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Morocco 2022, building up to it

Pedro

By Pedro
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Pedro

Pedro

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Starting a ride report weeks in advance the actual thing takes place is not my style at all, I hate all the hype. However, this is more of a declaration of intentions so that I have no excuse to cower out at the last moment quoting some excuse.

I have been making tiny preparations over the last few months, just to get myself in the mood. Stuff like renewing my passport, buying a phone that can manage using Moroccan data while keeping my Portuguese number active for (pretending to) work, buying a fender extender to protect the rear shock from rocks, buying a half tinted visor because the dark one is deadly at night and days get shorter in October, buying tires two months in advance, etc ... all that seems like over preparation but in fact was just me trying feel a little more in control by solving stuff when in fact I'm honestly plain scared about what I'm going to face riding out of that boat in Tangier. I've gone to the ridicule of freezing a couple of things at home, so that I have something nice and warm ready for when I return in the dark.

My plan is to visit some familiar places and mix that with a bit of adventure, maybe see new places maybe a little more off the beaten path. Mountain passes are what I look forward the most regarding motorcycling, more so when they're heading to the wide open desert heat and herds of camels, in this case it's the easy familiar places that really amp up my anxiety, places where I proposed marriage and was happy, and where my heart broke and I contemplated darkness. Not sure if it's the happy places or the sad one that will challenge me. I'll be doing it alone at my own pace because that's how I deal with stuff, and because in a weird way I can't help but scratch wounds, you know it'll hurt but can't stop yourself from doing it.

Today I booked a ferry ticket for the 29th September, a few things were starting to make me doubt going and finding an easy reasonable excuse for staying home working instead, so I bought the ticket and posted this so I'll be too embarrassed to not go at the last moment :classic_laugh:

All that's left now is give the bike a small service, like an oil change and air filter change, and put the new tires on, and hopefully I'll be good to go. I say hopefully because I'm not really up for fixing anything on it, it's never needed anything so here's to that!

My mum's 70th birthday is on the 27th, so on the 28th I'll ride to my place, pack everything nice and tidy and get in the mindset, have a nice sleep and on the 29th set off to catch a ferry that's leaving at an unreasonable 15:00 from Tarifa, since it's an adventure I'll probably miss that boat and call an hour earlier to change the ticket to one at 19:00 :classic_laugh:

 

All in all, it'll be a grand time filled with extreme emotions, a perfectly reliable bike, twisty mountain passes shared with overloaded trucks, smells of spices wafting through street markets, and dusty boots.

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XTreme

XTreme

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, Pedro said:

Starting a ride report weeks in advance the actual thing takes place is not my style at all, I hate all the hype. However, this is more of a declaration of intentions so that I have no excuse to cower out at the last moment quoting some excuse.

I have been making tiny preparations over the last few months, just to get myself in the mood. Stuff like renewing my passport, buying a phone that can manage using Moroccan data while keeping my Portuguese number active for (pretending to) work, buying a fender extender to protect the rear shock from rocks, buying a half tinted visor because the dark one is deadly at night and days get shorter in October, buying tires two months in advance, etc ... all that seems like over preparation but in fact was just me trying feel a little more in control by solving stuff when in fact I'm honestly plain scared about what I'm going to face riding out of that boat in Tangier. I've gone to the ridicule of freezing a couple of things at home, so that I have something nice and warm ready for when I return in the dark.

My plan is to visit some familiar places and mix that with a bit of adventure, maybe see new places maybe a little more off the beaten path. Mountain passes are what I look forward the most regarding motorcycling, more so when they're heading to the wide open desert heat and herds of camels, in this case it's the easy familiar places that really amp up my anxiety, places where I proposed marriage and was happy, and where my heart broke and I contemplated darkness. Not sure if it's the happy places or the sad one that will challenge me. I'll be doing it alone at my own pace because that's how I deal with stuff, and because in a weird way I can't help but scratch wounds, you know it'll hurt but can't stop yourself from doing it.

Today I booked a ferry ticket for the 29th September, a few things were starting to make me doubt going and finding an easy reasonable excuse for staying home working instead, so I bought the ticket and posted this so I'll be too embarrassed to not go at the last moment :classic_laugh:

All that's left now is give the bike a small service, like an oil change and air filter change, and put the new tires on, and hopefully I'll be good to go. I say hopefully because I'm not really up for fixing anything on it, it's never needed anything so here's to that!

