MA For Morocco: Apr to May 2012.

Good Effort Abdhul:thumb2 Keep it coming. Looks like we have 4 booked on our September trip already:)
 
Good Effort Abdhul:thumb2 Keep it coming. Looks like we have 4 booked on our September trip already:)

I have itchy feet for Morocco again now.....oh make sure you take some of your favourite snacks next time:D
 

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Something else for him to get his mouth round :eek:

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You guys have too much time on your hands:D
 

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Day 4 25/04/2012: Marrakech is Done. Now For A Man's Test or Two!

Good Effort Abdhul:thumb2 Keep it coming. Looks like we have 4 booked on our September trip already:)

Don't forget Me! :rob

Now, some notes on spending too much time with Skygod:

1) He changes your name to the feminine or Germanic; me becoming Adbhul, from Paula Abdul I heard, althought it could've been derived from my early summer browning skin and the shocking beard I was growing for the first five days by forgetting my razor. :blast
Matt became Matilda upon occasion but I reckon this is a poor reflection upon one who has served so well.
Bill became Wilhelm, although he didn't start any wars.
Grez was "The Grez Meister" and proved to be the master of all of his own actions.
I didn't hear any references to Steve Kalahari and I presume his size dictated that it was best left alone.

2) Wheels Rollin' at XX:XXhrs usually means 10 minutes before the designated time whether a cigar is burning or not. :blast The same is also the case with a five break being reduced to a four break.

3) It doesn't matter were you are or what you can see, we are never lost because the GPS always gives our longitude & latitude and shows which way north so, if you die now we'll be able to recover your body in a couple of days.

4) When having completed a Man's Day expect tomorrow to be a tougher Man's Day and if your lucky, you might be ready for the next Man's Day. :eek

I have itchy feet for Morocco again now.....oh make sure you take some of your favourite snacks next time:D

Please see attached picture above.

5) He says that a lot when Jono calls.

Something else for him to get his mouth round :eek:

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Don't tease him: After ten days away in a muslim country he starts to lose that manly persona and his eyes begin to to wander. :toungincheek

:D

I wonder if he needed any of this?:nenau

Again, please see attached picture above.

He was too far ahead but I could have used a dose of that stuff to get him to move up from the back of the pack for some Go Pro shots. ;)

Marrakech was graced with our presence for only one night but we diidn't care, and we presume neither did Marrakech. :p
It was only the fourth day of the trip but we had ridden a couple of long hard days to get here in the time we did: What has to be borne in mind here is that there are two KTMs, one 450 EXC & one 500 EXC, and my Yamaha TT600RE which are not good at mile munching tarmac roads at the best of times. :tears My saddle was fine for long riding days but the KTM riders, and others occasionally, had been suffering on the endless single carraigeway roads leading to the everchanging horizons of the previousl days' riding and we were owed a rest with a mornings' stand-up riding when we had left Marrakech to its less excitable visitors.

Within an hour there as a left turn from the main road and we were all on a dusty track going to somewhere which had obviously been planned. We were all stopped after a few meters on this track, by our Leader, to receive the announcement that this was going to be our first Man Test, and were immediately passed by a couple of drifting Moroccan trail bikes on their way to their own dirty morning. :eek Actually we had been told what to expect the day before but the sight of the challenge soon presented to us looked a lot more demanding than we could have imagined.

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"Right Chaps, Get yourselves up there. Don't over do it at the top because there's not a lot of room to stop."

This unusual feature became know by us as Nipple Hill. We were advised that the line is straight up, to add power over the rocks just before the peak, find somewhere safe to stop, and not go over the other side. :rolleyes:

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That's it. Just up there. Follow my finger tip.

Gaz went first, to test the gravity field, and was soon followed by Steve, roosting up the track, then Bill, then me (who got ten for using the F-Word at the top) and finally Matt. There was a short delay at the top whilst waiting for Matt to join us but, considering his bike license still smelt of a Swansea governmental office block we had the time to wait for him and his new bike.

