January 28 :: Laayoune, Morocco
January 28 :: Laayoune, Morocco :: 103km / 1014km total
Well it rained all day again today, and that pretty much sums up my day. Honestly, the thought "what if it rains two days straight, dawn to dusk, in the Sahara" did not cross my mind when I planned this trip. Anyways, I donned my partially wet cycling clothing this morning for another long slog through the wetness (no pics today... guess why). The Tarfayans watched me with great curiosity as I loaded the bike and set out into the rainy headwind. This time my panniers were covered with plastic bags, so no worries about my stuff getting wet. Personally I was drenched throughout, but warm... as long as I pedalled. As such I had to pass by roadside cafes, not being able to stop for more than five minutes at a time before chills set in. Neutral to crosswinds kept the pace down, but the road was flat. Hour after hour, avoiding puddles and riding over ad-hoc rivers, getting sprayed on by passing trucks, wiping wet sand off of my wheels and brakes... but the kilometre markers steadily ticked down.
Ten kilometres from Laayoune I tanked out, completely out of energy. I thought I would make it before bonking, but such it was. I dropped into my lowest of gears and inched forwards. Four km's from town I came to a police checkpoint (I see these every 100km or so, usually they just wave me on with a smile), but these guys wanted to chat, and asked to see my passport. I gave them the "are you f#([ing serious" look, but they were bored standing around in the rain and hey, lets talk to this tourist. They were friendly and went through the motions of making note of who I was, but really they were just killing time, plying me with questions about Canada, family, what I think of Morocco, etc. Meanwhile I was getting colder and colder. Finally back on the bike, I rode a fast km to warm up.
Three km's later (just outside of town) ANOTHER checkpoint, this time army, and hey, we're bored, lets talk to this tourist. Nevermind the trucks passing through that could be carrying... anything or anyone. Sigh. I wasn't amused, and these guys got the message that I wasn't up for a nice chat, so they sent me away quickly (I don't think they even wrote down anything from my passport). On a sunny day I don't mind this type of thing, but when I'm on the verge of catching a cold or fever... no. Into town, a great town with good food and a good cheap place to stay, and a hot hot shower. I'll probably take tomorrow off to eat eat eat, because when I leave here the riding will get even tougher.
FROM HERE ONWARDS INTERNET WILL NOT BE FREQUENTLY AVAILABLE. I've been able to update my blog frequently this trip, but NOW THINGS ARE DIFFERENT. On top of that I may bypass the two next large towns (Dahkla, Morocco and Nouadichou, Mauritania) before Nouachkott, the capital of Mauritania, about 1400km from here. The reason for the possible bypasses is that both towns sit at the end of long peninsulas, 40 to 50km out and back to get to. So PLEASE DO NOT GET CONCERNED if you don't hear from me for a day, or week, or more. If you look at the maps I've posted, you'll understand.
Well it rained all day again today, and that pretty much sums up my day. Honestly, the thought "what if it rains two days straight, dawn to dusk, in the Sahara" did not cross my mind when I planned this trip. Anyways, I donned my partially wet cycling clothing this morning for another long slog through the wetness (no pics today... guess why). The Tarfayans watched me with great curiosity as I loaded the bike and set out into the rainy headwind. This time my panniers were covered with plastic bags, so no worries about my stuff getting wet. Personally I was drenched throughout, but warm... as long as I pedalled. As such I had to pass by roadside cafes, not being able to stop for more than five minutes at a time before chills set in. Neutral to crosswinds kept the pace down, but the road was flat. Hour after hour, avoiding puddles and riding over ad-hoc rivers, getting sprayed on by passing trucks, wiping wet sand off of my wheels and brakes... but the kilometre markers steadily ticked down.
Ten kilometres from Laayoune I tanked out, completely out of energy. I thought I would make it before bonking, but such it was. I dropped into my lowest of gears and inched forwards. Four km's from town I came to a police checkpoint (I see these every 100km or so, usually they just wave me on with a smile), but these guys wanted to chat, and asked to see my passport. I gave them the "are you f#([ing serious" look, but they were bored standing around in the rain and hey, lets talk to this tourist. They were friendly and went through the motions of making note of who I was, but really they were just killing time, plying me with questions about Canada, family, what I think of Morocco, etc. Meanwhile I was getting colder and colder. Finally back on the bike, I rode a fast km to warm up.
Three km's later (just outside of town) ANOTHER checkpoint, this time army, and hey, we're bored, lets talk to this tourist. Nevermind the trucks passing through that could be carrying... anything or anyone. Sigh. I wasn't amused, and these guys got the message that I wasn't up for a nice chat, so they sent me away quickly (I don't think they even wrote down anything from my passport). On a sunny day I don't mind this type of thing, but when I'm on the verge of catching a cold or fever... no. Into town, a great town with good food and a good cheap place to stay, and a hot hot shower. I'll probably take tomorrow off to eat eat eat, because when I leave here the riding will get even tougher.
FROM HERE ONWARDS INTERNET WILL NOT BE FREQUENTLY AVAILABLE. I've been able to update my blog frequently this trip, but NOW THINGS ARE DIFFERENT. On top of that I may bypass the two next large towns (Dahkla, Morocco and Nouadichou, Mauritania) before Nouachkott, the capital of Mauritania, about 1400km from here. The reason for the possible bypasses is that both towns sit at the end of long peninsulas, 40 to 50km out and back to get to. So PLEASE DO NOT GET CONCERNED if you don't hear from me for a day, or week, or more. If you look at the maps I've posted, you'll understand.
posted by Graham Durrant at 9:52 AM
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