I did sleep well last night! I got up for a pee at 0245, and then went back to sleep until people’s alarms started going off at 0530. WHY….? Coffee wasn’t going to be ready till 0645, and breakfast wasn’t till 0700 – what on earth did they need an hour and a half for?
I snoozed as much as I could until 0615 when I gave up, got up, and was still packed and ready to go before the coffee was ready. Breakfast was the usual porridge / muesli / fruit / bread affair. I settled for porridge, but packed a banana and a peanut butter sandwich for the road because as you can see lunch wasn’t till around 80km.
Out on the road and the first 12 km was a gentle descent, before I began to turn back upwards again – I was felling surprisingly good, and set off at a reasonable pace passing a number of other riders along the way and picking up Eriberto another of the Italians on the tour, who sat on my wheel as we cruised along at around 32km/h.
I stopped at the top of a hill just after 20km to figure out why I couldn’t get any water out of my camelback – twisted tube was the answer. I rode on from there on my own, leap-frogging other riders as we stopped to eat or drink – I stopped at 40km to eat my banana, and at 60km for my sandwich, and then caught up with Rod and Ken who I rode into lunch with.
Lunch was further out than it usually is at 80km, but in my opinion perfectly located at around 2/3rds of the way through the day – I much prefer it when the morning is longer, and the afternoon shorter, rather than the tendency to split the day fairly evenly.
Rod and Ken set off just ahead of me after lunch, but I caught them reasonably soon after and we continued to ride together through the afternoon. From lunch through to the coke stop at 102km continued to be undulating, but tending upwards, and by the time we got there the temperature was well into the thirties!
We stopped for Sprite, Fanta and cold water and sat in the shade for at least 20min letting our body temperature come down to something approaching normal.
Back on the road and the climbing was almost done for the day. The last 15km in to camp was great fun – generally decent road surface, about 1.5% down, and with the wind behind us so despite the heat we were flying!
The campground we’re in is really nice – it’s a proper campsite complete with restaurant, swimming pool and even grass to pitch our tents on. They also have some hotel-style rooms and cabins which a number of people have opted for.
I found a good spot for my tent – with afternoon shade, and I think it’s tucked in far enough that it will also have shade in the morning as well – time will tell!
Then it was time for the rest-day chores – shower, shave, laundry etc before second lunch, with a couple of (icy cold) beers!
During second-lunch I got a message from Adam to say I’d made a major opps in the process of getting my bike and bags – I’d left my New Zealand passport, which has my Moroccan entry stamp and police number in it, as well as visas for later in the trip in the backpack I sent back to the UK with him. Oh bugger!!
Max, our tour leader, is working on the best address to get it sent to, because although I have my UK passport with me, and could use that for Mauritania and Senegal, it seems that getting out of Morocco without the entry stamp will be somewhat challenging!
Since then I’ve spent a couple of hours chatting and writing up day ones blog post before chicken and vegetable tagine for dinner – very tasty it was too!
View from my tent
Selfie of the day
Still need to learn to smile – also need to make sure the sunblock goes on my lips, not in my beard!
Riding data
At least it’s warmer for you than it is here ….. Andover is looking very grey damp and autumnal today!
Safe pedalling…