Day 1 30/09/2012: Sunny Sunday Morning.
At last, it's the morning of our depature from Spain to Morocco and the sun is shining again.
It's days' like these why I like Spain so much. After enduring so much poor weather recently to get here I felt a tad sorry to be leaving again, albeit for just a couple of weeks, but there is something else to look forward to because tonight I'll be dining and sleeping in Chefchaouen.
The ride to Algerciras for the ferry is a fairly straightforward affair when taking the autopista along the coast. It is by no means a dull ride because there are some stunning views from the Sierra de Mijas and the lower slopes of Sierra Bermeja mountains but, what I noticed mostly on that ride was the extent of the fire damage which took place north of Marbella in August. I missed those fires by a couple of days when I was riding in this region during the summer and am glad I had left when I did: It would have the ride of a lifetime if you found yourself on those MA numbered roads on your own with the smell of burning grass in the air.
Thankfully it was too wet now for any of that but we could smell the burnt landscape in the morning air and see many charred buildings on our ride.
Our arrival at the port was uneventful...
Queuing.
Still Waiting...
...but thankfully we didn't have to wait too long to get to see our vessel and distract ourselves from the boredom of the dock.
Once on board and under steam it was all to play for from now on. It's a good feeling knowing that that we'll soon be doing some proper riding and for most on this trip they'll be experiencing something very new.
Bye Bye Europe.
Hello North Africa.
After an early lunch on the ferry and a scramble to get off as quickly as possible upon docking we joined another queue at immigration control. At least we have the game some of us play when away and upon arrival on Moroccan soil it was game on. It was me again, Skygod and Jono who had signed up for the ten press-up forfeit when caught using the
F word and obviously Gaz got his in first whilst waiting to be allowed across the border and were easily knocked out in short time but, it was Jono's attempt which gave us something to occupy ourselves for a few minutes...
Looks good for a moment or two.
He's struggling now.
That's a hopeless effort for one so strong.
It was a swift border crossing this time with only a few confusing moments spread throughout the group but much better than the last time, and before we knew it we were on our way.
It's only a short ride out of the port to our first trail but we had a bit of a shock when we pulled off the road onto what should have a well graded track. Earlier this year this track was in good condition but something has happened over the summer months because it is now a wreck of it's former self. It was so bad I couldn't even remember being here until we stopped for the first time in a convenient clearing away from the route and recognised some of the scenery.
Skygod stops us here to check we're all okay.
It's only after confirmation that we are on the right track and seeing this building which rings a bell in my mind, but nearly everything about the road surface is different.
Stay Out!
It's only when we get on our way again that it all starts to sink in for me and we make good progress because we are all confident and fired up.
Another cigar break.
Not for long though...
The grading becomes better, and then worse, and then nothing at all but we are getting nicely warmed up on the relativiely easy first trails of a long two week trip.
Dean's HeadCam provided me with a lot of images but he didn't set the clock so I can't be sure if these are the first or second set of trails for the day but nevertheless they do show the lie of the land of the northern Riff mountains...
Crazy Paving or what?
The sun shines on Alan.
Get up there...
...and ride the ridge.
It wasn't all plain sailing though because there was a little incident up there. Alan had the misfortune to take on a scooter rider head on and had to take evasive action. He turned a blind corner and between the both of them there was not enough room and Alan laid his bike down by command of his front brakes. He hurt his knee, tearing his trousers, and twisted the forks in the yokes. I was right behind Alan so stopped with him for a check-up and then sped off to call in the rest of the riders. We were now spread out but within time they started coming back. I was then despatched to go and find the last two and just as I was beginning to wonder where they are , they came into veiw a rode right past me and back to the crash sight where Jono was doing a realignment job on the twisted KTM. I couldn't be bothered riding through the gang of begging children again so I found a place to stop for a nice sit down with a cigar.
I waited...
...and waited...
...and thought about dinner tonight.
It took a while for the sound of engines to come my way, and not only from our group, because this is a well used piste with all sorts of traffic driving past wondering what the hell I was doing hanging around up here.
Soon enough we are heading back to the roads and around the outskirts of Tetouan. Just a note here to say that I'm not that keen on Tetouan after having stones thrown at us by the local lads. They better not do that again.
We're heading for the coast road to take us to the next trail which roughly goes from Cape Mazari towards Chefchaouen.
Spout and Alan checking out dinner tonight.
We have to stop to find the piste we want. This is the coast road to Bou-Ahmed and is very pretty indeed with wonderful views of the very blue Mederterranian Sea.
This is the last time we will see the sea for a couple of weeks.
The piste climbs away from the Rhomara coastline and takes us into the mountains towards ES Sebt-de-Said, a small hamlet with a road to Chechaouen, but we have to get there first. The trails around here are quite rutted in places and are created by necessity by local people taking the easiest route from one place to another.
They are however good riding for us on our first day if you can keep your bike on two wheels. Alas is was Jono who had the first little incidents around here. I don't have those images but if Skygod would like to drop some video in here then he's welcome do so and show how easily it can go wrong.
Ultimately we find our way to last leg of the first day and a swift ride on sweeping roads into Chefchaouen. We've had a bit of nearly everything today including dust, gravel, mud and ruts as well as a lot of up & down and I think all are content and looking forward to their first tagine dinner once we've parked the bikes and checked into the hotel.