, the stretch I did does not feature on any itineries so be prepared for more gushing! The riding has taken it out of me though, so I will have to be on form for some of the longer tracks.

The late start and the winding roads meant that I diverted to a very small town called Missour as Midelt was too far to reach before sundown. Again anonymity is mine on the streets and I got some tasty food sitting out at pavement tables.

Ever southward again tomorrow but with the unhappy prospect of a more touristy section, I probably will not get internet tomorrow night so will update in a couple of days or so. Comments now enabled too.

Morocco!

There is blog post out there somewhere from last night that is waiting in the ether for 3G coverage. It will probably post in a couple of weeks... Today I am in an internet cafe instead waiting for my appointment with the scooter guys.

I chickened out of changing the tyres on the bike myself and asked the local scooter repair boys if they were able to change them. They looked at the bike as if it were some kind of monster with eyes wide before saying they could. More importantly while the rear wheel is off I will regrease the axle which is beginning to get hot and whine. All stuff I could do but better done in a workshop.

I am in a town called Taza 100 miles or so from Melilla, it is not really notable for anything but it is relaxed. After spending the day riding around with everybody staring and kids waving it was refreshing to spend the evening sharing the streets with the throng without being given a second glance.

The scenery is almost scarily barren, looking at the dusty hills strething on and on without shade or water to the horizon was sobering. I saw a temperature reading of 39 degrees C yesterday and it is one incentive to keep riding.

If I am being a bit quieter on the text front please do not be offended, costs have risen a bit on arrival in Morocco.

I hope to be heading to Midelt today providing all goes well with the tyres, I will update you at the next internet cafe. As always, there is so much to write about but time is pressing.

Met the short way down team!

Met these dutch guys at the port, they are the short way down crew:) They're very friendly and with them it will be easier on the border and waiting for the ferry, it means i can nip off and leave the bike without worrying. Two more germans arrived as i wrote that. It was still a reasonable slog to get here to Almeria but it left me with time to buy a ticket and chill in a cafe. I can't believe now that i spent the best part of all the daylight hours for 5.5 days riding. More than 1900 miles! Bring on tomorrow's riding:)

Route to Spain

What a long day. Covered 500 miles, had a minor motorbike breakdown (twice) and had a 'what am i doing, where am i sleeping' moment. Everything is looking a lot rosier now i'm in an amazing youth hostel and have a full belly. I saw some great sights on my route through the Pyranees but it was all over too quickly. I'm close to benidorm of all places, only 200 odd miles to the ferry so i might get some sight seeing in tomorrow. Had some lovely texts today, good to read after a while without conversation. Thank you folks, you know who you are.

Millau viaduct

Had an achieving day today. Up early only stopping for 2 croissants, not a patch on Richard's full English breakfast:) Next was an extended stretch of motorway bashing, most of the section popping above and ducking below 1000m. After the awe inspiring viaduct the towns took on a more mediterranian look. The roofs are distinctively tiled with shallow slopes and buildings huddle together in rusty brown clumps. My major achievement was buying a new front tire in only the third shop. There was some major language mangling going on from me. Tonight i'm in lovely warm Prades, tomorrow Spain. Btw if anyone would like to text me that would be pleasant:) It doesn't cost any more than normal.

Perfect end to the day

After a long day in the saddle this is the perfect tonic. I arrived at bunkhouse totally by chance and it is lovely. My host has brought me beer and homegrown salad and there's nothing to be hear but crickets. I love how one day travelling sees a whole week's experiences. The awful rain, lorries and spray of the morning followed by glorious sun and open roads and now this. Nearly at Clermont Ferrand, not the progress i hoped but who cares.

French food

So this is my cookpot cooking up something dubious from the shop. Managed to find a camp site in Rouen from very sketchy directions. Made friends with the traveller kids here too. Yesterday's long trip went fine despite the wind, today's was more relaxed and tomorrow should see some serious mileage.

At Ruth's

After a windy rainy night ride i arrived at Ruth's and was welcomed with game stew, red wine and fine company. Initial impressions on the kit: the clothes are great - i was dry and warm but the headlights now try and signal to passing planes. Sub-optimal. I'm not looking forward to today's ride to Surrey, it's a long way on the motorway and the wind is up. Time for breakfast.