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Matt, for obvious reasons, got ten as well. :rolleyes:

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The view behind us is where we are going next. :cool:

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That's Mr IFan and Grez (who didn't want to hurt his spine) all the way down there. :blagblah

Once back down again, which was just as much of a challenge as getting up there, the opportunity for ten still presented itself. :augie

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Go on. All the way down!

We even met some interested locals whilst we were there...

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Once the local Geezer was advised about the benefits of crash helmets and riding kit for his baby it was a tough :rolleyes: hour's of trail riding...

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The trails we took were good practise for what was come over the next ten days and provided a chance to get some sand and dust in our teeth. These tracks were the first time we had had the chance to slide our bikes over many miles of dust, stone and sand for a couple of hours to build up some strength the rest of the tour. We were on on our way to Oulad Berhil and even though not too far away from Marrakech, and Nipple Hill, we made a fist of finding an interesting route with interesting places to pass through.

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The villages were again quite run down, from a Westerner's point of view, and it seemed the right thing to do to get to the outer walls before stopping for a break. Stopping around villages, and towns, was probably the right to do incase there were any problems which needed discussing but sometimes it felt like we were invading the privacy of others. However, it soon became clear that we were mostly welcome wherever we stopped and those who cast an eye upon us were only curious.

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After the last stop (above) and driving on to Oulad Berhil it was becoming apparent to me that it was time take the Vertigo Pills again. All I could see was mountains ahead and I had to get my head around the fact that we were going over them. Well, there's no turning back now and all I had to do was ride the Tizi-n-Test over the Atlas Mountains and like it!

Fortunately for me we took our lunch break of Berber omelette and mint tea before the mountain run to provide me with some energy for what was to come. This however did not help Grez who's rear wheel bearings were failing. His rear wheel was wobbling like me on a cliff and gave him an afternoon nap in the passenger seat of the support vehicle.

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There were interesting places to stop: This place was accessed by a tight and twisty downhill gravel track giving plenty of opportunity for a lie down.

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The Yonderman Cafe Sticker

Pressing on we get back to get this...

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Grez's broken bike. :blast

Then more of this...

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Push 'em out!

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And rest...

That's enough messing around, let's get on with it...

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Up here please!

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This'll do for now...

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Keep up!

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And breath...

We'll soon be at the summit...
 
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new rear tank fitted ready

DitchWater fitted my in time ............................:blagblah
hows your new tank :hide

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah. You're four months ahead of schedule with that bike. I'll come and show you mine this week.

I'll bring some food so don't eat too much on your day off. :thumb
 
Day 4 25/04/2012 Continued: Riding The Tizi-n-Test Pass and Work to Do!

My ealier report of the demise of Grez's bike were a bit premature having reviewed what was posted last night. I have noticed that he was occupying his position in the group as Tail End Charlie. Sorry about Old Chap. You don't survive for long though. :augie

Here he is, with his bike, waiting for me get going and ensuring I stay in front of him.

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I suspect we had stopped for a five break and I took the chance to take another picture of my new bike with a spectacular view behind it...

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We had come from that place behind the bike and even though there is tarmac on the pass there are also plenty of stretches of graded trails to be found on the way there. The next few shots were taken before we started up the pass. (Apologies for the chronological error but it was a late one last night, and this is taking ages when wading through the picture files.)

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Were not lost. Skygod has just been on a recce on Bills bike looking for another piste.

We seem to have found a river bed or what appears to be the way the rains or melting snow goes...

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Don't ride too close behind Bill. :eek

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Hopefully staying out of the dust.

So onwards and upwards there was plenty of opportunities to get rid of your chicken strips...

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...have a picture with your bike...

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Bill and the new KTM 5000EXC. (Reordered timescale)

...and have a rest from your last ten.

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Wash you mouth out. :blagblah (Reordered timescale)

Further up Mr IFan found this place and decided to stop for a nose around (probably looking for scrap metal).

