Trial beyond the known. We embark on the second edition of an exciting trial motorcycle adventure in Morocco, discovering exciting places in the Atlas on a trial bike and with the great objective of exceeding 4,000 meters of altitude.
The expedition has four riders, one of them Chema Quer, from the Trialworld team, at the controls of a
2017 TRS One Raga Racing 300
.
Stage 1: T1: Zaouia-Zaouia, Rulo via Tisselmit, 52 kms
Curfew at 7 a.m. to have breakfast, get the bikes down and pack the backpacks. We got underway at 10am. The goal of the day was 51 km of route to return again Zaoiua. To deal with this, we calculated 6 litres of petrol per bike and rider.
The first 20 km of the route to Tisselmit give us a taste of the rough terrain of the Atlas area. Very dry terrain and loose stones, which force you to maintain a maximum level of attention at all times. On the expedition the 4 adventurers have a radio and 2 GPS with all the tracks loaded with which the first and last pilot of the group navigate.
As the kilometres go by, the bikes show a higher consumption than expected. Especially the GG ones that don’t have the carburetion adjusted for so much height. After 30 kilometers of the route we realized that with those consumptions we did not have enough fuel to finish the stage. We decided to shorten the route, passing through Taglia. A village without a road that can only be reached by walking along very trial-style donkey trails that are located on the edge of a precipices of more than 30 meters high until the descent of the river.
On arrival in Taglia we stop on the way for lunch. Sausage, nuts and a coke that they sell us for 70 cents. We drank that coke knowing how much effort it would take to stock up in that town. After lunch we head to the hostel with just enough gas.
On arrival we decided to change the chewing gum to reduce consumption and improve the behaviour of the GG. we also repaired the fork seal on the 4RT. The seal on the brake side was damaged and there was a danger of oil getting into the disc. By the way, we wash, grease and clean the air filter of each of the bikes. It’s amazing how they get in a day.
With all the bikes ready, we took the well-deserved rest. Shower, dinner, card game and tomorrow more! A 52 km route to Taban awaits us.
Stage 2: Route to Taban
We left Zaouia at 8:30 am. Route target 52 km. We start by climbing a very trial-style wet with stones of all sizes that allow us to adapt the level of difficulty to enjoy it to the fullest. 12 km of wet that allow us to warm up for what is to come.
Before the scheduled service at 20km, one of the bikes has a gearbox problem. The lever moves but the gears do not engage. The bike is in 5 and we think it’s the gear selector. Luckily, in the van that does the assistance, we took a spare motorcycle and decided to take it. We put in the large tank, and swapped the Dell Orto carburetor for the Keihin to keep the carburetion high.
It’s getting late and we take advantage of the stop to eat a sandwich in a hurry. We had a lot of kilometres ahead of us and we had lost a lot of time with the bike change.
We continued with a track that on paper seemed simple but that in the task was hard because the terrain was very demanding, it forced us to rectify and help the bike in every stone.
During the climb we reached a point where we challenged each other to see who was the first to reach the top! I made a tremendous sting, putting the bike in front of the other riders and shortening up the slope without taking the Z’s marked by the GPS.
We take advantage of the summit to rest and unify the group and set off for Taban. To get there, quite a few km of loose stone descent awaited us. We arrive at an incredible plain that in winter remains with snow and water. The views are incredible.
On arrival at the hostel we are greeted with Moroccan tea and a pastry to regain strength. After a break, we took the opportunity to clean filters and grease the bikes.
