EDC Morocco, Africa,2017. Open invite for FREE On/Off road & desert guided tour.

[roberteagle6]

Hi Spadger, the dress idea sounds - fun ? The last guy I rode with who wore a dress looked like this - any ideas who it is - quite well known on this site !

[roberteagle6]

ABCNorthWales3.jpg (37.23 KiB) Viewed 2436 times

[Spadger]

Had me going there for a minute I thought my missus was two timing me

[Wonkyconk]

I'll happily risk death in the desert than spend another year renovating my house (thumbs)

[WIBO]

Sorry fellas, I can't stay quiet any longer.

You are signing up to go on a long ride where the person leading has no idea about your ability, your medical history, your health, your level of fitness or your mechanical ability or how well you look after your bike. You have no idea about the route, how easy or hard it will be, how far from help you will be or what risk you will be subjected to.

This isn't sour grapes, seriously it isn't, but I am really questioning the sanity of this where you are totally in the dark about the trip. Call me a killjoy by all means, but I know first hand how hostile that environment can be when things go wrong, and how quickly the situation goes bad, and how that manifests itself (ie death).

So by all means crack on, but do so with eyes absolutely wide open, and please ask this wibo key questions above as to how this is going to work, what rescue plans there are in place and what medical back up etc. Ask about the difficulty of the route based on your ability, and ask about the overall speed of the riding and the set up ie tail end charlie, radio contact etc.

If you can satisfy yourself that all these things are covered and the risk is measured and covered, then cool, crack on. If not, please take caution.

Good evening Mike et al,

Great key points to raise. I'll answer the points and raise a few others en route.

1. Rescue plans.......zero.....other than contacts I have in the form of local 4X4's to load a bike or a rider into. As you know,the off roading is a small percentage of the whole ride out experience of being in Maroc. I go to Maroc every year..the fact that AA Five Star cover doesn't apply does not hinder me,just as if I were riding to Chile...I'd still go as I'd say anyone on this forum would,just by the very nature of same.

2.Radio contact for a ride out.....zero.....apart from a mobile phone which will have limited cover here and there but in the majority good.

3.Tail end Charlie...last rider drop off will apply,to be explained at briefing.

4.Difficulty...if you can ride along a hard pack farm lane,you can ride here. Checking the ride report will give an idea of topography. Short stretches of feche-feche will apply along with a longer route of same if final route is what I think it's going to be at this time.

I have no idea about the ability of riders just as various companies who offer organised ride outs have no idea.....but as they,I will assist to help riders improve and can adjust timings to allow for that. Mike had mentioned before that he never goes on ride outs without seeing a person ride.

Personally I'd hate to see a rider arrive in Algeciras and for me to say that he wasn't coming and that he could now go back home,based on car park observations etc. As far as I am aware no ride companies do this either.

The flip side is of course that no one has ever wanted to see me ride before they came with me. I could ask the same of Mike or in fact anyone else who rides with each other.

5.If anyone is dubious about off roading a tarmac route will be available. Rest days before off roading will be factored in to practice and its the riders call to either both ride piste or choose tarmac based on their ability and medical condition.
If they e.g. have a heart attack and keel over....bodies do that...they shut down when least expected. Engines seize....rain falls....people faint...riders can finish a ride out with out incident too.

6.Medical back up....just as in Mongolia or Chile....zero....as stated I go to Maroc every year...if anyone wants to organise their own medivac cover that's their call. I do what Moroccans do when they e.g. twist their ankle or snap it..or whatever ...I find a way somehow....as they do.

If I have a heart attack and die,then my passport will be handed over to the police and they'll organise what happens....just as they do for Moroccans.

7. The riders who want to come have no idea of the route because I haven't even thought about it,as it'll be on in October 2017. Updates will apply.



8. Risks exposed to are; car ferry sinking,vehicles crashing into you,thorns,pedestrians walking out in front of you,rain,feche-feche,diesel spills,the odd animal on the road,slow moving traffic,stones,potholes,hotels being booked up and what to do thereafter,sand,strips of overbanding,incorrect road signs,gravel,vehicles with defective indicators/lights,falling off your bike,sparse medical facilities...more or less,what risks you're exposed to in Europe




9. Riders should be proficient in simple repairs like replacing clutch cables,gear levers etc and how to mend a puncture. If they're not then they'll have to think what they'll do. I'm not a mechanic to be at their beck and call,but I will help them as they effect repairs. Tips will be given later in another article as to what works for me and riders can take or leave what is or is not applicable to them.



Moroccans live in Maroc and buy food,go to school,go to the Doctors,buy clothes,buy fuel,go to the tea shop and live the same lives as we do but some with a lot less comfort and convenience of same. Just the same as in Chile and Mongolia etc. there are places where there are not too many people living.


As an aside what would also be a good idea was that if any adventure bike riders who weren't keen on coming others could convince them to maybe attend we could help them,as a group of like minded people,with any personal issues they may have. I'd say as a group we are all generally of the same adventure rider mindset within our discipline.

She/he could perhaps return a better person and look into themselves just to even become a more pleasant person after the experience of Maroc. She/he could not only see what others don't have and what she/he actually has but to even actually pay attention to it.


Some riders have anger problems,self esteem problems or jealousy problems but I have seen a rider on this forum who has an envy issue IMO.

