Mid Norfok 
The other side of the flat lands
This is going to be fun
The other side of the flat lands
This is going to be fun
Morocco in Spring
- Thread starter (RIP) drillam
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Might as well make it the Souk in Marrakech on 1st April, 12.00 sharp then eh??? 
Last one there buys the mint teas
Last one there buys the mint teas
Might as well make it the Souk in Marrakech on 1st April, 12.00 sharp then eh???
Last one there buys the mint teas
How about all those interested pm you with email addresses, you draft a "straw model" of trip outline to kick off some discussion and feedback.
ie. Timing, Length of trip in days, ferry details and est costs, daily target miles maximum, poss route outline, days off the bike etc etc.
I'll send you my email details now to kick off.
OK, but as stated previously, it's only a very loose plan and could change to suit others.
I think Steptoe said something earlier this year along the lines of "if you can call turning up at the ferry and saying -let's go this way, a plan, then we have a plan"
So first let me apologise to anyone who's been before( coz you'll likely know a damn sight more than me) if it seems like I'm teaching granny to suck eggs here. And please feel free to strike up with your experiences and suggestions or put me right. I don't really claim ownership of this thread and I'm also very flexible. so feel free to contribute.
Last year I took the ferry from Portsmouth to Santander. 36hrs
Rode down to Algeciras, alongside Gibraltar. 600 + miles. Do-able in a day, although a bit of a ball buster. Trouble is that last time I landed at 7pm and riding through the night gets a bit chilly and more tiresome. So an overnight pitstop was required.
Somewhere in the link below it says 700 miles, so I could well be out there.
Ferry across to Ceuta, about an hour or so.
Getting through customs and into Morocco, about 2 hours or so.
After that it's a question of where you wanna go and how long you have to do it.
If you've only a week or so in Morocco, then you'd likely not want to stray too much further than the Mid Atlas I'd guess.
I went almost directly south, through Tetouan, Chefchaouen, then skipped the Riff cause lotsa folk say it's lawless and has poor roads, and headed for the Mid Atlas - so on to Meknes, Errachidia, and just north of Merzouga I stopped off for three nights at Hassilabied in The Nasser Palace Hotel. Lovely wee place on the edge of the Sahara. Camel rides for a night in the desert, lovely pool, good food, cold beer, a wee oasis.
Then I split up from my riding companion and headed over to Ouarzazate, A'it Ben Haddou, from there to Marrakech for a night, then the coast, Essaouira for a coupla nights then back up the coast road to Tangier for the ferry to Spain. I was in morocco for 11 days I think. I'd like to spend longer in the mountains this time as the coast doesn't really interest me, the mountain roads are great and everything seemed much cheaper than the coast and Marrakech.
This time I'd like to go a wee bit further south and hit the High Atlas.
I'd be using hotels as they're dirt cheap.
Probably want to go for at least three weeks as the trip down to Ceuta and back takes the best part of a week, leaving two weeks in Morocco. I'd happily extend that if anyone wants to stay on longer.
If we can find out details of some very gentle off road stuff then I'd be up for it, but I'm no off road god and the soft sand was f*kking hard work last time. Specially as I ride a lardy arsed 1100.
I'm happy with around 200 miles per day once on Morocco. Riding down from Santander then it's a case of head down and go for it.
Look on the Morocco Knowledge Base in the Travel section and there's more info than you can likely get through, but Timolgra started off a Sticky thread
http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=89396
and this is the VERY basics I started with last year.
WHERE TO GO, WHAT TO DO
Morocco has four main mountain ranges; from north to south these are the Rif Mountains, then the Middle Atlas, the High Atlas and the Anti-Atlas in the furthest south. The best bike roads in the mountains are probably the Atlas ranges, the roads in the Rif are often less well surfaced.
To the east of the Middle Atlas and the south of the High/Anti Atlas lie the hamadas--stony semi-arid 'desert' with excellent pistes (tracks for 4WD cars and bikes). There's a small area of sand near Erfoud and another near Zagora.
The coastal plain to the west of the country is generally flat and uninteresting, however the coastline itself is often pretty.
WHEN TO GO
Morocco is an all-year-round destination, however in the winter the smaller mountain roads can be blocked by snow, and the summer months (mid-June to end August) are normally extremely hot. My personal preference is for April/May--the country is incredibly green and the days are much longer than September/October.
So, take it from there then, read up, chip in, and we'll see where this goes.
Millard
I think Steptoe said something earlier this year along the lines of "if you can call turning up at the ferry and saying -let's go this way, a plan, then we have a plan"
So first let me apologise to anyone who's been before( coz you'll likely know a damn sight more than me) if it seems like I'm teaching granny to suck eggs here. And please feel free to strike up with your experiences and suggestions or put me right. I don't really claim ownership of this thread and I'm also very flexible. so feel free to contribute.
Last year I took the ferry from Portsmouth to Santander. 36hrs
Rode down to Algeciras, alongside Gibraltar. 600 + miles. Do-able in a day, although a bit of a ball buster. Trouble is that last time I landed at 7pm and riding through the night gets a bit chilly and more tiresome. So an overnight pitstop was required.
Somewhere in the link below it says 700 miles, so I could well be out there.
Ferry across to Ceuta, about an hour or so.
Getting through customs and into Morocco, about 2 hours or so.
After that it's a question of where you wanna go and how long you have to do it.
If you've only a week or so in Morocco, then you'd likely not want to stray too much further than the Mid Atlas I'd guess.
