Well it was a great start...a lie in...after 7am, and an en suite!
At breakfast , a definite buzz, followed by a great warm up with standing cats had us purring and ready to go.
A lovely climb out of the village and a good warm up to the first stop and banter still flowing. Then Ted decided to try and jump off the bike, ooo noo was the cry , as the bike with Ted on disappeared over the wall.
Then just as the shock was dying down ,whoa. Off went David Fawcett to the rescue. Thank fully Ted was ok Then the roving photographer, Tex Nagra, had a fall around traffic , but thankfully all ok too. This was proving to be a lot tougher than originally envisaged.
Some of those descents were hard work. Anyway, after a further few kms - the river challenge… now this could be a different type of fun.
Balance is key.. apparently, it’s not a great idea to carry your bike. I don’t think Columb Convery got the memo you weren’t supposed to get half way across, slide half off to clean your bike ???
Poor Ramon Puig must have been tired, what possessed him to think he could step over Nathan Morrisen’s bike...not only didn’t he make it, he stood on the derailier and snapped it clean off.
Amazingly the mechanic fixed it. So we carry on and are now travelling through villages and more great views
Another Colin briefing. - you’ve done the most of the route, just another few bumps…and what did we think of that?
More Special times. I learned that there were 4 of the original riders on the first charity ride 23 years ago...Mike Gregoriou, Ramon Puig, Will Dixon and Rob Edney.
Lunch arrived and we were certainly ready for it. Greeted by a Bedouin tent, in a riverbed setting. Another session on the carpet, with our Moroccan tea, soup and a very unusual and tasty dish of meat balls, eggs and tomatoes. Of course served in a tajine.
After lunch we set off, and this section threw up so more wonders of the Dades Valley. A strange rock in strange shapes, apparently simple erosion of sedimentary rocks.
Finally arriving at our Hotel, another tiring day, ended but this time relaxing, yes I did say relaxing, on a lovely terrace, in the sun with tea and biscuits Moroccan style of course.
Well done to everyone on completion of the penultimate day.
Ian Sanderson
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