Paris Dakar Stage 34 to Télouet

Stage 34 of 60, day 40 of 71: 117 km, 1563m, 4:41, 451 shifts, ave speed 24.1, max speed 56.4

We’re in the High Atlas mountains in Central Morocco now. One highlight of today’s ride was climbing up, 600m in an ever-changing canyon, ending at a mini-pass over 1900m high. I guess the real highlight was how I felt when I woke up. I’m still a bit stuffed up but my legs and body power seemed to get completely rejuvenated by a good long sleep.

The first 40 km of the ride was smooth and easy, without much climbing. It was kind of fun arriving in Ouarzazate, a city of over 70 thousand people, known for its film making industry. We had a relaxing stop at a tiny café that said it was a patisserie but had no baked goods.

We headed another 20 km to the turnoff we would take up into the mountains. I stopped with Bart and Bob and Dick for drinks at a little place that was pretty classic. We got the message that lunch would be 1 km further on but wasn’t ready for a while, so relax. So we did and that was another highlight of the day.

A little later we headed to lunch and ate, again shaded by the luggage truck. From lunch we had 55 km to go but lots of climbing. I rode with Jan, Louis, Carien and Kris and we had a lot of fun, stopping for photos and later for drinks. Louis made everyone crazy by chanting Coca Cola Coca Cola as we climbed yet another steep hill in the blasting sun. All the places by the side of the road we checked were closed until finally one tiny place, actually had a guy behind the window and he had a refrigerator full of cold drinks. Thanks Jan, those were good!

The campsite was a little funky, but those of us there early found places for our tents other than the parking lot. You could get a room in the hotel or camp on its roof too. Relaxing with snacks and soup was great, then a warm shower. For the first time in Morocco we had some rain! Not much but actual water fell from the sky.

Dinner was salmon, potatoes and salad, with a special treat, Moroccan wine. Yes that is a thing. It wasn’t super delicious but it was drinkable. At our table it went so fast that Wytze went and pulled another one of the bottles Andrew smuggled for us from Spain and that one was much better. Daniel, Wytze and I had a great call with Andrew afterwards. We’re excited to ride to Marrakech tomorrow.