IMO this rider thinks that maybe she/he should be consulted as a guru of riding to Maroc. She/he enjoys informing people that Maroc is overly dangerous to perhaps make others gravitate to them for informed advice and that any other advice given to others, by others,is incorrect.

I think also that perhaps she/he has a self esteem issue whereupon that if she/he offers an opinion as to the extreme nature of their travels then others will see she/he as a full blown resilient adventure rider and derive kudus from same,thus feeding the self esteem issue.

I read not that long ago a rider,seemed to me,to be affronted that someone had recommended reading an article written by a chap called Tim Cullis and was envious that this chap knew about Maroc.


I had a wee peep at other posts to find the same envy manifesting itself and I even checked a KTM forum to find the same after another few members on here intimated she/he wrote there.

She/he I find seems to be envious that there are others who want to join our category of bike riders and/or others who have ideas or want genuine advice and assistance,who when asking for same,it's easier to ridicule and lambast them instead of just simply being nice and assisting. I wonder why she/he is actually on forums if only to be cantankerous and contemptible then its perhaps only to ply for business sales if applicable.

If so I wonder how she/he actually copes within a business environment,and how many potential clients take their business elsewhere based on attitude. If she/he owns a business then its she or he's call to be despicable to others but if not,then the owner of the business might find cause for concern as to loss of trade.


These kinds of people I find were the ones that just didn't have many friends in the playground as children quickly whittle out who is simply nice and who is not. In adult life these people have about two or three friends whilst nicer people will have twenty two or three friends!! They live a sad existence battling with the fact they want to change and to be liked but can't help themselves reverting so they continue to be disliked. The cycle continues.


I found also on forums that she/he stated that she/he would say the same disparaging comments to any other rider in a pub if they were ever to meet face to face....

I find this incredulous as she/he would be admitted to A&E on a weekly basis,based only,if she/he lived in Ulster that is.
















.

[halfpint]

well that was lost on me ,i would have just said piss off or worse but if you need a puncture repaired I am your man !!

[WIBO]

Had me going there for a minute I thought my missus was two timing me

That's a relief...I thought it was my wife!!!!










.

[crofty]

When I retired about 5 years ago I thought I would buy a bike again after a lay off of 12 years. I bought a transalp and as it was an adventure bike I thought I better go to Morocco as it is an adventure destination.

I went with a bona fide travel co whose name I won,t mention. Everything went fine till we got to Morocco, it was a Sunday and we crossed to Ceuta and went through the border at Fnideg. Then on a Sunday there was no where to purchase insurance so reluctantly we had to ride without it as far as Tetouan. After various excursions back to Tangier we all eventually got insurance. This made it late in the day. We took the N2/N13 to make haste to Fes our stop for the night, as time was running out the tour leader proposed a quicker route at Quezzane the R408/R501 it was under repair and was a graded piste for 60k, we all got split up and it got dark. I ended riding the last 50k on my own on a small sealed road in the dark with no map or gps. I got to Fes about 10 at night, by chance I saw some other british bikes and it was some of the other group, as a group we found the hotel. The food was finished so I organised with my broken French a small cafe to open up and cook us some food for the group and the tour leaders.

It was a bit of a baptism by fire but I tell this story to illustrate that paying over large sums of money to established tour companies is no guarantee of anything, I have been back a few more times and I really appreciate someone like Keith giving his time and knowledge to extend the experience for everyone. I know i could die of heatstroke or have a horrendous crash, perhaps be robbed and killed by a nasty Moroccan because I did,nt want to go to his brother's carpet shop. But personally my greatest fear is running out of toilet paper hmy:

Inshallah.

[skipper]

But personally my greatest fear is running out of toilet paper hmy:

Inshallah.

the desert, the heat,the drivers, the roads ,the locals may all be a risk but the one sure thing to get you in moroc is the runs, I have never escaped yet. best put me down for another bout of botulism.

[Simon_100]

Wow, Moroccans a dangerous then. I'd better watch out every tine I open my front door in case the lady* in the flat opposite is waiting with a scimitar, likewise the family on the top floor of tier building - I've always thought their two year old gives me a funny look from his pushchair - and if I pass that hazard there's always Mohammed, 'our' street cleaner', with whom I always stop for a chat and to find out how his daughter career as a chemical engineer in Germany - DOW or BASF I don't know which - is getting, especially now she's had the baby (thumbs)

S**, that was a close shave, beer go over the road and have a coffee, but hold on, there's Hassan, he really slams the coffee filter thing into the cafeteria, but then so do all waters here so maybe he's not a killer.

Life is hard ...

Regs

Simon

* Seeing that we're on names; they're respectively Lubna - modified for Spain as 'Luna' (Sp. the moon!) and Nadia, who doesn't have any problem with her name. (thumbs)

PS. My only misgiving so far is the size of the group. Can I humbly suggest that of anyone, or even a few mates, slips away either early or for part of the trip to do their own thing there should be bad feelings.

PPS. our most time in Morocco was back in about '94 when Mrs S went on a university field trip trip to the Anti-Atlas with so-called 'professional' guides, who made the base camp in a wadi. "Oh, it hasn't flooded here for years ..." Needless to say the inevitable happened, and if it wasn't for the fact that the students were prepared for an 04.00 start back to the airport and could be shuffled, groggy but uncomplaining and with their bags ready packed and loaded onto the f***-off Defenders, that a genuine catastrophe was avoided.

After that I joined her as we went off on a three week jolly inn a hired Renault 4 ...

Regs

Simon