rallye du maroc - race day 6 "le desert gp"

the daily stats
238km
80km liaison to the start of the special, given 1hr 45mins
158km special stage, (consisted of 4 x 40km laps)
80km back to the hotel, (technically not a liaison so no time pressure)
start time 0711hrs from hotel reda
return time 1500hrs to hotel zagour

well, jago and i did come in first yesterday which is fantastic! but it also means the pressure was on to perform well today.

some of you might remember the whacky racers cartoon and may be have even played motorstorm on playstation, well, today was like both combined!

joe and paul looking really excited about the desert gp

jago warming up

now looking at the yamaha wr450 with the jvo kit for dakar

we were set up in 2 groups of 16 riders, (by stage 6 there were only 32 riders remaining out of the original 44), jago, joe, paul, johan and i were in the second row, marc coma and cyril despres were on the front row.

cyril on the start line (i'm lined up behind)

on the start line

at 0900hrs the front row tore off, tyres ripping at the sand and rock beneath, showering us in stones and dust!

55 seconds later the 5 second count down started and we were off.....jago to my right leapt in front while i battled with the 800cc russian quad bike on my left, determined to stay in front of the quads or i would be doomed to eating their dust for the next few km!!

the 800cc quad

moving left, then moving right, trying to see where the hell i was going.....passing one bike, then dodging a quad in front who thrown his anchors on.....in a dust cloud now, cannot see shit, i hit a 2 foot wall or rock, without much time to preload my chin guard hammers into the roadbook, and the rear end smashes into my arse, but somehow i am still upright and moving, still in the race!!

throttle pinned again, we're spread out as wide as we are deep, all roaring towards the first set of dunnettes, plumes of dust filling the air behind each bike, it is an awesome sight!!

then whacky racers reaches another level of hillarity and craziness as quads and bikes jump over these barrells of sand! may be only 5 or 6 feet high at times, they throw the bikes into space we land back in the sand and bounce left an right, uncontrollably, it is sheer madness....i'm loving it!!

but the dunes, start to slow the pace and spread the riders out, it is hard going and tricky business keeping the bikes upright. for a 3 to 4km this continues until the we reach the apex of the half-way point and start the journey home again. it flattens out allowing a moments respite, allow the arms to relax a little, from the tension of the mass start. following the tracks and gps arrow the course curves to the right before hitting about 8km of small dunes (dunnettes) and this is really tiring. but you have to go at your own pace and find your own rhythm, or you end up with your face buried in the sand!

everyone gathered before heading out to the special

not sure what this guys' race number was?

getting ready to go

 joe and i waiting for the green light

soon enough i am out of the dunes, flying along a flat, sandy river bed and then i'm out onto the open plains flying back to start my second lap! there are only a few of us now, i catch a glimpse of a bike about 0.5km behind, and 3 quads in front. second lap i am alone with just one bike, the russian quad. he takes a corner wide, i cut the shorter route, but then we hit the dunes and he's away. i'm on my own now flying across the plains, this is incredible! am i really doing this? am i really here? cameras strategically positioned, it makes the event even more exciting, even if they are not really that interested in you!

lap 2's over and i need to fill up pronto. 40km per lap, 39 mins to complete each one, that's averaging 60kph and that's no simple task! if i don't complete the first 3 laps in 2 hours i cannot start the 4th lap and then i only have 2 hours 37 mins to complete all 4 laps, or i'll receive a 2 hour time penalty. there's no let up, i'm gone!

lap 3 going well, when i look over my shoulder to check for any riders coming through, the pros must be here soon! then i notice marc coma coming through and i ride with him for about 20 seconds, how amazing is this?!  a few more riders pass by, then i notice cyril despres, so i ride along for about 20 seconds before he too is gone - to put this in perspective, he's lapping in about 25 mins compared to my 40 mins!! but, then up ahead i notice cyril is stationary, next to him is a quad but no rider, a second quad with the rider walking round and  a car parked close by. one of the quad riders has had an off. cyril's gone now and i arrive, nothin i can do, a marshall is on hand, with the second quad rider, a heli will be called in soon enough. the injured rider is on the deck, unmoving, not good. this is the reality.

