Movember in Morocco

Wow, where do I even begin.. perhaps I should first make mention that this keyboard is in Arabic and everything else is in French - took me 20mins to just find POST NEW BLOG . I can see the inverted commas sign but it shares a key with three other symbols, and pushing shift gets me the wrong one of three.. so please bare with me as i struggle along here!

In short, because my precious hour has been taken trying to figure this all out I am strong, healthy and well in Agadir, a beachside town, renown for its great surf, 500kms south of Casablanca. Arrived here lastnight via bus.. yes, a bus, for reasons I will try to explain a little further down the page!

Literally and figuratively Morocco has blown me away. I was told that the prevailing wind swept across the Sahara from Cairo towards Dakar, from a 2 to a 7oclock direction.. this was told to me by a man who I think must have travelled the country during a different season. Fast approaching winter, the wet months, the weather and wind comes up from the equator and off the ocean.. headwinds all the way thus far.. beautiful! That aside, my little vent, everything else has blown me away from the warmest hospitality, to the tastiest pastries. Mint tea so good, but seriously sweet, to the constant delicious arom of good strong coffee wafting out from the many tea/coffee houses most Morrocan men seem to enjoy spending their time in whether arguing away or wathcng the beautiful game - football is as big here as I imagine it is in say Brazil!

I, with all my belongings, arrived safely and in one piece in Casablanca. I was stress about the bike not arriving - a great friend of mine travelled Morocco last year on a surf trip and had a nightmare of a time trying to find his board, I think it only arrived a few days later! An expensive night in a crappy hotel I was happy to be on the road the following morning trying to manouvre  seriously heavy bike through the bustling streets of the economic capital, boasting 8million population - after an hour I was happy to be on the outskirts and on the highway for El Jadida, 100kms further south. A combintation of a headwind and front disc brakes partially locked took me _ hours in the saddle to reach my first night stop; rolling in just as the sun had set. Found a cheap hotel and fortunately bumped into a nother cyclist, a Spaniard, who was heading back for Casablanca and who helped me sort out my front brake problem after finding me staring at the thing in bewilderment! Thank you Espanyol!

The next day was an incredible ride hugging the coast down to a beautiful beachside town called Oualidia. A group of surfers were having the times of their lives on some awesome waves - enjoyed watching them whilst listening and smelling the might of the Atlantic.

The following day was the worst to date in terms iof winds.. sheew! I had 65kms to Safi that took me seven and a half hours. At one stage it was so strong I would come to a complete standstill on a generous downhill. I tried laughing it off but then soon was back ito cursing mode as my floppy hat kept flapping up or down depending on the angle I held my head - as I said in my FB post, discomfort level at near maximum ~ although something tells me that is just a taste of things to come ;) come on the Sahara!!

As mentioned, this is the rainy period, and arrived in Safi as the heavens opened. I promise you somone is watching over me! Had to spend the next day there couped up in either my hotel room or a coffee shop trying to say dry: but Safi is a beautiful old town, one of the oldest in Morocco apparently, according to one of the locals. More rain was due for the next few days, and as I sit here in Agadir,  250kms further south, it is still raining.. with more on its way.

I hate being pressed for time but I have a flight to catch from Cameroon in April for both a wedding and a birth so I made the decision to hop onto a bus and make up lost ground due to the inclement conditions. I am not going or any records or out to prove a point to anyone, even myself - the point is the journey, whichever way it is undertaken, so say as you may, if theres anything, but I am glad to be a little further down the coast and closer to the drier Sahara where full days of being on the saddle will be plentiful ;) shoo, had to get that off my chest!

So to come to a close, because the hour mark is nearing, all is very well! Theres perhaps one of the biggest derby matches in the world this eve, Real v Barca and every second Moroccan man is either sporting one shirt or the other - not forgetting to mention a mustang thatd do any Movemberist seriosuly proud. There are more barber shops here than there are taxis and sportin a beard I feel somewhat overdressed ;)

Peace and Love:

The Caravan

"leaving on a jet plane"

Fortunately for you, kind reader/follower, this will be the last posting before the really juicy, with all the nitty-gritty's, have-to-says start coming through. Today, at 19h20, my bicycle (which I hope to have a picture posted on here a little later on) and I will be on a plane headed for a brief stopover in Dubai, to arrive in Casablanca Tuesday afternoon 13h15 local time. Hopefully all my gear, weighing in 37kgs, will arrive without any problems, then hop into a taxi to find some cheapish hotel for the eve, assemble the bike, head out into town to explore, eat something, get a early night's rest and then early the following morning ride out quietly and start heading in a southerly direction, destination unknown..

This is going to be short because I've still got a bit of mad-dashing about sorting stuff out this morning ~ but I would just like to thank everybody for their support and also apologise to those whose calls I've missed and have failed poorly in returning.

If I had to write a last paragraph, this being the one, then I must mention that I am the luckiest man alive. Stefania, thank you! You have no idea!! My parents, as horrible as it is to see them so stressed out about this, I will never be able to thank you enough, for everything. Rob, without you I'd be walking - and Roberta, thank you for reminding me.. and I'm definitely going to be there for my godchild's birth.. with all my might! Marco and Sarah, I love you guys.. grateful that I have a plane to catch in Cameroon.. gonna give me the boost when I need it most! And everyone else, family and friends, thank you and I look forward to re-living this trip with you all upon my return..

Love and Peace.

Visual thoughts of present

Again, I've put off entering another post on this blog for the single reason that the trip has yet to start and what interesting news of views can I share with you when still living in a BIG frantic city... I am sure there must be something...

Two weeks today I will be landing in Casablanca. The plan will be to get on the move asap and head out from the chaos that lingers over any major city, get on the road and head for Marakech, a solid 2 day ride away ~ might make it three just to ease into it, and get the ass used to the seat. Perhaps I should just go with an ass, call him Africa and together make our way down south.. should the bike get stolen en route that'll be Plan B!

It's amazing how precious time is when you're pressed for it. There's still a mountain load of stuff to sort out, buy and sell over these last few days - when I rest my head back at night thoughts of the desert, the trip, the continent and the bike flood my last wakeful thoughts. It's that last hour of the day, when all distractions are sleeping or silent, that the mind ponders - like a well-oiled machine, seriously well-oiled!

Yesterday I bought a map of North and West Afica, all the way up to Cameroon, and highlighted the route to show those interested, and to know where I will be going. Estimated distance to Duoala, Cameroon, is 8000kms. I need to get there by 9 April '11 to jump on a flight to get to a wedding in Mozambique, and to the birth of my niece/nephew/grandchild on the 16th. That's averaging about 65kms a day, which isn't bad - but that's assuming I'm on the bike everyday ~ which won't be the case ~ the idea is not to fly through the continent at break-neck speed missing everything along the way. But there will be those days where a strong-tail wind can easily help clock 200kms in the saddle, perhaps more ~ so 65 should be about right.

Have just sunk a second and final cup of coffee for the day - and it's just past 9am (yes, it is a vice) - and the bpm's have picked up a couple of notches.. the rain with it overhead, beautiful.. and so with this 2nd wind I'd best be off and start ticking away all the things I need to do today etcetera.

Again I feel I should mention that these posts onto this blog will make for better reading once things are properly underway - so if you're still with me now thank you and don't give in, the best is still to come.

Man alive it's bucketing down.. like a sub-tropic downpour.. glory!

Grand day to you all..