Here’s a short video from our November Morocco trip - enjoy 
Music is Bonobo - Flutter.
Archive for the 'autumn 07 trip' Category
Well here we are - back in rainy (!) Marrakech. I think running two back to back tours in Morocco has taken it’s toll. The bikes, at least, are in one piece (we are really, just tired!).
I left the camera in the Land Cruisers for most of the week as we got plenty of photos last week - however I did take the DV Cam out, so will be doing some editing on our return to Morzine next week.
In the mean time we’ll be trotting off to the airport to take this week’s guests back later this afternoon and then that’s it for this year - we’ll hopefully be skiing in Morzine next weekend!
We met a load of nice people out here, we’ve not got a bad word to say about anyone - the legendary hassle is all part of the fun.
Check out our website in the not too distant future for details of next years trip - it’ll be a little less “unknown” - but still a hell of a lot of fun.
Guy
So… here we are - back in Marrakech. Back in one of the nicest internet cafe’s I’ve had the good fortune of visiting!
Photos are up on the gallery
Well what a week we’ve had. 6 days of truck supported travels with our bikes. Myself, Sara and our Moroccan guinea pigs Fran and Mark. Unbelievably these two paid us to help us explore the High Atlas mountains. Many a wrong turn, followed swiftly by a U-turn. But still we kept smiling (luckily the wrong turns were mostly UP hill, so the extra descent was the pay off..)
All in all though I think we’ve ridden some of the best trails that I’ve personally ever ridden. And all without seeing a single other biker all week - and all on trails that were never intended to be ridden - and all the better for it.
We started off on a 6 hour drive into the mountains - heading East out of Marrakech before turning south into the Atlas proper. Our first chosen descent started up at 2,600m (where the Van dropped us off of course!) - What a start it was though - super tough, super tech, and super fun. We found out that Fran and Mark were people after our own hearts (thank god!): they didn’t mind a spot of toil and hike-a-bike in order to ride the good stuff. This was followed by a journey through stepped gardens of the remote village below. All the locals were waving and cheering (as well as asking for pens, sweets and money).
The rest of the week followed suit - lifts to the top (either van, or mule power) - and sublime singletrack down. All on the tough side - but all the better for it.
And now we’re off to do it all again - this time with 6 paying guests, 2 vans, 2 drivers. 8 bikes. 30 odd litres of water. 1 very VERY handy GPS.
The weather is looking like it might turn a bit chilly - but then that’s what clothes are for I guess!
I’ll have a full break down of the weeks up here when we get back.
Guy
Marrakech is a bit nuts… Aparently there’s about 500 scooters here to every one car. And it shows - crossing the road is a nightmare! And then there’s driving our big van about the place…..
Still - we’ve been here for about 4 days now, and becoming used to it all - it’s actually a great place to spend some time! As we’ve spent a bit more time in one place we’ve been able to take in the sights without too much of a rush..enabling us to absorb it a bit more and, dare I say it, relax!
We have also been doing some work - sourcing a hotel for our guests for the next couple of weeks trips we’re running here. And we’ve now managed to finalise our route: Canadian Dave McDougal is helping us out on that one - he’s been running trips here since ‘98 - so knows the place like the back of his hand. Land-Rover support/uplift, unused miles of singletrack on the downs… Can’t wait.
The first trip is getting underway on Saturday - expect some awesome photos and videos up here in a couple of weeks!
In the mean time - here’s a link to some pics from our relaxed sight seeing tours of the city…
p.s. we did spend a couple of nights in Rabat.. it’s a good place to get used to the hustle, but not worth too much of your time - Marrakech is where it’s at.
We’ve made it to sunny Spain! We’ve spent a week getting here, including 4 days of great riding along the way! I’ve uploaded some pictures to our gallery of the trip so far. Or you can keep reading for the full version of events so far. Continue reading ‘Autumn Trip week 1′