i look at my ico, 10km to go and about 7 mins to complete it in, am i going to make it? should i hold back and avoid a 4th lap? i push on through the last few dunes, almost forget the wadi and have to jump on both brakes as i slide down into the dry river bed, then one last sharp left turn, pin the throttle and fly up to the finish, will they let me through? the marshal waves me through. i made it, there must have been seconds in it! i have enough fuel, now i have to focus, this is going to be a hard lap, at least in the dunes, but i've made it and i must be the last rider now on the course. i have the entire course to myself, at least that's how it feels.

it is hard in the dunes. half way through i get stuck in a dune and have to jump off the bike. dragging my bike round so that i can stand it up and get it going, i remove my goggles to let the air blow across my face, it's nearly 1200hrs, it's hot. the sand is very churned up and the morning damp has left the dunes, which are now very soft and challenging to climb. the doctor 't5' perched up on a dune looks on. as i pass, i slow, he walks over to check i'm ok and encourages me on. he's been our 'angel' in the dunes throughout, watching on, always there in case of an emergency.

then i'm nearly home, redbull in sight now. i cross the line. stephan shakes my hand and congratulates me. i have reached the end of stage 6 and the end of the rally, my first desert rally, this has been one hell of an experience!

then it's photo time, jago, johan, joe and paul line up either side of me, the desert rose racing team have all made it.

the chequered flag!

jago and i celebrating a successful rally

team desert rose

ps one little story i omitted to mention, mainly because it is a little embarrassing, but the guys asked me to write it or they would. when i asked for the autograph from marc coma, i in fact asked his mechanic! i did not know what he looked like, i just recognised the bike and as this guy was riding it, so i assumed he was marc. the mechanic was very funny and offered to sign but said i might want to ask the other guy and pointed to marc. oops! but now i am not even sure i was looking at the right guy, as when jago later asked me who signed it, i pointed to the rider and said "marc coma" an jago replied "that's cyril despres?!"......so now i don't actually know who signed my baseball cap. gonna have to ask for each of their signatures.

log onto npo website for latest info and updates
http://www.npolive.com/maroc2010/en/etape.php?stage=1&rub=include.php

live tracking of our progress
http://vulcain.iritrack.net/tdcom/eviewer/shamrock2010/ 

and if you live in france, jago and i made it onto french tv again today as a round up of this event is broadcast in france daily!!

rallye du maroc - race day 5 "sur les terres des ait attas"

the daily stats
307km
49km liaison to the start of the special, given 1 hour
249km special stage
9km back to the hotel, (technically not a liaison so no time pressure)
start time 0714hrs from hotel reda
return time 1300hrs to hotel reda

we well and truly have a routine now and almost without thinking we wake up, dress, eat, jump on the bike and race. but this morning i had a little drama, when i noticed that my radiator was still leaking while warming up the engine, which was a bugger as martin and colin had checked it all over the previous afternoon. these things happen. since this was a 'sans assistance' day, if i need the lads to work on the bike it had to take place in the bivoac. so i went through the process of starting the liaison, but performed a u-turn and headed back to the bivoac, about 2km in the opposite direction. martin and colin were waiting and quickly established a hole in the radiator hose, so martin very quickly removed the seat, tank and hose while colin did the same with the spare bike in order to retrieve the spare hose. martin refitted the new hose, added new rad fluid, tank and seat back on and i was off to the special, all within 10 mins, now that's support!! i had to get a move on though, as i still had a 50km liaison before my 0820hrs start.

