On the traks!

Plateau de Rekkam, under the starry sky

I decided to join the Sevilla guys to the Plateu de Rekkam. It is not a wise decision but I'm more impulsive than wise. The excitement of the adventure is impossible to resist. The four guys seem very nice people and I like to ride with other people. Three of the bikes are equiped with knobby tires but the other one (a new Transalp) wears tires like mines, mixed type but more tarmac oriented.

We cross the border and head to the east, to Oujda and Ait-Benimathar, always on tarmac. In Ait-Benimathar we fill the tanks to the last drop. The other guys also carry jerry-cans because the next petrol station may be between 300 and 35 km away, not counting unexpected problems. The V-strom has a big tank (22 l) and a very low consumption. I can do about 400 or 500 km before refilling. We leave the tarmac and head for the track. We ride just a few km and we stop to mount the tents before it gets dark. It is my last opportunity to go back and return to tarmac but I decide to go on. We are in the middle of a immense plain, with almost no vegetation, very stony. There are traks everywhere. Fortunately, Manolo has a GPS otherwise we would be lost in five minutes.

The night is very clear and the sky is full of stars, a really wonderful sight. All is very quiet and peaceful.

Friday, April 25

I'm leaving Barcelona later than I planned. The plan for the day is to arrive to Almeria during the day because the ferry to Melilla leaves at 23:55. It's a long trip, about 850 km, but I had plenty of time. But, just one hour after, everything went wrong. Suddenly, the bike became impossible to control I could see a long white smoke tail behind me. I did stop immediately, just to see a spurt of brown liquid coming out under my bike. I was astounded. Looking under the bike I could see that the oil plug (the one used to empty the oil) was missing. All the oil was on the floor and worse: on the rear wheel. Really dangerous! After a moment of very low mood, I did call my assistence and I asked my sister to find a Suzuki service nearby. She did find one but they were closed until 4 pm and I had to wait. Ouch!
Fortunately they managed to find a new oil plug and to somewhat remove most of the oil from the rear wheel and the brakes and at 5pm I was again on the road.

But now I was really short on time. Still 750 km and just 6 hours before boarding. I considered calling the ferry company to change my reservation to Saturday but, at the end, I decided to take the risk and go on. It was the right decision and with even two or three minutes left I managed to take the ferry. Uff!

The ferry was plenty of bikes going to Morocco for off-road. I meet four guys from Sevilla and they proposed me to join them. They wanted to cross the Plateu de Rekkam completely off-road, by easy trails. The idea did appeal me a lot, but I was not prepared for off-road and I decided to postpone my decision.

Morocco

Suddenly, this week, as struck by ligthning, the idea of to traveling to Morocco came to me. Two days later I made up my mind and yesterday I booked a ferry for next friday from Almeria to Melilla. That's the way I like it: no long plannings, no hesitations, just have an idea and make it real as soon as possible.

Now I'm full with the thrill of excitement, craving to start the journey, to meet new people, to see new places. Also to face the many problems and to fight my fear. To feel truly alive.

I will take some days off around the May Day, which is a public holiday in Spain, so that I can travel for ten days. I'm planning to go to the south of the Atlas, see the first sand dunes at Erg-Chebbi, the oasis at Merzouga and then the dramatic Merzouga gorges. I will probably join the Horizons Unlimited mini-meeting that will be held at Maadid. Also in my way is the red Dades valley and of course the dangerous Tizi'n'Test pass at 2100 metre above sea level, the point where the numerous valleys of the High Atlas south of Marrakech tip over into the Saharan side of the Atlas. I'm planning for around 5000 km in 10 days, not a bad test for the new V-Strom.



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Of course, these are just rough plans. Once there, I will do as I usually do: Throw all plans to hell, follow my instinct and do my way, enjoying my freedom to ride always further.