March 16, 2023
Day 29: Errachidia to Er-rich
“Smell the wood?” Patrick says as we ride out of town after stopping at a gas station for coffee. There is a woodshop nearby. The restaurant we ate lunch and dinner yesterday assured us they open at 0700 and serve breakfast. This ended up not being true. Even a delivery man is trying to raise someone in the restaurant with no luck. We did not want to eat breakfast in our room, instead heading out at first light to find something. With our first choice still closed we start riding and soon find a gas station with a café attached where we score some coffee. We still have some pastries from yesterday.
There is a long boulevard leading out of town. There quite a few men cycling to work. They are friendly and two groups of three end up as one group cycling with us until they reach their destination and just before our first short hill of the day. The road levels out a bit, we are back to no shoulder and we are cycling around the reservoir.
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The steeper part of the climb is a slog for Rachel, the traffic still unnerving. There are long quiet moments of no traffic, then a bus or truck has held traffic up and there is a series of passing cars. She makes it to the top eventually pushing the bike. Patrick rides the hill; he still sees the traffic as being cautious and respectful.
We have a nice downhill, well a nice break but we also know we have to regain the altitude lost. Isn’t that the nature of the road? We drop down into the Ziz Gorge following the that does have some water. The canyon becomes more impressive as we progress. Tall red canyon walls, villages on the rocky banks and palm trees wherever there is good soil.
When we reach the Kasbah Jurassic we are hoping for a cold drink. The place is closed, but we are able to sit on the patio that provides table and chairs and much needed shade. The road curves around the hillside above the river. The knew there is a Legionnaire's tunnel today, and not knowing what to expect we kept our headlamps out. They were not needed.
Eventually we are at the end of the canyon and stop at a café for a cold sprite. There are many motorcycle travelers coming from both directions that stop here as well.
The road changes directions many times today. The wind isn’t a huge factor until getting closer to Er-rich and the wind helps us up and down the rolling hills to the junction. We picked up a gang of kids on bikes until the round-about where we turn toward town and they continue straight. The road passes through a park forested with pine trees on both sides of the road. These are the first real trees we have seen for a while. There is an impressive town gate and another city park.
We find Hotel Tisslit on the main square, its 2pm. No one is around to check us in, but Patrick finds a guy who is helpful and we are told to wait about 20 minutes while they clean the room. Patrick goes to three other hotels to check the rooms out, one with too narrow of stairs up to the rooms and the other didn’t even have sheets on the bed and a squat toilet.
We wait.
Eventually, we are check into a decent room. The bikes go on the balcony and there is an attached bathroom. Patrick is able to get the water warm enough to shower; Rachel’s “shower” is a cold sponge bath as the water wouldn’t turn even lukewarm. We rest a bit, and then Patrick ventures out for and finds grilled chicken and fries for an afternoon snack. This is a welcome change in chicken from the tajines and the brochettes. There is a “supermarket” a few shops down from the hotel.
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Later in the evening we go to get supplies for breakfast and decide on having sandwiches in our room for dinner. We wander around a few streets and check out the souk. As the sun sets there is more and more activity. Even the fountains on the square are spouting.
Today was a pretty tough day. Ride with GPS says we climbed over 800 vertical meters. Tomorrow would be similar and the next day. We decide we don’t want (or can’t) do three hard days in a row. And there is rain in the forecast. Across the street from the hotel is the Grand-Taxi stand. We will head there tomorrow morning and try to arrange a ride to the pass.
Today's ride: 69 km (43 miles)
Total: 1,116 km (693 miles)
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