My mum's 70th birthday is on the 27th, so on the 28th I'll ride to my place, pack everything nice and tidy and get in the mindset, have a nice sleep and on the 29th set off to catch a ferry that's leaving at an unreasonable 15:00 from Tarifa, since it's an adventure I'll probably miss that boat and call an hour earlier to change the ticket to one at 19:00 :classic_laugh:

 

All in all, it'll be a grand time filled with extreme emotions, a perfectly reliable bike, twisty mountain passes shared with overloaded trucks, smells of spices wafting through street markets, and dusty boots.

Sounds great Pedro!

The only thing I'd say (given recent events) is I hope you don't encounter any bike issues when you're over there!

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Slowlycatchymonkey

Slowlycatchymonkey

Posted
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I love a bit of hype, all helps to build anticipation and I like reading the prep people do.

Look forward to reading and seeing it all.

Sounds like it might be bitter sweet.

I dunno if you are really scratching wounds or just doing something that feels like it needs to be done?

I met a guy at Burgh Island once who went every year on his own. It was the hotel he and his wife went to and when she died he continued to go. He looked very sad so I asked him why he returned to a place that made him unhappy, he said he felt like he was connected to her there and even though it made him sad it was lovely to feel like she was there. I hope you get some of that too 💐

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boboneleg

boboneleg

Posted
Posted

Nice one Pedro, I hope you deal with your emotions ok .  It could be a roller coaster ride one way or another .

I'm looking forward to some photos of the mighty GS in exotic locations already   

 

popcorn-blob.gif.26343f4a057ddaf730188b15b0f70446.gif

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Pedro

Pedro

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On 12/09/2022 at 19:05, Slowlycatchymonkey said:

he said he felt like he was connected to her there and even though it made him sad it was lovely to feel like she was there. I hope you get some of that too 💐

Thank you, that’s very kind.

 

On 12/09/2022 at 19:35, boboneleg said:

I'm looking forward to some photos of the mighty GS in exotic locations already

I ‘ll see what I can do Bob :classic_cool:

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Six30

Six30

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On 14/09/2022 at 23:35, XTreme said:

I don't think you've missed anything Michelle......well apart from @Marcel doing some male bonding with @Buckster!

gay men GIF

you fucking idiot ,  she meant why did you laugh at her post.

 

@Pedro you have a great trip, hope you remember happy times and not much of the sadness ,

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XTreme

XTreme

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, Pedro said:

It's with profound disappointment I'm not going, all this shit and hype and it's not happening.

I'm now going to sulk for a while

What's happened Pedro?

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XTreme

XTreme

Posted
Posted
5 minutes ago, Slowlycatchymonkey said:

your BMW didn’t develop brake problems and an oil leak did it?

That was my first thought as well. Though I think Pedro's model doesn't have anything like that reported!

I could only find fork tubes breaking, water pump, gearbox, final drive, fuel pump. kickstand switch, and kill switch!

the grudge horror GIF

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busabeast

busabeast

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Posted

I don't get the fear thing as there's no point in fearing the unknown you just have to deal with whatever comes your way, family commitments are another thing entirely but you have to ask yourself if not now, when? In my book there's no time like the present as tomorrow may never come. 

(Just ask some of these doddery old cunts on here..... their days are truly numbered some id say are close to double digits left)

Not having a go at you im just wondering about your perspectives

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  • 1 month later...
Pedro

Pedro

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Posted

And, this is back on!

Tomorrow I’ll be fitting tires on and having the oil changed on the bike. Then I plan to be in Morocco at the end of next week!

It’ll be a couple of unbearably difficult days when I get there, I’m sure, but if the weather helps, and I have booked good weather, it’s going to be a cool and cold ride! With monkeys!!

I had a couple of months of smooth sailing at work ahead of me, and started to get momentum going for Morocco, but as soon as I called my mechanic today for tomorrow’s works on the GS my main supplier announced a surprise price change. This will create a lot of chaos and orders lists and long fruitless conversations, that I plan to be able to handle tomorrow and monday, then pretending that I have a weak cell signal for at least two weeks :classic_laugh:

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