Wear the Fox hat!

[merlings1200]

If you want to get your own back just mention KTM 690 fuel pumps

Yes but we did get a BLUE PETER badge for having a spare fuel pump, stripping the bike and fitting the new pump in 100 degree heat no shade, oh can I have a gold star for fitting the correct rubber Michealin Desserts: for our epic adventure.
Over 2000 miles in 9 days 80% off road, rear is not yet half warn!
Enjoy Morocco but do ride carefully on the road

 

[GSTraveller]

Yes but we did get a BLUE PETER badge for having a spare fuel pump, stripping the bike and fitting the new pump in 100 degree heat no shade, oh can I have a gold star for fitting the correct rubber Michealin Desserts: for our epic adventure.
Over 2000 miles in 9 days 80% off road, rear is not yet half warn!
Enjoy Morocco but do ride carefully on the road

You are my hero! 100 degree heat in Morocco, who'd have thought it? RE the tyre. Mines done nearly 2000 and I expect that much again. Plus the fact my tyre is moving more weight. Im happy with my tyre choice thanks it's just that some of us prefer to ride our bikes to Morocco as opposed to taking them on the back of a trailer all the way there

 

[Count Pikey]

You are my hero! 100 degree heat in Morocco, who'd have thought it? RE the tyre. Mines done nearly 2000 and I expect that much again. Plus the fact my tyre is moving more weight. Im happy with my tyre choice thanks it's just that some of us prefer to ride our bikes to Morocco as opposed to taking them on the back of a trailer all the way there

LOL....................Touche!

I'm doing the whole trip France/Spain/Morroc on my already half worn road tires that I had fitted last year, if they get too bald I will just get out my tread cutter. I will take a picture and we can see how they stand up to the mission.

 

[GSTraveller]

And so, early to rise this morning for no apparent reason. It was a damp start too and a tad bit chilli, down to 16 degrees!! Even had to put the hand warmers on for the first time since I entered France. I awoke to an awesome aerobatics display in the field next to me. Some model aircraft enthusiast certainly knew what he was doing. See if you can spot the plane in the picture:



Bye bye Banares:



It was a pleasant ride west to Palencia. Nice easy roads and I took it nice and steady. It was a very socialable ride, lots of waving, loads of bikes out and hundreds of ramblers? They were walking along a dirt road right next to the motorway that went on for miles. Surely that's the last thing you would want to walk next to. Very strange.

Found the hotel and booked in. The receptionist spoke not one word of English which made everything we spoke about a complete mystery. I really have absolutely no clue when it comes to Spanish. Even in my favourite restaurant, it's all completely alien. It's a case of point and shot and hope you get what you want in the end.

Yes I'll have 3 of those please (had to be done):



Room looks decent enough. Hope the smell of bleach dies down a bit, it was burning my nostrils.



Selfie alert!!



I now await the arrival of the team who should be here by about 1900 I reckon.

And Gerry (who really is my hero) has kindly managed to secure me a Tourance should I need it in Algericas. I'm booked in to have it fitted upon re-entry into Spain. Think I owe him a beer or two. I can finally relax about my tyre. Wouldn't mind but I have a brand new Heidi sat in my garage at home (for reasons we shall not discuss) and I debated for weeks about bringing it and decided against it.

watch this space for more team based shinanagins!

 

[Count Pikey]

No update tonight...........................what is going on.

 

[GSTraveller]

Palencia, not a bad place at all. I had plenty of time on my hands yesterday to explore as well as squeeze in a couple of Spanish films. There is some beauty in the place after all.





The highlight of my afternoon had to be watching a load of nuns playing volleyball wearing their habits. If the sheer site of that wasn't funny enough, they just kept spooning it off in all directions, I was in absolute Stitches. You can just about make them out through the trees:



The boys eventually rocked up about half 9 and quickly got changed so we could head out for some food and of course a beer or 2. We were intrigued by what was called a 'pan if eggs' in the menu. Guess what:



And that was it. Nothing too exciting. We didn't eat till half eleven and so it wasn't very long after we were making our way back to the hotel.

