Memories of Morocco - Part VI - Through the mountains on dirt roads

It’s Thursday and we have to the gorges. It’s a long drive to the start point. We retrace some roads we came in on and then drive through a busy town and into open spaces. A right turn off the main road leads us to the Jbel Saghro Mountains. Scotty muses that we should have started to ride sooner as these are such pretty roads. Nevertheless we have a long day of riding ahead – mostly on dirt.

View of the road from the van

The vehicles deposit us in a beautiful open space surrounded by mountains. A local man is selling beer mugs but he can’t make a deal; his price is too high and he won’t bargain. It takes a while but the bikes are unloaded and we are ready to roll. It's late morning. The unpaved road begins flat and but soon angles upward. I see Scotty up ahead followed by Anne. At the top, she removes some layers and I go ahead. I see Adboul sitting on the side of a fork in the road. I turn left and ask him if this is the right way. He ignores me so assume it is.

Unloading the bikes in the middle of nowhere

I ride alone for a long time awestruck by the incredible scenery. I cross the Tizi n’Tzazert pass at 2200 metres. I reach the highest point and still have not caught Scotty. It’s strange but I continue on. The ascent is estimated to be 10 kilometres; the descent 20. Score! The ride down is long weaving around outcroppings of rock. I see flocks of goats which scurry off as I approach. In the distance I see a caravan of mules so I stop to snap a picture. Inside of the few minutes it takes me to get to where I had seen them, like magic they had disappeared off the road and into the notch in the mountain. Miles of endless downhill with soft earth on corners pebbled with rocks is a mountain biker’s paradise. As it flattens out I wonder where Scotty could be. It is not like him to go so far ahead. I continue past some ATVs and notice some military men at an outdoor cafe. It’s like an oasis in this dry remote area.

Near the top

Real café or mirage?

After a few more clicks, I decide it would be imprudent to keep going so I turn around and head back the way I had come. I start to consider the fallout of my decision not to wait for Adboul or Anne or any of the other riders. What if I took the wrong turn earlier in the day? It would be a long climb to the top and likely I would not make it back to the starting point before dark. There was a small guesthouse on the mountain; I could stop there.

Mountaintop guesthouse

Not long after thinking all these contingency thoughts, I see Scotty riding towards me. What a relief! I tell him I thought he was ahead. He tells me he just wiped out on a soft corner and cut his forearm open and grazed his knee. That aside, he says no he was the last one to leave. It is only after I talk to Anne, who tells me Abdoul is pissed at me for going ahead, that I figure out what happened. It was Adboul, not Scotty I had seen in the distance (they were both wearing blue) and Adboul stopped at the fork in the road to guide the other riders down the right road. Mystery solved.

Scotty and I had waited at the little cafe and were introduced to the military men having lunch outside in a covered area. They offer us tea which I gladly accepted. Scotty even had lunch here. Shortly after, Anne and Adboul pass by and we stop for our group lunch down the road. Luckily there is shelter from the strong wind.

After a midday feast, we continue on winding dirt roads tending downwards, until we reach one more long climb. At the top I see Adboul and wait. The sky is blue and the view is stunning. Scotty and Charmaine – who is riding strong – approach and we ride the last 10 or so kilometers through a moon-like landscape to the town of N’Kob where we would stay for the night.

Moonscape on the way to N'Kob

It has been a long day and the sun is setting. Our hotel overlooks a sea of date palms. Mark dives in the pool, which he admits is cold. We meet our hosts and have tea and snacks on the terrace but it is cooling off.  We all find our rooms and have a shower before heading to the dining room for dinner.

There is enough to tell about this evening that I will save it for the next post! Tomorrow, it’s off to the Draa Valley which we glimpsed today in the moonscape. Never a dull moment.