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Leave it. It's very nice and you'll never get it back through customs. :rolleyes:

For some reason or other there seems to villages located in what would be the most inhospitable places during winter in Morocco. Again, I have no idea what the people who reside here could possibly be doing to sustain themselves. :confused: As Spike Milligan once said "Everybody has to be somewhere" so I presume they are all fans of The Goon Show.

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Anyway at least Grez is still going but, from what was said later, by now he may have been wondering if he had a puncture or there was sand on the road. :toungincheek

So we did it. :thumb We have ridden to the summit of the Tizi-n-Test, or at least to the place where the building of the pass is marked with a commemorative plaque.

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Everybody gets a picture in front of the plaque...

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Bill. :thumb

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No Fromage. :thumb

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Steve Kalahari. :thumb

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Me. :barf

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Skygod. :thumb

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Grez. :thumb Where's your bike Grez. :augie

We took another few pictures here but didn't hang around for too long after Grez's bike was loaded onto the trailer because the cafe was further UP the road. Yes, there was still a bit of hill climbing to do and
having had a grab of Gez's KTM rear wheel, just check it for myself, it was out with the trailer. :comfort

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Never mind Grez. You can come again and do the ride down when you've sorted your bike out. :friday

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Gaz's ABW sticker has been applied to the souvenier shop window. :cool:

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We were not alone.

And on for a minute's ride to the cafe for another mint tea and a swamp break and a few more shots of the veiws...

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A proudly dominant national symbol displayed within the cafe.

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More tea vicar...

Whilst having our teas MrIFan and Grez had set of early to see if they could source some bearings and seals for the KTM in Oulad Berhil.

On the way into Oulad Berhil there was a bit of confusion amongst the riders and Matt & I missed the turning for the path to the hotel and went straight through the town by a couple of miles. I was in front, and even though the road ahead appeared to be valid there was no sight of the other riders ahead. We stopped after the third rounabout, pulled a u-turn and headed back into town were we found Gary searching for us. He led us to our hotel where he had left the rest of the team although some of them were not in the best of shape. :eek: Bill and Steve had apparently stopped at a turn waiting for us and were mobbed by a gang of school children who had just been released from their classes. They were hounded, ever increasingly, for gifts, money and attention and soon had to make their own descision to leave the scene before anyone got hurt. It sounded like it was starting to get a touch physical when the older boys arrived. :eek

It was a relief to arrive at the hotel and take a swamp break (emptying you camel back every day takes it toll), and get a beer in your hand but, there was something slightly odd about my new surroundings.
Upon arrival I first saw Grez standing over his rear wheel with a Geezer working on it, which I ignored because of the need to relieve my bladder, but upon my return I noticed a couple of massive 4 x 4's and thought "they are interesting". A few moments later when heading for the mechanics I saw Lucy and surprisingy just said "Hello Lucy. What are you doing here?". She was just watching Paul G (BHT) working on Grez's wheel and again, it was just "Hello Paul. What's going on?" They were away for a driving holiday in the Land Cruiser, with a couple if friends in a Land Rover, and just happened to be in the same place as us at the same time for a night in Oulad Berhil and what a nice surprise. :thumb2

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We shared some beer with them, sorted the bearings in Grez's rear wheel (but no seals), checked on the conditions in the Cedar Forest, and then went to our rooms to sort ourselves out for our evening meal.

The hotel was secluded and with the bikes well guarded behind steel plated gates we were comfortable for the evening...

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Dinner was the Legume Soup, Beef Tagines and Fruit Salad accompanied with the bread and olives which adorn every table we have sat at.

The destination for tomorrow is due to give us some fun, or so we are informed, but did we have to work for it to get there. :blast

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I hated it Keith, They where a bunch of clowns. It was like herding cats! ;)
 
Looks like the klim klux klan had a good touch there Gaz eh
Is that the official tour uniform anyway looks like you all had a great time ..

:beerjug:
 
Day 5 26/04/2012: We're Not Lost. You're Having an Adventure!

