Adventure Bike Rider Forum

10 out of 10 for the videos al, such good video editing.

aliwakeskate wrote: ↑Sat Dec 02, 2017 7:36 pm I have no idea what crash you are talking about fella....

I thought you did that on purpose.......?

We crew up again and ride on in the direction of Zagora......Al has been eating like a horse....he looks like one so why not eat like one?.....with all that extra weight he picks up a front tyre puncture ...............so we all stop to take pictures and tell him how to fix it....some even do it for him....humph....I wouldn't get that preferential treatment....




















Crew up and head on to hard pack stone single track to get us to the blacktop that will take us to the hotel in Zagora










We stop to wait and regroup before we take an easy ride into Zagora. The last section of piste is stone with the odd gulley whoop and can be fast if you want it to be......Dayne and I go for a snort....











From last time........




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You'll see a sign just before you come off piste and onto tarmac.













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Whilst riding to Zagora we spy Bob having a rest beside his moto taking in the scenery ....he gives the thumbs up but Al and Francois peel off to confirm he's OK....

All is well and of course a local appears out of nowhere on his scooter to check all is well too.......Al passes over some fuel and gives him bottle of water....the solidarity of the desert should be born in mind.....every one looks out for everyone else when here....learn to stop and do it too....of course Europeans think the locals are after something when all they're doing the vast majority of the time is checking all is well.



















We arrive at the hotel in Zagora after a 45min ride taking in the last of the desert scenery.











French EDC are happy at having arrived.


























We get our rooms get sorted and drink a beer or two........we have a rest/explore day here the next day.






I of course fill out a Health and Safety form ( in triplicate ) ref, sparrows on the table eating crumbs....I demand to see the food hygiene certificate along with the previous 3 years........that'll show them.


I also take a list of any injuries from the group along with a list of any one who has hurt feelings and is feeling a bit offended about anything...again in triplicate....that'll show them.







An easy afternoon is had and that night Malika,the owner prepares a dish for us from her native Fès.........which she didn't have to but was very nice of her to do so IMO>

This was included in the price of the room and was no doubt more expensive to organise that the standard type of meal we'd been having up until now.


There was even soft rose petals on the table













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Two fatboys with suspect hairstyles get to breakfast first.....












Today is a rest/explore/repair day in Zagora, which is a hub of activity.

I'll take anyone who wants their moto fettling to a garage I use ( Garage Sahara ) to tea and have a chat with Abdul and Muhammad the brother owners.

























Gregg wants to carry out an oil change so Abdul sends a teenager on a moped to get the oil for Gregg, Abdul jumps on his scooter and comes back a short time later with almonds and fresh mint for tea.

We'll drink tea and watch the world go by.







Function over form......












Gregg changes his oil, not before,in true goat fashion, kicking over the oil container........before anyone helps?.....pictures are taken.

I of course fill out another Health and Safety report ( in triplicate) along with an Injury form due to hot oil on Greggs hand. I also get the insurance from Abdul so he I can fill out a claim form as it has to be someone else's fault that he kicked over the oil. I also need to see his receipts for Conformity of said oil drain container and worst of all, I need to see his Environmently Friendly oil Disposal 3 Day course diploma....


......I was aghast at how they just threw sand on to the oil. Having witnessed this I if course rushed to fill out a separate report ( in triplicate) outlining the contravention of oil disposal procedures.......... That'll show them.


















Dayne needed a heat shield fabricated as his exhaust had melted a section of his boot....a kid on a moped was despatched returning a short time later with two large hose clips whilst Muhammad found a section of hard fibreglass body work off an old piece of Paris Dakar car that had crashed out a good few years ago.....at least that's what we told him anyway.

After a short time with an angle grinder....to include flop flips, no dust mask, goggles or protective clothing....a heat shield was fitted for a few dirhams .


Yes....I did of course fill out another Health and Safety Form ( in triplicate ). That'll show them.

By this stage I was wishing my pen would run out of ink...but it has to be done.....or someone will write out a report in triplicate reporting me for not writing out reports in triplicate......... That'll show me.





Abdul puts one of his stickers onto his guard.