this turned out to be another very fast day, more tracks than chotts (flat, dry lake beds) , more technical and less forgiving terrain and a lot of wash-outs, gnarly river beds and very dusty! but the final 5km run in to the finish was a crazy dash over a wide open plain, the large inflatable redbull arch and oilybia flags could be seen 2kms out, throttle pinned all the way to the line.

chilling out at the support truck

elisabeth jacinto next to her winning truck

desert rose racing team, rally du maroc!

looks like jago and i finished in first place again, not bad for a week's work and it all done by lunch time! i think it was a about 4.5hrs, but it was full on, with quite a lot of overtaking and fuelling along the way. but in the back of my mind was tomorrow's race, the desert gp, 4 laps of a a 40km loop in the dunes, this was going to be tough!

so fast that the spectators wanted photos with us!

can't believe we have completed stage 5 already. we've been hard at it now for 8 days, 1 day traveling, 1 day prep, 1 day admin and 5 days racing and it has gone in a flash! but it ain't over yet, and the journey home is going to be a long one.

it's been an awesome week so far and whatever happens tomorrow it will have been an unforgettable adventure.

log onto npo website for latest info and updates
http://www.npolive.com/maroc2010/en/etape.php?stage=1&rub=include.php

live tracking of our progress
http://vulcain.iritrack.net/tdcom/eviewer/shamrock2010/ 

and if you live in france, jago and i made it onto french tv again today as a round up of this event is broadcast in france daily!!

rallye du maroc - race day 4 "chegaga : la grande traversée "

the daily stats
514km
97km liaison to the start of the special, given 2 hours
320km special stage, (consisted of 2 x 160km laps)
97km liaison back to the hotel, given 2 hours
start time 0556hrs from hotel reda
return time 1635hrs to hotel reda

bloody early start today as we had to be away by 0556hrs, so up at 0430hrs to catch a lift to hotel reda for cafe au lait and patiseries; no luxuries such as cereals and fruit! this was too early, my brain was barely functioning even after a french coffee, but somehow we made it to the start in time! it was dark when we left, but with clear skies and this would only mean one thing, it was going to be a bright, sunny and a hot day.

in time to watch the pros start, we gathered on the desert, a couple of kms from the edge of the last town before the sahara. at 0810 we were off, straight back into the dunes, this was meant to be the hardest day of the week, two laps of 160km, half of which were dunes, some large some small, but all challenging.

riding the first wave of dunes felt ok, but bikes and bodies were working hard as the sand was soft up top and the wind was beginning to blow. rising up 30 foot cliffs of sand and dropping down the other side, not really knowing what was going to greet you. jago and i had a couple of moments, where the bike would plough into rather than over the dune, but all very tame, however my bike was suffering! and coming to the check point at the end of the dune section, the bracket which holds the roadbook, ico, compass, headlight and front faring, sheered from the brackets completely, dangling free from the bike! hmmm. stopping instantly, jago came over and together we zip-tied it all back together (these are 'big' zip ties!!). unfortunately this meant a few of our competition past us by, and having managed to to stay ahead of them while traversing the dunes, this was a tad annoying. but hey, this is the rally world and no one said it was going to be easy.

now the next part of the course was incredible, a completely dry river bed, it was like a motorway probably 100m wide, i can't remember how long it was, maybe 20-30km. soft white sand, with relatively lush vegetation on top of the of the steep banks either side, it felt like you inside a playstation game! at one point jago and i were racing a quad, sand billowing out in all directions, jago flying through the air alongside one second and the quad bouncing from left to right, all of us fighting to keep the bikes upright as the sand tried to drag you down! rather like getting on the 'plane' on a speed/motor boat, you had to keep the bike going flat out, so all this was going on at speeds of around 80-90km plus, it was mental, but so so much fun!! and then to top it all, the cars had caught up with us and they game bouncing past, ripping up the sand in their wake trying to overtake us and each other. it's hard to comprehend, it all seems so innocent and fun, but in reality the stakes are high.