Today was the first day when I didn't wake up too early. It was likely I was feeling the effects of spending a bit of time on Grez's bearings replacement the evening before and sharing a litre of very cheap wine with Mr IFan after dinner. In fact he and I also had the privilage of sucking the last few drop of the Morgan's Spiced Rum from Skygod's secret stash. :ChrisKelly

Even though I may have had a and extra half an hour in bed there was still plenty of time for look around the orange groves within the hotel's garden and to find Bill checking his emails whilst waiting for breakfast to be served: We frequently caught out hotel kitchens in the morning by being ready for an early scran before they were ready and was usually told what time they would be ready and when we could eat.

Once fed, packed up and checked our rooms, some of us were hanging around the bikes to see off Paul G, Lucy and Phil & Becky (I think that's what their names are) through the massive steel gates to wherever they where going for the day in two well spec'ed 4 x 4's. However it had been noticed that there was someone missing and with only half an hour or so before departure I went to knock on a door...

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Come on Grez get your breakfast because we're moving soon! Apologies for showing this image again. :D

Right, let's go"! We're away just before 09:00hrs, down the same road which Matt and I had already seen yesterday evening when we overshot the turn for the hotel and all seems well on a straight road heading for the horizon. That's is until I noticed that a couple of riders had disappeared from my mirrors just moments before Gaz pulled off the road and onto the wide verge. I went straight to him and reported the missing riders whilst he then reported another puncture. :augie
I went back to find Grez had a rear tyre puncture :tears and he and Matt were about to start an analyisis of the fault and instigate a repair. What Now? Back to report our Leader for further instructions. "Get yourself back there and see if they can limp the bike to here and we'll do them both together" were the orders. Oh well! Here we go again, burning valuable fuel from my 10L tank, and I get to guide Grez and Matt along the verge, at the appropriate speed to avoid overheating the tyre and tube, to the scene of what became our bad start to the day.

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There it is. Sygod's rear tyre & tube is already being dealt with (Again we're fortunate it's a single sided swingarm) and Grez's bike is getting ready for surgery

Grez's KTM required a bit more work and to be honest we were struggling to keep his bike upright on the soft surface. We managed to wedge it up with a couple of sticks and some massive cactus leaves which also were used to keep the spindle's components away from the sand and grit. That was a fruitless exercise and after all it probably didn't matter too much because the bike are here to get dirty.

Even though we had had some practise a couple of days ago it turned out to be a difficult job in the ever increasing temperatures. Several squad members had a crack at spannering, squezzing tubes and pulling at tyre beads with both hands and levers...

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Whatchya reckon then?

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I don't know...

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We're getting there...

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Gary's bike is done... :)

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...and I do a dance to celebrate the inflation of Grez's rear tyre. :cool:

We're done and what a relief. :blagblah Now for some riding although we stopped again sometime later for a five break to rehydrate and take a look across the plain...

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I don't know where we are in the above pictures but we are on our own for the day because Mr IFan isn't with us (and he usually know's our location). This is because the support vehilcle will not be able to manage the designated pistes we are taking today and he has to get a move on because it's a long way when not taking the direct route we were on.

It wasn't long before we made an instructed turn from the GPS and headed off down a dusty road for a short while, through another randomly placed village and ended up looking at this...

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Whilst looking at the grey building on the left a local Geezer tried to offer it as "For Sale" but we saw him off. once it was explained that we were on motorcycles and couldn't take it with us. :rolleyes:

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"Right Chaps! We're here, the enemy is here, and we're going to take them on here, here, and here. Let's go!!!"

Why were we here? It was for a GPS check with Skygod's mapping versus Bill's mapping. We could couldn't find the expected piste we were looking for and had to stop to try and find our bearings. We found what we thought we were looking for and set off again but, soon afterwards we had to stop because the trail faded away and it was difficult to tell which was to go. From our position we could see a definite track going over a hill in the distance, and because it was heading west (our known direction) we decided to go for it because it was better than turning around and going back to the road.