There's always something happening.......here they're fixing a broken leaf spring from a Swiss couples old Toyota









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After we leave the garage everyone goes off to do their own thing. I offer a ride out up to the radio mast to take its the view. This is a steep single vehicle piste in loose and hardpack with steep rock drop offs, well worth the ride up for the views of the palmeries at Zagora and the view south to Cape Town











For orientation, behind the cliffs/mountains in the back ground is the piste from Tafraoute to M'hammid.....

Others slob it at the hotel, hang out in Zagora or go for an easy ride out.

The next morning at breakfast before we leave we gather up a few coin dirhams for the old man who stays in his wee hut over the past two nights and who is there to look after our motos.


Some of the group give a few coins in the whip round and some don't bother........ I ask the man later just out of interest if every body gave a few coppers and he confirms not everybody gave.....oh well....Personally I don't mind paying a quid to have my bike there in the morning after two nights...... NCP would be more expensive I'd say.

He's ex military with three children at college these days and is quite rightly very proud of their progress. He holds down a day job and stays on site at the hotel. I give him a few pens for his teenagers.... That'll be another couple of hundred pages of learning they'll have.





We'll be riding out after breakfast along trails and through palmeries to parallel the route national for lunch at Ouarzazate....about half of the old piste is now tarmac....we'll arrive at Ait Benhaddou to stay that afternoon. We'll meet the road riders at Ouarzazate for lunch.





The French EDC will ride the same piste and will head to Imilchil on their way home as they're more pressed for time.


We'll be heading to the end of the cliffs at the LHS of this image.






We pick up tarmac and ride on.






We'll pick up the trail not long after here.....










The tarmac will just stop and you just keep riding though the village dirt road straight in front of you.......but..........just before here you'll need to slow down as you will cross a single vehicle dusty route in tarmac........the route you're now on is bounded by mud walls both sides and it's easy to miss because you're looking ahead and you think you should just keep riding.....there is of course no signs to show this road you could get T boned by a driver if you do not know this exists.



We'll ride through typical working villages away from the tourist ones, that derive their living form the palmeries by harvesting dates and growing mint. The going is hard pack and later some village connecting routes will be in hard pack stone and rock.





























































We stop with some kids cycling home form school and give out a few Chuppa Chups and pens...of course we're met with smiles.

















We'll ride on and stop at a T junction for tea/coke etc on the Route National once the trails stops at tarmac. The piste after the final villages is now graded and widened out from single vehicle, and will no doubt be tarmac soon. From memory you should still be able to parallel the new tarmac route later on. One to be explored.









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After the tea stop we'll ride by blacktop on fluid newly surfaced road.


Almost everyone is happy with the trails and the riding conditions.....Bob nearly starts to cry as the off roading comes to an end.


















I wonder if the 7 Up might be out of date?

We crew up after tea and head towards Ouarzazate along fluid, fast, tarmac twisities and to where we'll stop for a chat and to take some pics of the gorges and breathtaking scenery.





































I look over to my left .....









Idiots..............












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We ride on to Ouarzazate to a good restaurant I know for lunch. We've arranged to meet the road riders there. After lunch we'll ride 40mins to Aït Benhaddou where we'll have a late afternoon and evening to dander about the place.


This is a UNESCO site and has been several well known films.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aït_Benhaddou


Sodom And Gomorrah (1963)
Oedipus Rex (1967)
The Man Who Would Be King (film) (1975)
The Message (1976)
Jesus of Nazareth (1977)
Time Bandits (1981)
Marco Polo (1982)
The Jewel of the Nile (1985)
The Living Daylights (1987)
The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
The Sheltering Sky (1990)
Kundun (1997)
The Mummy (1999)
Gladiator (2000)
Alexander (2004)
Kingdom of Heaven (2005)
Babel (2006)
One Night with the King (2006)
Prince of Persia (2010)
Son of God (film) (2014)


An hotel is secured for a good price in a top tourist area and after getting ensconced we take a dander to the fort a short walk away.




Dave spies some European female tourists and subtly observes.....









Before dark Young Dave rides back 30mins to Ouarzazate to check the film studios there.......I reminded him we were in Morocco stil and not Egypt as he thought.











































































It's really old here......





















Al sports a lovely new red handbag......











George and Tim pose for the 2018 Kays Catalogue for the more mature man.




























Weirdo






....and another, sporting a Side Show Bob hairstyle.








Speaking of weirdos.....some of the rest broke into a house and ended up sitting on the roof taking in the view.







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