we made the first lap in about 3hrs 10mins. we had a forced 30 minute break, to eat something, drink more water, and give martin and colin time to check the bikes, check my handy work and replace the air filters, which with so much sand, were in dire need of changing! lap two was going to hard as we were tired, plus the cars and trucks had now torn up the already soft sand and made it even softer and created trenches which we needed to avoid.

back in the dune set, i dropped into an innocent looking bowl but my front wheel dug in and i went over, landing badly on my left shoulder which was still recovering from the accident in marocco in september. "crunch" was the sensation and i shouted out in agony and rolled. on all fours i was punching the sand with my good hand to somehow alleviate the pain! gathering myself i picked the bike up as jago arrived. he'd parked up on the other side of the bowl and run down, he was worried! then it all became a little chaotic as one of the helis flew over, circling low over the top to film (sick maybe, but drama makes good tv!) and check our status. having pressed the 'green' button on the iritrack to signal to the marshals all was ok, jago pressed the sentinal button to alert any oncoming cars. then the alarms started going off on both our bikes as a car came roaring down into the bowl. fortunately the driver saw us in time and it turned and found a safe way out. jumping on my bike, i rode up out of the way, as more cars were approaching! then a voice came over the iritrack, "bonjour! ca va?" but they did not seem to hear us, probably the heli, so we just waved at the pilot and crew to show we were ok!!

shoulder was a little sore, but the adrenaline had kicked in, which allowed me to complete the remaining dunes and the 100km to the finish.

we completed lap two in about 3hrs 30mins, may be less, so considering everything we were quite pleased. then it was a 97km journey back to hotel reda. it was a long but rewarding day.

log onto npo website for latest info and updates
http://www.npolive.com/maroc2010/en/etape.php?stage=1&rub=include.php

live tracking of our progress
http://vulcain.iritrack.net/tdcom/eviewer/shamrock2010/ 

and if you live in france, jago and i made it onto french tv again today as a round up of this event is broadcast in france daily!!

rallye du maroc - race day 3 "la passe de maharch"

the daily stats
338km
9km liaison to the start of the special, given 2 hours
281km special stage
48km liaison back to the hotel, given 2 hours
start time 0730hrs from hotel reda
return time 1300hrs to hotel reda

the race course was double booked today!! can you believe that with so much desert two events could clash? well the heroes legend was passing through on it's way to dakar and would be trundling across our course by late morning, so we had to starting the special early. however, this was to be a short day as jago and i absolutely flew the course! having said that we'd take it steadily, the course was so inviting that we established a great rhythm and had the throttles pinned most of the time - at one point jago recorded 145kph, which on a 400cc off-road is quite something!

today i was living the dream. this was the scene i had witnessed on french television and eurosport all those years ago, bikes and cars flying across vast desert plains, with huge plumes of dust rising up behind, trailing the adventurers, unable to keep up. on numerous occassions the sentinal would sound, i would look round to see a speeding rally car approaching rapidely, and with such wide, flat open spaces, i could drift across to allow the car past. but this time it was a race and so jago and i would try to hang on to the car for as long as possible! cars and bikes racing three abreast, incredible, i wish you could have seen it!! i was in my element, grinning widely and at times laughing wildly, it was f*&^ing awesome!! wow!!

we crossed some of the most stunning landscapes, squeezing between mountains from one plain to the next, or climbing rocky passes with sheer drops on one side and at times washed away. sometimes the ground was hard and flat, other times deep, soft sand, it continuously changed, as did the flora, and together with the rains during the previous night, the scents varied too. in fact all your senses were flooded, all of the time, from what you saw and smelt, to what you could hear and feel; the roar of the engine and the air rushing past, and the vibrations you feel through your entire body, even with the front forks  and rear shocks oscilating in response to the ground as the wheels tore over.

