Afternoon Ride

Holubicka Bajkovacka

Morning Ride

Deer and blind car drivers

Happy?

By the time I woke up I saw riders passing by me. Looking at the replay afterwards they are the first ones to pass me in fact. In barely lost any positions while I was sleeping, as the gap was so big. I was around position 10-15 after my sleep, while most riders still had to start their sleeping period.

The start was immediately difficult. There had to be a path somewhere, but I did not find it and I ended up walking and going over a rocky terrain for 10 minutes before I went a bit further where I knew a road was and I could join the track again a bit further. Really frustrating beginning. 

I soon passed a few of the limited amount of people that had passed me during my beauty sleep and started to climb a long road climb in the darkness. They were making a new road here, which made the surface quite pleasant to ride on. I was quite long and steep and half way the climb there was a local selling drinks and cookies (which I enjoyed).

After the cold downhill I passed Ait Saoun where I apparently caught up with a whole pack of riders that had left me behind the day before. I felt quite good and kept going on the long gravel section in a good mood, even if it was surprisingly cold. 

By the time I arrived in Taznakht it was still dark and nothing was open. So again no resupply. When I stopped by the roadside just after the town I was surprised that Robin and Lukas passed by as well. 

Now that it was light, I was hoping to still score some food in one of the villages before the section to CP2, but there was sadly nothing available. The section itself was however not too difficult and after a speedy descent I made it to CP2 in the late morning.

I ordered two tagines, had some drinks and set up a bike cleaning station to  get rid of at least some dust of the last day and a half. My chain got relubed, but it was still filthy. I took my time at the CP and some riders (like Anatole, Kevin, Driksen and Sofiane) passed me. 

After the CP2 there was a huge steep road descent into the canyon. On the section I had to stop to fix my shoe properly. Earlier that night some loose stones had cut through my boa lace. Duct tape was not a proper problem-solver, two zip ties did however a better job. Overall, loose stones cause quite some damage on ankles and legs as well, when they fly around and hit you very hard.

After this section there was a quite long road section towards Ibn Yacoub. 50 kilometers straight and slightly uphill. A quite mental game. During these 2 hours I saw the bicycle of Sofiane on top of a can going in the other direction. A broken rear derailleur meant the end of his race. 

In Ibn Yacoub I could get some cola and a friendly shop owner offered me a tea. A big part of this section follows a very wide dry river bed. In the beginning I got lost multiple times, leading to me dragging my bike several hunderds of meters across a plane full of huge rocks. After a while I luckily got more clever and I zoomed in more on my gps, causing the margin of error to shrink. It is however still a very long and frustrating ride to reach Ait Kline. 

Towards the evening I finally reached Tagmout. My plan was to sleep there inside, as I was informed there should be a hotel. After loosing half a hour and riding up and down the town, it was apparent there was nothing and I gave up. I just ordered an omelet as diner in a local shop before leaving a trying to find a bivac spot. The old guy of the shop tried to rip me off by asking 360 dihram, but I left only paying 60 (which should more than cover it).

The new plan was to ride to the start of the Old Colonial Road and sleep there. I found a sandy patch and slept there. Again you had to be careful for the spiky plants there are everywhere here and want to murder your inflatable mat. Some yoghurts for diner and breakfast should help me over the Old Colonial Road.

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Tim De Witte

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Afternoon Ride

Holubicka Bajkovacka

Morning Ride

Deer and blind car drivers

Happy?

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