Today was a mixed day. Some great riding, some frustrating things with locals, kit and technology.
The day started out with a beautiful sunrise. I love sunrise time of the day, all that glowing light, the promise of a new day to come, new adventures and/or great things to see and experience.
I set off in the cold air, taking a bit of time to settle in on the bike for some reason. The piste was mixed with rough stony sections, some soft sand parts and some weird grooved bits. The scenery was just stunning. Valleys, edged with rough looking cliffs, all the various shades of green and browns that make up the desert landscape. Then the flat open sections covered in small sharp stones, with views as far as you can see.
There is a depth to this landscape that reminds me of the Antarctic. Navigation is very similar too, ie follow a line on a GPS, as you get close, hone into the end point, use lots of land features as markers to keep you on track.
The morning track meandered around a fair bit, then disappeared altogether. I ended up following my GPS line for about 15 miles across open desert. I knew it connected with a tarmac road and a petrol garage, so just put my faith in the technology.
Once at the garage, the grumpy owner ripped me off for the price of a coffee and his son tried to get me to go to his village so he could wash my bike. I set off again, heading towards Zagora. The first bit was on tarmac, then next across the desert again, then another tarmac section and yet another wide desert crossing finally into Zagora. The riding was great again. Some huge dried lake bed parts, some dunes to cross, some really rocky winding mountain pass sections and more valley parts. Such a varied day of travelling.
Once in Zagora, I got chased again by moped riding sales reps, I stopped for a coffee, chased the first two off. Then decided to find some hot food, as it had been a few days since my last full meal. I found a lovely fish place full of locals, 80 dirhams got me 4 cooked fish, loads of olives, chips and spicy dips and a weird bottle of some Hawaiian fruit drink. Whilst here, two more sales reps approached me, then getting fuel another one. I lost my rag at the last one, poor lad. The guy at the garage pumping fuel was laughing about the whole thing, he knew exactly what I was talking about, but what it did for me was make me want to lave Zagora, so decision made, I rode out of town instead of staying overnight as I'd planned.
Issues that are demanding attention: As I was leaving the fish cafe, the zip on my jacket did that thing where it unzips from the bottom and the puller is the only bit holding it together. I then ripped a tooth out whilst trying to get it undone. It now won't zip up at all. So there goes my main riding jacket. A couple of mornings ago, I'd noticed the stitching on one of my panniers has come apart and I'll need to source a strap to keep the bag attached. I've been locked out of my online bank, requiring me to call the UK to sort it out, not so easy with no working phone and no access to a land line. As I set off from Zagora, the touch screen on the GPS stopped working, I had to reboot it several times before I could follow the track. I finally managed to be able to use it again, after I'd tore off the screen protector and rebooted it about 10 times. Now, as I write this blog, the laptop mouse is going haywire and the keyboard has a delay on it and keeps switching to italics. I'm very glad the riding is good!
Anyway, I left Zagora at 5pm, so that left me 2 hours til dark to sort out somewhere to camp/sleep. I ended up riding in the dark to Ourzazate over a fabulous high pass and finding a hotel. The bike is parked in the foyer, I have a room for 80 dirhams a night with WIFI and the shower is in a room across the hallway! Hey ho...