coming into the check points and fuel stops, you were always greeted with a smile and a "ca va?", the marshals would even open your pockets for you to get the time card they needed to stamp. with a quick piss, swig of water and a wipe of the goggles, we were back on the gas! and before we knew it we were on the final 10km straight, a long track with thick stones and loads of unmarked (on the roadbook that is) wash outs, which we jumped or bounced over as the speed we were traveling did not allow for stopping (patsy, zippy, sorry, i know this not what you taught us!!) and there were a few hairy moments as you flew into a dip knowing that you had to  throttle out the other side or you were going to be in trouble, but by the time you said "f*&@" you were already in the air!! the hard vibrations, the whoops and bumps, i was laughing out loud all the way to the finish!!

no sooner had we come back to earth, ben norman sent a text from jo'burg to say that jago and i had come first in our class*, the enduro cup! we had travelled 280km of moroccon desert in 3 hours 43mins, that's an average of 67kph (i think?), including fuel stops, check points and a forced 15 min stop half way round, so we were on the pace which is what is important to me at this point. however, not to do us or the event a disservice, we had won a stage of the rallye du maroc, bloody marvelous : )

*ben was following our progress live on the iritrak website
http://vulcain.iritrack.net/tdcom/eviewer/shamrock2010/ 

log onto npo website for latest info and updates
http://www.npolive.com/maroc2010/en/etape.php?stage=1&rub=include.php
 
and if you live in france, jago and i made it onto french tv again today as a round up of this event is broadcast in france daily!!

photos to follow

rallye du maroc - race day 2 "crossing an ocean of dunes"

firstly, please can i apologise for the bombardment of emails, but blame the press! the press have taken over the hotel internet and as a result i have had to find a hotel that has wifi.

daily stats
460km
98km liaison
260km special (consisted of 2 x 130km laps)
98km liaison
start time 0633hrs
return time 1422hrs

up at 0515 today in order to fit everything in before departing for the special.

it's dark at that time of the day

the title of the race today says it all, a 130km loop to be completed twice within the 4 hour window, 40km of proper dunes with another 40km of smaller, but very soft dunettes which proved to be rather challenging!

jago and i were feeling pretty content with our progress initially, but as time wore on this started to slow. the main issue was navigation. in the dunes this was in fact quite straight forward as the trail had been blazed, but off the dunes, the featureless landscape made this difficult. we were only 2 minutes over the deadline of the first 130km lap, but we were timed-out and for us that was the end of the day's racing.

although disappointed not to have the chance to go round again and try to beat the first lap time, it was probably a blessing as it gave us a chance to rest and prevent injury or damage to the bikes, a chance to tell the tale and enjoy tomorrow's racing. as it was we still had a 100km liaison to the hotel to complete!

the dunes were immense though; our first large dune was probably 30 foot high, with a car and spectators at the top enjoying the view and the struggling bikers. jago went up first, made it about 3/4 of the way up before turning around and i followed, only making it about half way. it was clear this was not going to be climbed without a serious struggle so we found an alternative route.

although i had experienced the dunes a month ago with patsy and zippy, we were on our own, well apart from the t5 (doctor/ sweeper) who was following on behind, making sure we were ok and stopping each time one of us had a fall. at one point i was too close to jago and as he neared a crest he slowed, i moved to the left to avoid hitting him and as i went over the top there was a small dune and i went into it! fortunately i managed to stay upright and keep the bike going, but paul, who was close behind me went over the handle bars, commando style!

mastering the technique to climb the dune at an angle, so that you can peer over the crest to choose the best route, the tracks before us were leading straight up and down.....crazy fools!! fortunately the day was overcast, which relieved from burning up under the saharan skies.

jago preparing for the ride home

fitting in a light lunch

thinking we'd had a difficult time, we were surprised to find out joe had not yet completed his first lap; he completed the previous days riding in 4.5 hours compared to our 6.5 hours. it turned out he'd struggled with a particular section of navigation and shot off on his ktm690 in the wrong direction.....it is so easy to do out here.