The run to find trail was in itself more fun than we had together since our first practise days together in The Peak District (When Bill had his spectacular crash on his F800GS) with some real offroading across the grasses and earth.
The going was good on our new trails and as the minutes went by we were up and over hills and loving every second of it: The weather was good, we had plenty of water, and were on our own again lapping up the pistes and making the best of our time in Morocco. :D

Eventually a few houses came into view and a few more, and we entered another hamlet located miles from anywhere and with no observable purpose. We ploughed on for a short while but soon stopped when our route started to look as if it was going awry. Matt the came to the front of the pack and told us that some people were waving us to go in another direction. We turned around and went back to the fork in the trail and saw a group of local children indictating to us that there was another way out. :nenau That way it was then. We rode for a minute down a rocky avenue and stopped for a conflab...

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What do you reckon? Is this the way to go?

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There are buildings here so it could be a valid route. :confused:

Again it was decided it is better to go forward than to go back and waste the fuel we have used to get here: Onwards it is then.

It soon became apparent that we were in a river bed and although this may have seemed to be wrong, there was some evidence of four wheelers having been here recently. We were forced to stop a couple of times within the first twenty minutes on the river bed to check our sanity and make sure everybody was up for it. The going was really tough with the surface consisting of nothing but stone. Stone which ranged from small pebbles, cricket ball and basketball sized rocks, to the boulders which lined our way. It was so loose that the front wheel was pushing all the time and the easiest way to deal with this was to go faster but, it was difficult to do because of the consequences of falling off and hitting something hard. There were short moments of relief when arriving at a high point (possibly a small island when the river flows) but they were few and far between and not giving us enough time to recover form the hammering we, and our bikes were receiving. Number plates and indicators were being knocked off but no one actually witnessed any of this because of the concentration required to ride on and it was only pointed out when we found a place to stop and take on some water.

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A nice place to stop. :)

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Look at how firm it is under wheel...

This torture went on for hour upon hour, mile after mile, and we were beginning to make contingency plans when we stopped for a breather: Skygod had looked at the GPS during one stop and commented that all that and he could see was contours lines, our position, and which way north is. :augie Some were starting to ration their water and even though we could make a fire for the night we were not carrying any food. :blast

At one point we noticed a building part way up a hill and Gary went up to see if we could find out where we were and get some tips about which way to go to try and find a road...

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Get up there Gaz and don't come back until you've interrogated them thoroughly. :rob

What a waste of time. All they did was laugh at our leader :p and they didn't seem to speak French or Arabic and probably wondered what this European was doing here on a motorcycle with such a tricky ride up and down the narrow cliffside track.

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It might look good here but it was reported to be very basic further back.

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We're alright down here. :)

We'd better get on with it then. It's more river bed, or what was now known as The River of Death, the occasional short sandy track on a diversion away from a bend in the river bed and course a couple of dropped bikes pick up over our time there. One thing to point out here is that is was very hot within the valley of this wadi and, being surrounded by the protection of the mountains and hills the air was mostly still. The heat was coming up from the ground as well as down from the sun.

After over three hours we saw a trail that went up. We weren't sure yet but this could be our way out or come back into the river. We had one last push against the rocks were the River of Death was the broadest we had seen but on the other side there was a place to stop and prepare ourselves for what would hopefully be an easier ride and would continue to take us towards our westerly bearing.

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The end, and what a relief. :cool

The trail we saw turned out to be what we needed and led us to a road junction...

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A sign of civilisation. :bow

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Now which way? It turned out to be left to Tafraout.

It was another hour on the road before we arrived at our hotel in Tafraout and decided that we all deserved an immediate beer without removing any of our riding kit except our crash helmets. This was a Man's Day and even though it appeared that we were a bit unsure at times throughout the day of our whereabouts, it was well worth the effort to pursue the adventure we were having and just see what happens. :clap

We had arrived at a nice hotel...

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...with nice facilities...

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When the right time arrives on the following morning we will have the opportunity to see if we can see the Lions Face in the shadows against the rock face and, those who can't see it have to buy the beers in the evening. :beer:

...but we had to take the time to check our bikes...

