We are now within striking distance of Merzouga and the iconic dunes that have become the target of our adventure. It has been two long days since our last update for differing reasons. We thinned our kit slightly at Ouarzazate to reduce the weight we were carrying. It lead to some pretty interesting discussions about what was essential and what was not? Some of the kit that got left included second pair of socks, third inner tube, my book (now read), Pringles Waterproof. A host of other items were the source of back and forwards discussion. Do we really need the main USE lights and also the spare tyre? We conclude we should keep the items that would be show stoppers without them.
So we are back in the little Vango tent typing and we have used almost all the kit in question. Firstly upon leaving Ouarzazate we were really flying and having fun. Making good time I commented to Pringle it would be good to get some more off road action shots and play. I ride up onto the crest of a small rise and fly back down the other side. Arriving back on the road I see a few thorns embedded in the tyre. I remove the first one and hear a deadly hiss. As I spin the wheel I am gutted to find it is covered in the little bast**ds . Both wheels in fact. So therein lies one of the only world records I am able to justifiably claim. Most punctures in 5 secs.
So we are now faced with a painstaking task of removing all the thorns and spikes. This laborious task takes us about 30-45 minutes per wheel for a first pass. This is not going to plan thanks to yours truly, Captain Clunk! We decide the best strategy is to use one of the new inner tubes with the new rear tyre and pick all the thorns from the front tyre. The picking process takes nearly 2 hours during which time Pringle has replaced and pumped up the fat tyre with the micro pump. No easy task we can assure you. We replace the front wheel and stop the clock on a 2 hour pitstop in the mid day heat of the Sahara.
If Inuit’s have many words for snow then surely the Berbers and other tribes must also have a host for the desert and the terrain and landscape keeps changing. One fact that remains constant is that it is really dry and arid. Despite losing the 2 hours we manage to make a respectable 56 miles on the fat bikes. We are tired and stop at a hotel adjacent the river. It has a great view and we wander back to the bridge to the Café and are served a lovely tomato salad.
The next morning we head back to the Café for Jus de Orange and a coffee and spend another hour on each inner tube trying to find the small holes left by the thorns. I repair 6 holes on one tube and Pringle marks 7-8 for repair on the other. We simply don’t have enough patches to risk using them all to fix these tubes. That done and we are on our way. The roads start with various undulations before becoming much longer straights through the long valleys. It is monotonous compared to the mountains and their communities. As we reach a higher plain of about 1500m we spot a small café before a long straight road as far as the eye can see. The weather has changed and a small front brings strong winds and even some small twisters. The café is something of a surprise as it serves an amazing salad, we eat two each including some damn hot pickled chillies.
We manage 96.5 miles with the last 16 miles in complete darkness through the desert. We hadn’t intended to but the last town had no hotels on the far side and we were sticking to our policy of not going back. Cycling through towns and the desert at night can be a little off putting. It is now pitch black other than a little moonlight and a host of stars for company. Finding a spot to camp after our thorny experience is tricky but eventually we find a small track to some palms and pitch the tent.
The third day is another 76 miles to Merzouga and the high dunes we are searching for. Although not far we are now in barren desert with nothing to break the monotony and few towns all day. We keep running low on water and or oranges which proves something of a tough mental challenge. We spot a head of camels in the plain and stop for photos. As Pringle walks over a young lad demands money. Although Pringle doesn’t speak French the lad repeats his demands for money “They are his camels”. Pringle is undeterred explaining to the lad “that they are their own camels”. It is fairly surreal to watch this conversation between two determined people speaking different languages. I can’t help laughing out loud. We push on and make the last big town, Erfoud, before the dunes. The volume of 4x4’s and also little Renault 4’s in rally colours has increased as does the wind. We stop to heat and rehydrate and find the wind keeps growing. The locals observe it is not a good time to be in the desert.
An observation on life on adventure is that there are always these little moments to test your mental resolve. By the time we are back on the bikes it is howling and dust and sand are thrown are way. The headwind is exhausting and genuinely if you stop pedalling the bikes immediately grind to halt. The final 30 miles is a slow torturous pace and we are exhausted. Night falls again and we are out of water cycling against mother nature and a well deployed wind and dust machine. It is all we can do to keep pedalling and watch the kilometres reduce one at a time. By the way our backsides are now killing us from pushing hard with such weight so getting comfortable is not an option. We have also run out of water and oranges and are left with dry dusty throats.
We finally see lights in the dusty gloom and know we have arrived. 3 long miles to go. We are greeted by another moped riding local in traditional head dress, a common occurrence. He turns around the rides alongside enquiring about where we are staying. Never fear he knows just the place. We follow and head offroad down a small track to Le Petit Prince, an Auberge that backs onto the Dunes. (we don’t know this till daylight).
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We sleep well after another vegetarian salad feed and the obligatory mint tea, and a hot shower to wash away the desert grime. Morning arrives and we grab a black coffee. The back of the Auberge is literally about 50 metres from the sand and a small herd of camels. It is pretty exciting and not every day you can find this at your back gate. The locals tell us that this is the end point for the infamous Marathon De Sable, The Desert Marathon, Approx 150 gruelling miles. We finish our coffee and decide to try the bikes in the sand. It is tough going. We head out and drop off a few dunes to get our hand in, with mixed results I might add. Pringle hits a submerged tree stump and spills and I also manage to drop the bike clipped in. Other than a sand bath it is all good.
Undeterred we decided to get properly kitted up and head for the bigger dunes in the distance. If the first few runs were tough this does not bear comparison to the ‘Beau Geste’ like trek across the sand. In fact we are out for 2-3 hours taking it in turns to push/pull the bikes up the steepest dunes before dropping, riding, skidding and surfing our way down. We really hope that anyone following our escapades likes the photos as they were great fun making.
After many different dunes and experimental runs we decided to call it a day and literally trudge back. Time for tea. We spend some time getting to know the local camels (no euphemism intended)! It really is slightly amusing that they are so better equipped to be here than us. Although Merzouga is a place for petrol heads with all manner of 4x4 rides, dune buggies and of course the old faithful camels we decide it does not fit with our budgets.
We have been mulling over what to do next. Having cycled through the desert once and pushed hard neither of us has much desire to repeat it given our tight schedule. In summary we would much rather enjoy some tough riding, on and off road in the High Atlas mountains than flog ourselves back through the desert. We have been mulling this over since our ride in last night and think enjoying the a few days back in the mountains is a better plan.
So our plan now is to rise and shine very early, catch the sunrise over the dunes and then hit the road only back to Ouarzazate giving us a further 3 days to ride off-road and explore the mountains. So we are charging all our camera’s, the Mac air and getting ready to hit the road early again tomorrow. Incidentally it looks like rain, to put that in perspective it has only rained here once in the last year! OK it has now rained. Apparently that is lucky in the desert so that’s us then lucky as it goes.