Stage 37 of 60, day 44 of 71: 116.8 km, 1686m, 5:50, 238 shifts, ave speed 20, max speed 66.7

Wow, I’m still glowing from the ride today. It will probably end up being the highlight ride of the tour. We asked for a 7am breakfast to get an early start on the 72 km climb to the top of Tizi n’Test. That didn’t happen but all seven of us did share a great and filling breakfast outside by the pool. Breads of various types with eggs and jam and coffee, tea and peach juice.

We left at 8:30 and our hostess gave us such a warm goodbye it was amazing. They really loved having us stay. We headed up the hill past the refugee camps in Ouirgane, then onto the unpaved part of the road. It was rolling, mostly dirt for over 10 km but I’m not sure that was due to the earthquake. It looked more like they were just improving the road. Over the first 40 km the road condition kept improving and parts were very smooth. I went ahead and caught the earlier crew, Joan, then Kris and finally Andre. We leapfrogged each other as we were all stopping often for photos.

After 45 km the real climb started, 800m in 16 km. It felt easy and was more and more scenic as we climbed. After some large final switchbacks we were on top! Just over 2100m high.

From that summit it was still 10 km with one last climb to the final summit where Bike Dreams had planned to stay, also where we had reservations for lunch. We knocked that out and pulled in to the Hotel Bellevue. Lunch was setup for us outside – the inside looked mostly destroyed. Supposedly they will reopen as a hotel in January. A big group of motorcyclists had the other outdoor table, across the road a ways. We had drinks, then lunch was served just after Bart, Wytze and Daniel arrived; they had stopped in the one town below for pre-lunch.

We had ordered Berber Omelet and Moroccan Salad for seven and that’s what we got. Not omelets with berbers in it, but Berber style, that is, cooked with veggies underneath, in the ubiquitous conical tajine earthenware cookers we see everywhere. With bread and more drinks this was awesome after over four hours of climbing. We had to move the tables under an overhang due to rain, and all of us had all of our clothes on. Joan and Kris shared a blanket they found. Yes it was cold, numb fingers.

We finished eating and realized it was almost 3 pm and we still had 50 km to go and the road looked gnarly and slow, gravel, very switchbacky. We started down in light rain and it turned out the road surface was ok, at least for my wide tires. The gravel sections were fine. As we descended, the rain picked up and pretty soon it was hard to see. I realized at the time it was so epic that it was going to be one of the best rides of my life. The weather just pushed it over the top! Andre and I traded the lead, stopping for photos both of us beaming ear to ear the whole time. It was cold and wet and so perfect.

We felt a couple of blasts of hot air, still with cold rain and then suddenly we were out of the rain, and it was warm and normal. The road straightened out though so we could go much faster. Also we had a tailwind! We finally stopped where it was starting to level out and waited for the rest of the crew. We put away our extra clothes and turned on Wytze mode. This is where he goes ahead fast and we draft. The last 16 km passed in a couple of minutes it seemed. We overshot our turn by 100m and u-turned right into a little café. Daniel bought us pastries and Bart bought coffee and drinks.

From there it was a few minutes ride to our hotel, the Palace Riad Hida, a giant, sprawling place with luxurious rooms, a pool, trees, gardens, massages for under €25, etc. With only one set of riding clothes, we had to do laundry but the sun was out for drying.

The others booked massages and dinner was delayed until around 8. We ate in a very ornate tall-ceilinged room. A round of many types of salad, then tajine chicken without the usual veggies. So I ate the rice and veggie plate, or maybe that’s what they brought just for me. Fruit for dessert then to bed with a great plan for the morning: late breakfast! What a day!!

Stage 36 of 60, day 43 of 71: 63.4 km, 925m, 2:55, 125 shifts, ave speed 21.7, max speed 53.2

It was nice to have a relaxed easy morning and a shorter ride. We only took one rest day in Marrakech so now have three days to do what was originally planned as two. We dropped our bags in the truck at 7:45, then had breakfast outside by the pool. Others were staying in the hotel another night, taking our route, taking busses and taxis to the official campsite, or riding some or all of the official stage. We said goodbye and took off in our mini-group of four.