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Further to that we are also promised another Man's Day with a few more tests to our riding skills to be completed in the morning before having an afternoon at the pool. :thumb

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Ditchwater, you're doing a great job with this, loving the read so far. Theres alot of work gone into this! :clap

Come on, next installment please :bounce1
 
Day 6 27/04/2012: A Day in Tafraout.

I been away for a couple of days to celebrate Jono's birthday, he of Adventurebike Warehouse, to do some trails in the Peak District with Gary and have a few wet one's, some dinner and bike chat. I must admit that I was a bit late for the start because I got lost when choosing the less direct route and found a road had been closed. I then went round and round for a while before I worked it out with some help from a tanker driver. :blast Also, the internet wasn't working here last night :mad: so I gave up after a while.

After yesterday's Man Test on The River of Death we were due for a lie in. This was very welcome to allow us to recover from the hard day' riding, last night's tagines and chicken brochettes, and the several rounds of beer & wine with dinner, and the port in the bar afterwards. :beer: :jager :ChrisKelly
Even though it was a late start plans had already been laid down to continue our bike maintenance if it hadn't been fininshed last night, get some inner tubes repaired, change Skygod's split tyre and then get ready for some more Man Tests before lunch. Phew!
The scale of the problems with the bikes was in no way serious but simply a matter of a few drops of oil for the KTMs and my Yamaha and taping up or removing broken indicators and number plates. In fact number plates were starting to break a couple of days ago but more damage was done by the stones of the river bed getting thrown up and simply taking lumps out of parts which stick out. Gaz and I went into Tafraout to arrange for the inner tubes to be repaired and have his rear tyre changed and it all went swimmingly well for the princely sum of less than a tenner (including tip) if I remember correctly. Whilst waiting we met a couple of Ural Combination riders but no :tarka this time.

We're done. What now? "Get kitted up and get to your bikes. We are going to The Blue Rocks for a couple of hours of fun. There's a test, and don't forget your CamelBak."

We arrive here around noon and it is getting hot...

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The painted rocks are spread over a wide area and can be seen in the most inaccessible places, unless you are a rambler or climber.

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It took us a little while to find our way across the sand, rock and bush to get closer to this feature but it was all good fun and training. The rocks were painted blue by a Belgian artist, I have been informed, and once his work was started he soon employed the help of the Moroccan Fire Brigade to help with the task and made use of their engine pumps to cover larger areas.

Our first challenge seemed to be getting close and we took a route away from the marked trails and left ourselves with a down hill ride from a large rock and over some boulders at the bottom. No Fromage was last to go and it took him a minute to get going but I must say it would've been very painful at the bottom if your front wheel suddenly stopped rolling. :eek

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One of several places to find yourself looking around for the easiest way off.

We moved on a bit and met quite a few other tourists who had come to see what was here...

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...and when we left them we gave them a show of our own and went blatting around the scenery to get our eye in on the sand and rock. It was a bit up, a bit down, vegitation to be avoided be cause of the thorns, and gritty sand to try pushing your front wheel, and not crashing into each other: We were all over the place like a rash, zigging and zagging, round and around each other but having to keep an eye out for where everyone else was to ensure that head on collision didn't occur from the other side of the greenery. :blast All this and then another Man Test.

We were herded to flat spot in front of a large rock with lots of boulders sitting on it: "There you go. Ride up there and stop on the flat bit to right, turn around and come back down" were the intructions. There isn't a path over to the other side so you must get it right or lay your bike down on the hard stone and hope for the best.
This is the veiw from the top, were you need to back off and make your three point turn, and even though the image doesn't show all the detail when you're at the bottom it's worth a walk up to have a look at what you're going to do.

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Matt is looking for new ways to get off this rock and confirms that yes, it's to portside if you can get between those two. :augie

Obviously Sunray has to go first, being our ABW tourS leader, and makes it look easy on a HP2. Momentum is everything on the rough stuff and the power and weight of a 1200 just rolls over the looser rocks at the bottom.

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Go Sunray! (Loose rock not seen here. :blast

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Don't drop it now...