joe's got a nice bike though

barnes, if you're reading this, the choppers in the background are the film and emergency support crew. at one point today jago and i were surfing the dunes with the camera crew hovering above!!

log onto npo website for latest info and updates
http://www.npolive.com/maroc2010/en/etape.php?stage=1&rub=include.php

live tracking of our progress
http://vulcain.iritrack.net/tdcom/eviewer/shamrock2010/ 

and if you live in france, jago, paul and i made it onto french tv yesterday as a round up of this event is broadcast in france daily!!

rallye du maroc - race day 1

the daily stats
412km
48km liaison to the start of the special, given 1 hour
310km special stage, given 6.5hrs
64km liaison back to the hotel, given 1 hour
start time 0729hrs from hotel reda
return time 1535hrs to hotel reda

having finally got to sleep at about midnight, we were all up at around 0530hrs, clambering into bike gear not worn for a while, still half asleep and dark outside (what a difference a month makes), before grabbing a lift in the support van to hotel reda for breakfast (as this is where we'll be starting from today). bikes go off first at 1 minute intervals, led by marc coma and cyril depres (think lewis hamilton and jenson button of the enduro world!).

local hire vehicles are a little more heavy duty out here!

a bright morning emerged as we travelled along the road to the special stage, 310km off-road, in a westerly loop through the desert. my nerves have been on a bit of a roller-coaster ride for the past couple of weeks, but now the adrenaline can be put to good use!

going to have to watch the expletives as it will get a little boring by day 3 let alone day 6, but needless to say it was an awesome day. riding the bike and navigating at high speed - as fast as jago and i dared go - trying to snatch a glimpse of the ever changing terrain and beautiful scenery - from twisty mountain passes, to dry wadis and palm groves, vast empty plains and rolling dunes, with a blue sky and blazing sun.....breath taking!

 a small kit explosion

one for the boys

oh, and another!

getting straight back into the rhythm, trying to outrun the cars coming up behind us, then they blast past and leave you blind in a cloud of dust. they do look incredible though and sound fantastic, but nowhere nearly as exciting as the trucks, they literally thunder past! first one went past while we were refueling at a check point in the small dunes, hissing with each gear change.

funny sight today, we were just slowing as unsure about our heading when we noticed a truck coming towards us, followed by a couple of bikes, obviously as confused as we were in terms of the nav ; ) doubling back to our last known point, an unmissable (paul!) moroccon castle sitting on top of a small escarpment, we watched trucks, cars and other bikes speed one way and then the next trying to find the exit from the valley below; we tried to determine the route without using valuable fuel, 9 litres does not go far out here!

pushing the last 80km we made it to the end of the special with about 7 mins to spare, great first day, may be not the best time, but we did it without injury and bikes intact, well mostly; jago's gps came apart so he had to zip tie that together for the duration.

boil in the bag beans and sausages tasted great, straight out of the bag, no heating required, its high 30s here!!

back at zagoura, after a speedy liaison home martin and colin carry out the daily maintenance checks on the bikes and deal with any specific issues e.g. a hole in your fuel tank, or your ico not working.....then we collected the roadbook for the following day, mark it up up and fit to the holder on the bike. and finally supper, starving and the briefing (during supper) at 2030hrs.

log onto npo website for latest info and updates
http://www.npolive.com/maroc2010/en/etape.php?stage=1&rub=include.php

live tracking of our progress
http://vulcain.iritrack.net/tdcom/eviewer/shamrock2010/

and if you live in france, jago, paul and i made it onto french tv today as a round up of this event is broadcast in france daily!!

rallye du maroc - scrutineering

leasurely 0700 start today in time for scrutineering which started at 1130 sharp. had to find out where we were meant to be and triple checking we had all the correct paperwork, from medical info to passports, licences, safety equipment etc etc. before coming out i had to have an eye test, a medical, echo cardiogram and a stress ecg, just so that i could get an international fim licence to race abroad, i then needed a blood test so i could provide my blood group to the race admin and mark my crash helmet, but only managed this on thursday night so the results won't arrive until monday so have to guess in meantime!

