Boating & Biking Adventures

Author: Bernd Page 21 of 121

🚴‍♂️…Souira Kedima – Essaouira…🚴‍♂️

I have heard various prayers at different times during the days since the arrival in Morocco. The morning prayers called Fajar become more and more my wake up time, currently at around 6:30am. Staying close to a mosque like last night, waking up is guaranteed. Good start into the day.

Sunset Sea View in Souira Kedima.

Today was the last ride along the Moroccan coastline as I have arrived in Essaouira, my first stage destination on this trip.  It is a port city and resort. My first impression is very positive. After pushing the bike along some narrow busy roads through the medina, I finally ended up at my accommodation booked for the following two nights. It gives me the chance to explore this town a bit further in detail and same time allowing the body for some rest.

Time to get some food now!

Fair winds…

🚴‍♂️…Qualidia – Souira Kedima…🚴‍♂️

We have left Morocco’s garden behind us and what appeared to become a ride to arrive offered some nice moments and scenery. Pleasant biking climate.

One more  time, a light northeasterly wind helped to push us south while the 28mm Conti Grand Prix 4-Season was eating the tarmac without complains.

Souira Kedima is a small fishing village with enough charme for a night to simply put the head down.

Fair winds…

🚴‍♂️…Azemmour – Qualidia…🚴‍♂️

We left our Kasbah around 9am under hazy conditions and only after I woke up the kitchen chef.  We had agreed breakfast at 8am, at that time he was still snoring. No joke!

A fast ride took me further south along the coastline to Qualidia, a stretch, which exceeded my expectations by far. Not boring at all. I know by know, where the vegetables in Germany come from when it says under country of origin: Morocco! I have also seen with my own eyes the hard work associated to it.

Qualidia is well known for its natural lagoon and I enjoyed a short walk to understand and feel how beautiful it must have been before tourism grabbed some substantial share of it.

Fair winds…

🚴‍♂️…Casablanca – Azemmour…🚴‍♂️

Biker Ismail guided me out of town on his so-so aluminum road bike. It was early morning 9:30am and we had a chat as far as the traffic allowed for that. He was at a friend in Casablanca centre over the weekend and now returning back home getting ready for some work. Priorities do matter!

Oum Er-Riba River view & good for a swim.

It took 15km to get the last buildings and developments behind us before country roads presented the scenery in somewhat hazy conditions. While it cleared up at later stage, the road took us through some forest and agriculture areas, all quite green to my surprise.

Upon arrival in Azemmour I strolled through the medina offering everything someone could think off including absolutely fresh & cackling chicken. The pigs were already dead and cut in big chunks.

I have booked my accommodation for one night only in a very nice Riad, which is situated within the historical part of the town. Plan is to keep going tomorrow morning as my goal is to get rather sooner than later back onto the road further down south.

Fair winds…

Moroccan Tea & Tagine

A photo recovery 🚴‍♂️ tour took me to some of the places already visited yesterday while also exploring new suburbs same time. It all ended with Tea & Cake next to the hotel.

For me, Moroccan Tea has now taken over the coffee and is served at each and every corner. There is a clear distinction between the more modern coffee shops with all sorts of fancy creations and the traditional places where tea clearly dominates on the tables. Consumers are also very different and perhaps the tradition outlets will become marginal at one point in time. Cakes, cookies and pastries are readily available, most likely a left over from the French influence in Morocco.

Besides the Moroccan  Tea, I had Tagine on my list and visited tonight a traditional restaurant downtown within the Marché Central area. The ambiance was much better than the dish itself but the Moroccan Samosas as a starter rescued the dinner overall.

Fair winds…

First 24h – packed

Landing at the red eye hours in Casablanca reminded me on some tiring trips some years back, a 1:1 copy of Chennai including the interior of the airport. Great, I have arrived, back in my world.

After dozing some more hours on the sofa couch at the entrance of the hotel lobby I got my room and the bike got unboxed in no time to hit the road after a decent breakfast.

I started circling between SIM Card Shop, Bike Repair Shop (rear derailleur slightly bend from a fall over on the last mile in Bodenheim) and, long time overdue, the Barber Shop. Although there is no time difference between Germany and Morocco, there is a big big difference in time. While GoogleMaps tells you, 24h Open, you learn on the first attempt, it will be 11.30am. Long story short, I kept circling among the shops in a more and more lively traffic until my three items were sorted.

The Casablanca Sniff Tour without photos took us around, followed by a cool down in the hotel pool at the roof top. It’s small, chilly, clean and anything else than crowded.

After some very delicious, freshly made stuffed Msemen at one of the nearby streetfood stalls, it was time to get back into the City Centre, a 10min tram ride on line T1. Casablanca beer is tasty. The snacks come for free in an all you can eat order. The Smoking allowed was an interesting experience after all.

Exhausted, tired and with more plans in my head, I called it a day.

Fair winds…

🚴‍♂️…Morocco…🇲🇦

Mini Adventure Morocco lies ahead of us. The bike is back in the good old buxumbox, which I pulled behind quite often while in Asia. This time we will discover Africa; well, a tiny little dot of this incredibly vast continent.

Looking forward to get back into the bikepacking mode for me to explore some totally new grounds. Plan is to get into the Atlas Mountains, all going well. I am very curious about this trip.

Updates will be on Komoot.

Fair winds…

Ready for 🛫 LH1330 taking us to Casablanca.

Torch Tour Delights 😋

A bit of a crazy ride today driven by an early appointment in Mainz. What started off with the torch and low expectations was totally turned around in no time by a homemade decent piece of “Schwäbischer Quarkkuchen“ and foggy flakes within opening blue skies. No doubt, autumn remains amazing!👌

Fair winds…

Fall 🚴‍♂️ Riding

Despite the sky not opening up at all today – although promised by the weather gurus – I jumped on the bike again to enjoy another fall 🚴‍♂️ ride. It took me partly along an old railway track converted to a bike path. Quite nice la.

There is more to explore in this lovely wine region.

Fair winds…

🌞…Bright Rhine…🚴‍♂️

Bob, the bike mechanic from The Cycle Hub in Dún Laoghaire did a perfect job, not only in servicing the bike with his magic hands to become a “non-friction“ machine but also by packing it properly into a box for the flight. No damage.

My booty was getting itchy and the weather supported me to better get my act together: unbox, assemble, test ride.

Looking forward to some more bike trips during my extended stop-over in this lovely wine region along the Rhine River.

Fair winds…

Boating & Biking, a perfect match!

Page 21 of 121

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