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...it's not your bike anymore. ;)

One up and back down safely so it's all of us now...:eek:

Bill, without any fear, does it easily on his KTM...

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And seems to be on his way back down before you could blink...

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Steve's next and as said, momentum is everything (even on a XTZ), but Steve is a big lad and makes up the mass on his own to balance the equation...

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From those pictures one might think Steve needs stiffer springs on that bike but it looks so easy. :thumb2

Now it's my turn. It take a good run up, gas it over the rocks, have a little bounce around, and aim for the place to stop and turn around. Now, for anyone who hasn't done any of this sort of thing before (just like me), every challange requires a deep breath and reliance on yourself and your bikes' capabilties. Even though we have done plenty of piste, twisty road, Nipple Hill and The River of Death you simply have to go for it or buy the first round in the evening. :rob

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It looks like I need to adjust my springs as well...:blast

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I even managed to turn around at the top with falling over, even though I tried. :augie

Now it's time for the newbie. No Fromage's license is probably only three weeks old by now but I know he has already done more miles and proper riding, than some of the geezers I chat to at the local bikers burger bar do in a year or more. :blast He goes for it on the pegs...

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...thinks about stopping for a pose...:augie

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...and barrels down taking a completely different exit at the bottom to everyone else. :toungincheek

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finally, and by no means least. it's The Grezmiester.

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Easy Up...

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...and easy down. There's something to be said about those KTMs.

It's not over yet though so we have a picture together to acknowledge our derring-do before the final phase of todays' excercises...

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The AdventureBike Warehouse new intake group. :thumb

Albeit not compulsary we now take on some more trails, ride in circles through the bush, and try our hand in the sandy ditch.

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Let's go...

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Push it...

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...avoid the campfire...

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...now just carry on (Yeah Right!)...

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...lean back and the front wheel do it's own thing...

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...but not easy with a three week license...

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...AVOID THE CAMPFIRE...

Note: I have no idea how Grez manages to get all that sand into, or out of, his engine as seen in this picture. :confused:

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That's the way Grez, avoid that campfire...

"Go on Boss. You show us how to do it."

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Nice job. :thumb2

Some decide to have a little rest (including me)...

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...but get up and keep on going...

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...whilst others just crack on with it...

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and maybe try someone elses bike for size.

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With another CamelBak nearly emptied there was just time for a cigar and a few poses with our bikes.

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The GrezMiester

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No Cheese for me Please.

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No Fear Bill.

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Steve, and Bill (with a head shot this time).

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Sunray.

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MrIFan and Skygod.: ABW Tours Geezers.

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Yours Truly. :barf

Time for lunch in town, but not before we have to ride over a few pavements to get there, or the pool for the sun lovers.

It's down town for Skygod, MrIFan, No Fromage and I. We are presented with the best, or biggest, meal of mixed salads, cumin flavoured chic peas and chicken and pomme frits we have seen in a week. :drool Eveybody dives in to a wholly satisfying lunch for next to nothing in a locals diner and even though there is no beer the cola & Poms goes down well.

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After and walk through the square with MrIFan...

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...and we see some more interesting fare on offer...

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...before finding this lot...

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Don't get burnt lads...

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...and don't get your hair wet. :rob

With our lazy afternoon done and dusted it was dinner and the bar again...

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This Geezer sees to know Ali Baba, sorry MrIFan in mean, from his previous time inTafraout. He is certainly when known in these parts. :cool:

...in preparation to get on our way again tomorrow morning. The tomorrow morning for which we do not yet know quite what to expect. We been told where we are going, if you know the language, but after what we'd done the day before it should be just fine.

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Great write up Paul
Could I ask a question - I think I can already guess the answer mind
Which in your opinion was the best/most reliable/suitable bike on this trip ??
taa :thumb2
 
I recognise that pool :cool:

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Did you see the rock called napoleans hat inbetween the hotel and the blue rocks - you have to be at the right angle, and blink and you'll miss it. :D

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Never mind your dancing, what happened to grez's feckin head:eek:
 

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