No set plan today. We are just heading south until we feel like stopping. We might make it all the way, who knows. Morocco is looming large on the horizon now. The fun really is about to begin.

Just a note on the hotel. Great little place. For the price (€36 for 2 people), it's great value and perfectly situated with the centre of the city just a 10 minute stroll around the corner. Secure underground parking as well. Hotel Don Rodrigos, Palencia is a definite recommend from me.

 

[GSTraveller]

The epic voyage began. And what an epic voyage it was for a first day. For me personally having been here a week already I was raring to go. The boys, less than 24hrs in, were happy to soak up some sun and site seeing. All 8 1/2 hours of it. It was the longest day in the saddle for me so far and my forehead knew it! (I must do something with my helmet).

Anyway, we set off at around 10:



And headed due south, trying our best to avoid the motorway. We came across a lovely walled town upon a hill (name escapes me) which of all days happened to have a road running race on. This meant that more or less, every escape route was blocked and an hour was spent trying to retrace our steps and find I way back out.

Mark and Jeff trying to solve the maze:



Shortly after I somehow managed to separate from the group and happened upon a glorious deviation through the mountains in order to rejoin the group.

Have to say, don't think much of the motorway services over here:



Eventually we happened upon a small village with a cracking little hostel.



€28 euros with breakfast or €25 without. A place called 'La Zarza' which I think means 'The Stag'. Rooms aren't bad at all:



Basic but more than adequate for our needs. In case your interested, this is where we made it to:



A place called Brazatoras.

Tomorrow we plan to either spend the night in Southern Spain or cross into Morocco early depending on when we make it to the port. Watch this space.

 

[GSTraveller]

Up at the crack of dawn after a few beers and a relatively early night (half eleven). Unfortunately a theif had struck in the night and Mark was now down 2 lovely yellow Touratech water bottles. We settled the bar tab and hit the road at 9:



This mornings ride has seen some of the best roads yet. The temperature has slowly climbed from 18 to 29 degrees, with lovely curved roads surrounded by beautiful countryside. We are most definitely in Olive country now, my wife would be in her element.



It's been a nice and relaxed ride with plenty of time to mess around with our cameras. Selfie alert!:



Even stopped off to capture a few action shots:



A few map checks along the way. It worked out it was useful for the team to collectively update our sat navs so that we were all in the picture as to where we were headed and so that no one felt like a useless passenger.



The views have been simply spectacular and we are still only in Spain:



Now it's time for lunch:

 

[GSTraveller]

More of the scenario and sites along the way:





Onwards to Algeciras via Ronda.

 

[Rockred]

Good to see you enjoying your ride down, and parking in the shade. Keep the report and photos coming. Ps. I see you have the same Lomo bag as me. If you see Lomo on a menu , it is pork filet Spanish style ....Nice.

 

[Count Pikey]

Looks like you are progressing nicely, we have finaly started our decent through Europe, we have stopped in bordeaux and will sample some fine wine tonight. Look forward to meeting up with You boys soon.

 

[GSTraveller]

And so we have finally landed in Algericas. It was one of the most amazing rides south you could ever hope for. Absolutely stunning roads and scenery and the town called Ronda is well worth a visit. (Pikey take note).

The town itself was beautiful:





The roads were probably the best I've ever ridden. (Bold statement I know):



The route wasn't without its mishaps. Mark and I pulled over to wait for the other two and out of nowhere he suddenly dropped the bike:

 

[GSTraveller]

No harm done, we threw the bike up and on we rode. We decided to take Tim Cullis' advice and head straight to the port to purchase our tickets for tomorrow thinking it would be too late to cross tonight, especially given that Jeff has some lovely trails planned on the other side.



I must say the port was a little confusing at first. The advice seems to be ignore the booths on route in to Algeciras and buy them directly from the terminal. For future reference as you approach the port, follow the signs for 'peurto' and keep going until you start seeing signs for 'tickets'. You will then be directed to the main terminal building. Park up, seemingly almost anywhere and enter the buildings marked 'Billets'. Every booth sells tickets to every port. Just find the best price that suits your timings and pay the money. We went with Acciona and it was €81 return and the ticket is open ended (up to 12 months).

