January 23 :: Guelmim, Morocco
January 23 :: Guelmim, Morocco :: 55km / 566km total
Time to head inland to get to the trans-Saharan road at Guelmim. From the coast the road climbed for about 35km to pass through the coastal mountains... not exactly what the doctor ordered for my ankle. On the flats you can control your pedal stroke and protect an iffy ankle, but on long, dramatic climbs... no way. After about 2 hours of pedalling past cactus farms, grazing sheep/goat herds and the occasional donkey I crested the final col with an RV right behind me, and we began a harrowing, hairpin-turning descent together. I led for the first 5km, being able to take tangents that the RV couldn't match, carrying great speed through corners, but inevitably there was a short rise and the RV was off, waves all around. Europeans appreciate cycling, and I'm sure I put on a good show for them. The ride down to the Saharan plain was fast, dry, dusty, and hot. I rolled into Guelmim happy and in good form... almost. Some whispers from my left ankle suggests that I may have to take tomorrow off, or not, we'll see.
Guelmim is a lot nicer of a town than the map suggests it should be, and if I do have to linger here tomorrow, no worries. There is an all-important fish market - a great place to get "telge" (an Arabic word) for my ankle, in the absence of ice-cream vendors and refridgeration. The plains around town are dry and stony, but no sand dunes in sight... yet. Its a flat 125km from here to the next town, Tan Tan, and apparently there is NOTHING in between - no food or water stops. I hit the supermarket and picked up some emergency rations - gummy sours, German white chocolate, and some chocolate chip cookies from Turkey. That plus two to four litres of water, a big breakfast, and I should get through. As cyclists go I'm not a strong climber, but I'm quite the camel, able to go hours and hours without food or water ( i.e. today, 3 hour ride, nothing). My camel-ness will certainly be put to the test over the next few weeks, crossing the largest desert in the world.
Time to head inland to get to the trans-Saharan road at Guelmim. From the coast the road climbed for about 35km to pass through the coastal mountains... not exactly what the doctor ordered for my ankle. On the flats you can control your pedal stroke and protect an iffy ankle, but on long, dramatic climbs... no way. After about 2 hours of pedalling past cactus farms, grazing sheep/goat herds and the occasional donkey I crested the final col with an RV right behind me, and we began a harrowing, hairpin-turning descent together. I led for the first 5km, being able to take tangents that the RV couldn't match, carrying great speed through corners, but inevitably there was a short rise and the RV was off, waves all around. Europeans appreciate cycling, and I'm sure I put on a good show for them. The ride down to the Saharan plain was fast, dry, dusty, and hot. I rolled into Guelmim happy and in good form... almost. Some whispers from my left ankle suggests that I may have to take tomorrow off, or not, we'll see.
Guelmim is a lot nicer of a town than the map suggests it should be, and if I do have to linger here tomorrow, no worries. There is an all-important fish market - a great place to get "telge" (an Arabic word) for my ankle, in the absence of ice-cream vendors and refridgeration. The plains around town are dry and stony, but no sand dunes in sight... yet. Its a flat 125km from here to the next town, Tan Tan, and apparently there is NOTHING in between - no food or water stops. I hit the supermarket and picked up some emergency rations - gummy sours, German white chocolate, and some chocolate chip cookies from Turkey. That plus two to four litres of water, a big breakfast, and I should get through. As cyclists go I'm not a strong climber, but I'm quite the camel, able to go hours and hours without food or water ( i.e. today, 3 hour ride, nothing). My camel-ness will certainly be put to the test over the next few weeks, crossing the largest desert in the world.
posted by Graham Durrant at 3:30 AM
2 Comments:
How long can a camel go without Popeye candy cigarettes??
Not long. I actually had thought of bringing some from Canada, you know, for those dark moments. The gummy sours will have to be a substitute, poor at that.
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