I went almost directly south, through Tetouan, Chefchaouen, then skipped the Riff cause lotsa folk say it's lawless and has poor roads, and headed for the Mid Atlas - so on to Meknes, Errachidia, and just north of Merzouga I stopped off for three nights at Hassilabied in The Nasser Palace Hotel. Lovely wee place on the edge of the Sahara. Camel rides for a night in the desert, lovely pool, good food, cold beer, a wee oasis.
Then I split up from my riding companion and headed over to Ouarzazate, A'it Ben Haddou, from there to Marrakech for a night, then the coast, Essaouira for a coupla nights then back up the coast road to Tangier for the ferry to Spain. I was in morocco for 11 days I think. I'd like to spend longer in the mountains this time as the coast doesn't really interest me, the mountain roads are great and everything seemed much cheaper than the coast and Marrakech.
This time I'd like to go a wee bit further south and hit the High Atlas.
I'd be using hotels as they're dirt cheap.
Probably want to go for at least three weeks as the trip down to Ceuta and back takes the best part of a week, leaving two weeks in Morocco. I'd happily extend that if anyone wants to stay on longer.
If we can find out details of some very gentle off road stuff then I'd be up for it, but I'm no off road god and the soft sand was f*kking hard work last time. Specially as I ride a lardy arsed 1100.
I'm happy with around 200 miles per day once on Morocco. Riding down from Santander then it's a case of head down and go for it.
Look on the Morocco Knowledge Base in the Travel section and there's more info than you can likely get through, but Timolgra started off a Sticky thread
http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=89396
and this is the VERY basics I started with last year.
WHERE TO GO, WHAT TO DO
Morocco has four main mountain ranges; from north to south these are the Rif Mountains, then the Middle Atlas, the High Atlas and the Anti-Atlas in the furthest south. The best bike roads in the mountains are probably the Atlas ranges, the roads in the Rif are often less well surfaced.
To the east of the Middle Atlas and the south of the High/Anti Atlas lie the hamadas--stony semi-arid 'desert' with excellent pistes (tracks for 4WD cars and bikes). There's a small area of sand near Erfoud and another near Zagora.
The coastal plain to the west of the country is generally flat and uninteresting, however the coastline itself is often pretty.
WHEN TO GO
Morocco is an all-year-round destination, however in the winter the smaller mountain roads can be blocked by snow, and the summer months (mid-June to end August) are normally extremely hot. My personal preference is for April/May--the country is incredibly green and the days are much longer than September/October.
So, take it from there then, read up, chip in, and we'll see where this goes.
Millard
Sounds good, after the festive season anyone?
OK, gonna suggest a meet up around the 28th December, say Compton Abbas airfield? Bit of breakfast and a chat about proposed trip?
How does that sound? I am flexible on date as I am off between Christmas and new year.
http://www.villa-sunset.ma/
This place belongs to someone we know, never been there myself but a few mates have and reckon its brilliant.
Heres one of the rooms.
And the views are quite good too..
This place belongs to someone we know, never been there myself but a few mates have and reckon its brilliant.
Heres one of the rooms.
And the views are quite good too..
Yea, recon I could manage to stay there for a day or so
PM sent
Won't be able to make 28th, I'm on night shifts
and even I need to sleep at some point
PM sent
Won't be able to make 28th, I'm on night shifts
and even I need to sleep at some pointYeah I'm felxible as well, but emails from a few others suggest that they're not as they have some work type time constraints.
Looks good Smudger, at the end of the Atlas as well, so perhaps it'd be an idea to work along the mountain roads east to west and end up at the coast for a few nights before riding back up the coast road to Tangier?
Yea, recon I could manage to stay there for a day or so
PM sent
Won't be able to make 28th, I'm on night shifts
What dates are you available Gary ? and how far west is it reasonable to ask you to come for a meet? Looks like you're farthest east and so far Mike (Crumbles) is farthest west in Honiton.
Paul (Pablo) is way too far north for a meet.
So far then it looks like around west London somewhere would be most central, but is that too far for Gary (Snow White) and Mike to travel for a chinwag???
And next, when would it be convenient?
Smudger and I are flexible, so it's up you guys Gary and Mike, what do you two reckon?
BTW
Anyone know how/if I can change the title of this thread to "Morocco in Spring"?
Anyone know how/if I can change the title of this thread to "Morocco in Spring"?
Guys.
Happy to do West London somewhere, makes it abit more do-able and so if you still want the 28th Dec I could just manage mid pm at earliest, or I could do 29th Dec (just about any reasonable time)
Morocco in Spring sounds nice
Happy to do West London somewhere, makes it abit more do-able and so if you still want the 28th Dec I could just manage mid pm at earliest, or I could do 29th Dec (just about any reasonable time)
Morocco in Spring sounds nice
Guys.
Happy to do West London somewhere, makes it abit more do-able and so if you still want the 28th Dec I could just manage mid pm at earliest, or I could do 29th Dec (just about any reasonable time)
Morocco in Spring sounds nice
Ace cafe anyone?
sounds good, I've never been. 
How's about 29th, 10:30ish? Millard, we can meet up somewhere if you don't know the way
Fits in for me, I've never been either
Can you book some weather that doesn't involve icy roads
Can you book some weather that doesn't involve icy roads
a ride up together on 29th works for me.
If I wasn't a devout atheist I'd have a quiet word with the weather gods for you Gary
If I wasn't a devout atheist I'd have a quiet word with the weather gods for you Gary
At this rate we have a plan 
geez that's f'kin scary. means we gotta live up to something now 
Yup, and we are all following YOUR instructions 
that's what I mean "f'kin scary"
Last time I only had myself to worry about if/when I fukked up.
still, at least this time I can share the blame
Last time I only had myself to worry about if/when I fukked up.
still, at least this time I can share the blame
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