We then left to find a hotel. We chose the Hotel Reina Christina with is almost directly opposite the port. A twin room worked out at €38 each.



It's a bit rough but we'll manage

 

[GSTraveller]

All in all it was a great end to the European leg of our adventure and what an adventure it has been so far. I evened manage to pick up a small gift for my baby girl. Will it survive Morocco? Will we survive Morocco? Will our bikes even? Who knows. One thing is for sure, there is no turning back now. (Even though I think Mark secretly wants to!) 2 weeks in Malaga does sound tempting though

 

[Camel Toe]

Just back from there lads..... Fantastic country for touring...enjoy the tajines and watch out for speed cameras.....
Looking forward to the write ups......

 

[GSTraveller]

And we're off. Not sure when I will next get a chance to update but we are now departing Spain.



Wish us luck! Will update as soon as I can.

 

[GSTraveller]

Well, we made it to our first nights accommodation in Chefchauen, 'The Rif for anyone'. More on that later. We were up and out at 20 past 7 with just 40 minutes to go until our ferry departed. It was very straight forward, just follow the signs for Tangier and on you go. We were ushered into the cafe where the nice policeman stamps your passport and once taken care of you should be all set (provided you've followed Tim Cullis' advice and filled out the rest of the forms beforehand).

Once disembarked you then enter the police checkpoint. Now if it's your first time in Morocco you need to stop at the first small booths and have your details punched into the computer again by another policeman doing exactly the same thing as the policemen on the ferry.

You then park up at the next lot of kiosks and tackle the temporary vehicle importation forms. You simply hand the form you should have already completed I triplicate to a policeman who then hands it to another policeman who I presume enters the details into the computer. After about 10 or 15 minutes, 2 copies of the form comes back stamped and on you go. 2 of group were interrogated throughly whilst Jeff and I never even V5s looked at. We then hit the road.

We had already decided that we wanted to avoid the motorway to get to Chefchauen and Jeff had spotted a lovely route just west of where we entered down the N16. And what a stunning route it turned out to be. We climbed through the hills up to a maximum of 700 metres above sea level.

The road was narrow, curvy and tarmaced to begin with. Another riders dream. The views amazing and within half an hour of leaving the port we were right in the heart of the local landscape looking out across the mountains.

We saw donkeys, an iguana, various birds, a million and one goats, more donkeys, in fact a lot of people riding donkeys and even some locals beating to death a large snake on the side of the road.

The cultural difference does hit you almost immediately and there is a period of adjustment to what your eyes are seeing when you first arrived.

More to follow (including pics) later.

 

[GSTraveller]

So pictures....

Some of the scenery in our route heading south:



A mix of Tarmac and gravel roads but mainly Tarmac:



The temperature rose steadily throughout the day and reached almost 32 degrees which is nothing compared to down south (48!):



All parked up outside the Casa Scotlande (Rif for anyone). Bikes are essentially outside and we are hopeful they and all the bits strapped to them will still be there in the morning:



More scenery from today's ride:



And more yet:



Team wrong Direcrion taking in the views over Chefchuen:



And a walk around Chefchuen itself. A stunning place to visit which is a must at least once. Take a stroll through the old Medina:

 

[GSTraveller]

Some more views over Chefchuen:







And that's about it for today. Tomorrow, we head further south towards Ifrane and the start of the event that brought us here in the first place.

We plan on crossing over the mountains again but we have some ground to cover during the day so we will have to suck it and see how it goes.

Apparently Morocco is experiencing an early summer and it is going to be a scorcher. It is definately going to be interesting in the far south.

Fingers crossed we will have wifi in the next hotel.

Shattered, time to get our heads down I think.

 

[Count Pikey]

Sounds like your having a ball, we are still on schedule and should enter morroc on Friday, best of luck to the team with no direction.

mark and Kathy