Nov 15/09

Oh, getting out of bed was much harder today. I am fighting a nasty cold and really don't feel very energetic. The good news is that it is mostly downhill today, wahoo! We headed for Ouarzazate (war-za-zat) and had a pretty nice ride. Of course, there were way too many stops due to bike problems and brain farts. Both of our chains fell off a few times. My front rack screw finally gave up the ghost and is somewhere along the road. A bungy cord helped out but I am nervous of leaving it like that for any more mountains. Dal is having serious wheel issues. We got it reasonably trued while on the road but will try to get both bikes looked at tomorrow if we are lucky. We both had a few brain farts with me forgetting my gloves at one stop (figured that out pretty quickly) and Dal leaving his rear pannier behind after the wheel truing stop. Oops, it was about 3 km before he realized it and had to go back. While he was heading back and I was at the Kasbah sipping a café, a local gentleman on a bicycle stopped to tell me that he saw a pannier back a ways and wanted to make sure we got it. Talk about nice! So much for everyone thinking we would get robbed and hacked with machetes in Africa! They really are nice here.

It will be nice to have a few days off. We got to Ouarzazate and didn't do a whole lot as I was in desperate need of an afternoon nap. We wandered the market a bit this evening but will check it out more tomorrow. Now for the fun stuff… laundry, sewing, repairs. All the stuff that doesn't show up in the glossy brochures!

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Tidbits for cyclists
66km from Aguime to Ouarzazate. Nice downhills, much lighter traffic. Nothing to complain about. There is a lovely Kashbah before (?) you get to Agerzdane. We stopped for café au lait and snuck a peek inside, it was gorgeous. Riding into Ouarzazate seems to go on forever but it is a very wide, new road. Don't worry, just keep going and you will eventually get to the main areas.