We headed out of town on a pretty straight and boring road. It drizzled a tiny bit but generally was a bit hot and sweaty. We were carrying small backpacks. We rode to the first town, 30 km, and stopped at a nice hotel for drinks on the shaded lawn. We were already almost halfway through with the day’s ride. We headed another 15 km up to the town of Asni for lunch just after 1. The riding was much more interesting, curving around, up a gorge.

Checking ratings on Google is almost cheating but we do it because it works. Lunch was just excellent, tajine with fresh bread and lots of drinks.

After lunch we continued up and down along to Ouirgane. We were passing destroyed buildings from the 6.8 earthquake just over a month ago. I won’t post photos but it was pretty shocking. Tents for temporary living were everywhere. The epicenter was not far away.

The guesthouse we had booked was damaged but had a second building that seemed undamaged where we could stay. We were warmly welcomed and the rooms were nice. Right outside we spied bikes belonging to Andre, Joan and Kris, who had decided on the spur of the moment last night/this morning to take this route and just wing it, no reservations. Coincidentally they ended up in the same place.

I skipped the (cold) shower in favor of a swim in the nice clean pool. But it sure felt weird swimming within a few meters of destroyed houses. We had tea, and a walk around town and Wow! Some places were totally destroyed, others not. People were working on clean up. There is an official refugee camp in town, lots of tents. People seemed surprisingly normal, smiled, said bon jour. We even bought some snacks and drinks in the shop.

We had arranged to eat at the guesthouse and enjoyed a large feast, starting with rice and various salads, then tajine with fresh, hot, homemade bread and grapes and apples for dessert. It was long, loud, tasty and fun.

We’re all looking forward to riding up to the famous Tizi n’Test pass tomorrow.

Our 7th rest day was October 14, 2023. Eight days of riding and camping in a row brought us to the big city of Marrakech. The population is about a million and it’s a pretty famous city. The IMF is holding it’s annual meeting here this month for example. I’m pretty “used up” from the last days of riding and feel like I actually need this rest day, rather than, “Oh a rest day is nice”.

I wanted to go to breakfast early to say goodbye to Dick and Dennis who are flying home today. But I slept like a rock from 10:30 to 5am, then right back to sleep until 8. It was the really deep kind of sleep with good dreams where you know your body is rejuvenating. Sleeping in a big comfortable bed probably helped too.

Daniel and I went for breakfast then I helped a rider with his GPS. I did an outdoor session of bike love, cleaning, swapping the derailleur battery and lubing the chain. I measured the chain and after 4500 km it’s only 25% worn!? This is my first experience with the SRAM X01 Eagle 12 speed chain and it looks like they really do last a lot longer than the old 11 speed ones. Well they cost double so they should. I only got 4500 km on one out of nine of the 11 speed chains I used on my old bike.

I guess the big topic for the group is the next three-stage section. Originally it was supposed to be a second rest day in Marrakech plus two stages continuing south. But the September 8 earthquake damaged a hotel we were planning to use so Bike Dreams rerouted the tour. Skipping the second rest day, they will backtrack all of yesterday’s stage (very demanding as it climbs over 2600m and is a LONG, hot ride), then have a short stage plus a very long stage to get back on the schedule. Over a week ago, a few of us booked hotels along the original route and so will be leaving the group tomorrow morning, carrying just the minimum (toothbrush, shorts, T-shirt, phone charger and flip-flops, although Wytze says we could buy pairs of flip-flops at each town!) This route takes us over the Tizi-n-Test pass which is actually on dangerousroads.org, so how could we miss it? That site says it’s one of the most spectacular drives in Morocco.

It turns out many other people are not fond of the idea of reversing so have made their own plans. I guess Paris Dakar will be sort of incomplete for the next three days. I think after that, everyone will be back in the group, in the town of Taliouine. But “everyone” is a smaller group now as many people are leaving here in Marrakech. From here to Dakar, the style of the trip changes, with many “desert camps” rather than campgrounds. In “desert camps” you don’t get a shower, you can’t charge your phone or Garmin in the truck, and life becomes much more basic. Someone described it as “the epic part” of the tour. We shall see – it’s already been pretty epic!