once through that we had 1 hour to connect up all the electronic kit to the bike - i will explain the kit requirements a little later - and fit all the stickers to the bike. once, fitted, the admin staff had to test all the equipment, check the bike was worthy and correct for its class, mark the key parts so that the bike could not be modified without them knowing and, and and.....this went on for some time, but it was all outside in the bright sunshine, so very pleasant. considering how poor my french is, the admin crew were very friendly and patient, while i bounced around from one admin person to another handing money here there and everywhere, signing forms, smiling and saying bonjour, merci, ca va? seemed to keep everyone onside....

marc coma's bike

cyril despres's bike

some funky looking bmw 450s

once cleared for take off, we had to collect our road books, mark them up and fit to the bike; two hours later i think we finished! shouldn't take this long, but wanted to get it right for day 1. once on, we then had to race to a training session on the sentinal (warning system that gives a very loud audio signal that car or truck is very close and wants to pass), the gps and way points system, iritrack (allows each competitor to be monitored by race officials and the public know where we are- you can log on to the npo website to watch our progress, live).

then finally it was supper, together with all the race officials, admin staff and competitors, in the outside dining area of the reda hotel - must be about 500-600 people - and a briefing on tomorrows race! adrenaline starting to pump now!!

the team; myself plus

jago (lucy, he isn't going v fast, it's just i'm a poor photographer!)

joe from the usa (looking a little concerned, think it might be to do with his ico!)

paul, oops! don't have a photo yet : )

johan "ice and slice" from belgium

supported by martin, colin and john.

martin leading the way : )

colin in his bush hat telling jago to stop breaking things

oops! no photo of john yet : )

just to give you and idea on the support required for this kind of event; all the bikes had to be prepared for the rally, so in addition to the obvious, suspension set up, new tyres, new sprockets, then all the electronics to handle the road book, ico (measures speed and distances as part of the navigational equipment), sentinal, gps, iritrack. then all the bikes, tools and spares have to be driven down from heathfield in east sussex, to zagora, about 3000 miles away. then each day they make sure all the bikes are set to go, before heading off to the assistance areas, which could be 200km away, where we then rely on them, should we have bits of our bike hanging off, holes in tanks etc and to get back to the bivoac to service our bikes and once again prepare them for the following day. without them, we would have a very short rally and or a shagged bike!

marc coma signed my newly acquired baseball cap! (never asked for an autograph before)

rallye du maroc - arrival

i'm here! in marocco again and i'm glad to say that it is a little cooler than it was a month ago - 31 degrees in the shade, 38 degrees in the sun! but it is cooler in the evenings and mornings, may even need a sweater ; )

the journey continues with my first desert rally and amongst the bowler cats and trucks there are the fellow bikers including the world champions and dakar kings, cyril despres and marc coma!!

jago and i spent 14 hours travelling here to zagora in south east marocco, flying direct to marakesh (no losing luggage in the connecting flight) and hired a driver of a large toyota land cruiser to take us over the atlas moutains to our destination. jago stretched out across the back seat, snored quietly, while i lay back in the front, listening to relaxing moroccan music and watching the beautiful scenery as e past by.

we arrived  just before midnight at hotel zagour, 7.5 hours after leaving the airport, stopping for supper in oaurzazate and a couple of fuel stops. a very enjoyable journey.

we spent most of today in the bivoac with martin and colin, sorting out a few things on the bikes like fitting a tool bag to the rear mud guard, fixing the ico and a few other details in preparation for scrutineering tomorrow and the rally start on monday morning.

below is a video of the maroc, it gives a good idea of what myself and jago will be up to over the next week. i'll upload some photos later too.