Daniel was a hero this morning and took my laundry along with his to the laundromat – thanks! I went out to lunch with Bart and Wytze, very nice but in a strange part of town. It’s so thoroughly modern you can’t even believe it’s in Morocco. All the buildings and shops are new and fancy looking. We had a delicious lunch, and then a bakery stop for amazing desserts and drinks. We headed home and Bart and I had a great chat, drinking a couple of beers from Wytze’s stash poolside. Later, I did some packing for tomorrow and called Air France successfully to add my bike box as luggage for my return flights from Dakar. I had a relaxed evening creating route files for our little 3-day adventure and watching some disc golf coverage. What a great rest day!

Stage 35 of 60, day 41 of 71: 129.3 km, 1138m, 4:48, 290 shifts, ave speed 26.9, max speed 69.4

I don’t know what makes me not sleep well sometimes. I woke up around 2am and couldn’t get back to sleep for over two hours. So I didn’t feel my best when we started out riding in the morning, even powered by great banana smoothies. After some rolling, we started a long climb up to the famous Tizi n’Tichka (Col du Tichka or Tichka Pass). While I wasn’t fast, I was consistent and made it to the summit in time to descend with my regular riding buddies.

We went a little way down the Marrakech side and stopped at a spectacular viewpoint. Daniel and I went shopping here, buying some geological souvenirs. He did all the haggling and I reaped the benefits. It was funny how persistent the salesmen were.

Then we blazed down the steep switchbacks, loads of high-speed fun. I was grinning ear-to-ear the whole time. We stopped below in a touristy town for snacks and drinks.

From there it was only a short ride to lunch at 51 km. Ype decided to stay in Télouet to try and heal himself. The tour will come back that way in two days time and hopefully find him cured. Rigo served up a nice lunch, then we continued down. We still had 80 km to go. At first I just didn’t have it in me to keep up with the group. They were hammering and I was not. But at some point they waited and I joined back in, and by then, the headwinds were strong so I was very highly motivated to keep up. We pulled in to a café just after 100 km and boy was I ready for a break. Cold drinks (50/50 mix of Schweps Limon and water) were fantastic. Plus snacks although I couldn’t eat much.

Soon we had to go but it was only about 20 km. Dennis and Wytze were trading off the lead most of the time. Curt measured it with his power meter. It was 130-140 watts to draft behind me in 4th position. He pulled to the side and it was immediately 240. But later when he briefly took the lead, he said it was 300 and the pace definitely slowed. Numbers aside, it’s really great to have a pair of actual Supermen in your team, and they brought us to town.

The route was less than optimal as it went the wrong way against the traffic for quite a while in narrow, dangerous streets. We even tried to correct but ended up just doing the Rob route, but carefully. We got to the hotel and there were many snacks outside, and everybody who had stashed beer brought it out and shared. Today was a harder stage for me than the numbers would indicate. Others said the same.

Daniel and I got a room together and as you would expect in a four star hotel, there’s working internet, hot water and comfortable beds. We used those three things in that order, right away. But Daniel had the presence of mind to first book a reservation for dinner at a Lebanese restaurant. Later, five of us walked over, three who will stay and Dick and Dennis who will fly to Holland together in the morning.

It was a bit of an adventure finding the restaurant and we ended up asking directions at a fancier place. The super nice guy walked us through the labyrinth that is his five star hotel and out the back door saving us a 700m walk. We had a great Lebanese dinner, with several desserts, without alcohol, then taxied home.

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.

Stage 33 of 60, day 39 of 71: 140.6 km, 984m, 4:41, 350 shifts, ave speed 30, max speed 60.3

Our 6th consecutive Moroccan stage in the Fez to Marrakech block was longer and therefore harder for me. We set out at the back of the pack about 8:30. Of course our very many days record of packing up bone dry tents remained unbroken. We rode back to the town of Tinghir, then turned south and a bit west for the rest of the day.

Our little group pacelined along through the desert and stopped around 40 km at a little café for cold drinks and snacks. Lunch was up at about 80 km so that turned out to be perfect. We met up with some more riders before lunch and there was some enthusiastic faster and faster riding. Luckily we soon had to stop where Ype had lunch setup. When we arrived the average speed was over 32 kph so far for the day, even with 500m of climbing done. For the first time, Rigo had parked the luggage van there too. This was key as it provided shade for many people and shade was in very short supply out there.

I was feeling a little used up and the stop was just great. I texted our family WhatsApp group with progress and was shocked to see a reply (in Arabic no less) from Katie. It was 3:54am in Santa Cruz. When I asked what was up, she said she was just hoping I’d call. So we had a pretty amazing video call, from the exact middle of nowhere. It let her actually see the stark desert we are riding through these days (and every day for the next month!)

Soon it was time to leave lunch and the route continued up a small hill. My legs were so dead. But after a bit of a warm up, we were good to go again, and continued 30 km to another little café. This one had Orangina, my staple drink in France, but not seen much since then.

The last 30 km was just more of the same, more up and down, slow and fast. We pulled into Skoura and got to the campground easily. It was pretty bleak looking, but things do start to look a lot better after lots of snacks, drinks, soup, and a shower (quite cold). It wasn’t easy but I found a shaded place for my tent, then retired to the pool to write this and drink more water. It’s a little surreal having nice fast WiFi here.

After some snoozing, it was time for dinner duty. Our crack crew set the tables and served pasta with vodka sauce, eggplant, cucumber salad and an unnamed dessert that was very tasty. We washed a million dishes, then I headed for bed, tired. Two more days to Marrakech!

Stage 32 of 60, day 38 of 71: 83.7 km, 621m, 3:04, 95 shifts, ave speed 27.2, max speed 55.8

Finally a night of good sleep! That makes all the difference. My congestion is down and while I’m still coughing a bit, I feel almost full strength. It was another relaxed late breakfast due to the stage being short. After cheese omelets with bread and cheese for breakfast and packing up, we headed out in the cool air, in a pretty big pack, two lines, and had no trouble with traffic.

We stopped at a café at 24 km for mint tea and soda, then more of the same to lunch, Wytze and I in the lead the whole way. I noticed we did the day’s first 40 km in 1:20, averaging 30 kph.

Ype had a spot with some shade and right across the street was another little café where we had cold drinks after lunch. The owner was so friendly; he brought over a platter of chilled dates that were delicious.

We only had about 30 km to go and the last part was more scenic and interesting. There was some climbing and chances to talk to the locals who were selling many things. A meteorite salesman was very interested in my bike and wanted to know the cost of each part. I was not playing that game though.

Camp was up in a gorge, in kind of a date palm oasis. It has a pool, shade, cool drinks, and cheap rooms for anyone who wanted to upgrade. The air temperature is just about perfect sitting on the soft benches with soft pillows. The only thing I didn’t do was the optional ride to go up and see the rest of the gorge. I had had enough riding and also wanted to save up for tomorrow’s full stage, 140 km.

I really love these short stages. This one allowed a super relaxing long afternoon of napping and reading. We had a call with Andrew in the hospital who is feeling even better and enjoying the nurse’s company. Then it was dinner time, delicious as usual. We retired to the pool with a chilled bottle of the wine Andrew had managed to get into the country. We toasted him and told stories with Ype.

Stage 31 of 60, day 37 of 71: 96 km, 657m, 3:27, 224 shifts, ave speed 27.7, max speed 71.1

We had a late breakfast at 8am, so that gave plenty of time to sleep considering I went to bed about 9pm. Sleep was mixed with coughing bouts but I think I got enough. After breakfast, I felt slightly better than the previous day but still very glad we had a short and easy stage today.

It was a little after 9 when we headed out. We rode in the gorge for a little while, easy with no wind and a nice surface. Soon, Wytze pulled ahead, Daniel tucked in behind and we were in the groove. It was two recovering sick boys being towed by Superman, all day. Our first stop was in a town a bit before 40 km, sodas and tea and snacks. Ype had lunch ready at 54 km at an unlikely nice spot with shade.

We enjoyed lunch, then rode another 40 km to Goulmima and stopped in a café for the usual. Then to camp where we scored shaded tent spots by the (empty) swimming pool. Swimming would be nice but shade seems like an even bigger win. The day wasn’t all that hot, but the sun is pretty unforgiving. With a short stage, we were only out in it for 3 1/2 hours.

One sad thing for the day was Andre, riding peacefully along by himself, 20 km from the end. A car went to pass him but there was an oncoming one. So it plowed into Andre’s handlebar instead of slowing or hitting the other car. He was knocked off the road and his bike and it could’ve been really bad. As it was he lost skin in several places and it was super distressing. The drivers of both cars stopped and came to check on him – he gave the guy who hit him an earful. Let’s hope for no more of this, but it is luck and statistics in the end I guess.

I had some great snacks, delicious melon with mint, potato chips and soup. Then a nice shower. I found a lounge with WiFi and the very friendly camp guys gave me some tea to drink while writing this.

Then it was nap time again, and dinner at 7, tacos, and to bed for me. This time I’m equipped with earplugs, which seem like a really good idea given how we’re right in the town.

Stage 30 of 60, day 36 of 71: 120 km, 1011m, 4:12, 214 shifts, ave speed 28.6, max speed 53.2

That’s a milestone, half the stages done! I managed to sleep 10 hours between an afternoon nap and a long sleep at night. I woke up feeling sicker but still ok to ride. After breakfast we started out and it was pretty magical for me. After the first few pedal strokes, on a smooth, gently downhill road, I felt great. We cruised for about 40 km, easy pace.

Then the day’s climb started. At one point the road split, old on our Garmins and new in real life. We took old since there was no traffic on it. We soon found out why: it ends in a 3-4m precipice! We carried up and around and made it onto the new road.

We continued the climb, then stopped at a friendly restaurant for drinks and snacks. It was at 63 km and then the text from Ype came in “Lunch is open at 66 km”. After sodas and mint tea, we headed there and had a good lunch. From there we had under 60 km to camp, mostly all downhill. Dennis and Wytze blasted out the first 40+ of that at what felt like full speed to me, mostly 40 ish kph, more on the downhills. We pulled in to a little restaurant and Dennis had the biggest smile ever, “Now that was cycling!”

After more drinks and snacks we cruised the rest of the way, including entering the Gorge of Ziz.

Our camp was at a hotel called Kasbah Hotel Jurassique. Initially I only saw rocky crap places to camp but then it turned out if you had a free-standing tent like my Quechua, you could camp on the concrete by the pool, and it was shaded! Our baggage wasn’t here yet but after we unloaded it, I went swimming in my bike shorts – perfect cold clear water!

Then we had a round of soup and snacks, a beautiful warm shower, laundry, etc. Brian gets the Hero Of The Day award for arranging to get 50 beers delivered from a distant store. He ended up having to drive with the guy’s son who was a terrible driver, but successfully returned with 50 beers that were still cold and didn’t last long. 30 dirham=just under 3€ each.

After a couple of beers and writing this up, I took a nap until dinner. I need to blast this cold out of my system somehow. Luckily, tomorrow’s ride is under 100 km with little climbing. Good night!

Stage 29 of 60, day 35 of 71: 101.6 km, 1289m, 4:16, 288 shifts, ave speed 23.8, max speed 71.1

I thought our campground was pretty nice until I tried to go to sleep. Turns out it was surrounded by mad dogs that barked almost all night long. Also donkeys. In the early morning when the dogs finally went to sleep, the roosters started. Then at 5:50 as usual, the call to prayer.

So I woke up tired and realized I was finally coming down with the cold that’s been going around. I felt like I could ride so packed up and ate breakfast.

We left at 8:45, with a pretty long hill climb to start the day. I just rode it and soon I’d made it over 10 km and 600m up. We passed monkeys and luckily all this time the weather was cool.

Wytze came by and I followed him another 20 km until we stopped at a little restaurant. It looked deserted at first, but a nice man came and served us sodas and mint tea and coffee with cookies.

We continued to lunch at 56 km, all into the wind, with Wytze and Dennis being superstars and me wheel sucking the whole time. Lunch was the usual and we had a French cyclist eating with us.

Then we just had to make it to camp. There was still a bit more climbing, then a long way downhill. The road surface was kind of crappy but some people are starting to put on wider or gravel tires these days to deal with it. It was fine for me.

I rode the whole way with Dennis and Wytze, which made it SO much easier. We had a water stop in a town then arrived at camp, a surprisingly lush campsite by a gas station out of town.

I set up my tent, ate soup and snacks, showered and went to sleep. It felt great, warm in the tent. I didn’t feel any better when it was dinner time but really enjoyed the delicious food; that must be a good sign. I’ll decide about riding tomorrow morning.

We heard that after a long delay, our injured rider Willi, made it to Casablanca. Suzanne and Richard who were with him made it to camp.