Pedro

So, Saul fitting muffs to his bike made me remember this joke: John had been told by his friends that Helen, his crush was not as innocent as he thought and had been around the block a few times. He couldn’t say no to when she invited him in after driving her home from the office party, and things started getting a little frisky. Having had a few drinks John was more confident than normal and slipped his hand under her skirt. And Helen said: you can go farther than that John! So he slipped his hand under he panties. And Helen said: you can go further than that John! So he slowly slipped a finger in, not believing his luck while doing it. And Helen said: You can go further than that, I want two! John was a little surprised but went ahead and slipped the second finger in! And Helen said: You can go further than that, John! By now John was getting a little annoyed at her pushiness but slipped a third finger in! And Helen said: You can go further than that, John! And John, loosing his mind did something that he never even dreamed about and slipped his hand in!!! He was expecting her to complain in pain! And Helen said: You can go further than that, John! John by now was feeling both anxious and frankly worried about Helen, but he slipped the second hand in! Helen finally moaned, and asked: Oh John, try and clap your hands! John said: I can’t! And Helen said: I know, it’s really tight isn’t it?

Lazily rode on the open roads to Merzouga today, mostly at 80 or 100kmh respecting the speed limits. Average fuel consumption went from yesterday’s 4,2 or 4,3 to 4,1lt/100km Also played around a little on some pistes, and some off piste. I learned offpiste is an amazing way to get lost, and also I can’t manage this bike on soft sand. So I will respect the bike and not try something a bit silly I had planned. Tomorrow will ride around just a little bit, and take the afternoon to rest, will sleep here again.

Shitty connection today, not going to upload many pictures. I sent some to Sofia but I think I can only get proper signal from the of the dune. Also the brits here are pretty disappointed that there’s no tv room to watch their footie

Looks like me 15 years ago!

That was a good one! As is the one with their parent’s sidecar.

Your daughters look like a monkey?

You can always make BOEOY (Bike Of End Of Year), with any picture any member has taken throughout the year, including December.

Well, you look where you want to end up and pick the roads that look the most adventurous on the map. If in an unknown area, which this is not, I just set a destination and follow the tiny twisty roads. In the case of today I already knew the areas and what I was going to encounter more or less. I was surprised to find a substantial amount of "let's call it adventurous" road has been sanitized into a wide tarmac section, and other parts that I expected some better quality tarmac now have no tarmac whatsoever, this made the ride feel almost like a novelty in roads I had already ridden. Google maps pretty much tells me what I want in Portugal, you look and it's easy to see which roads to take, tiny and twisty. For Morocco it's the same but you can't be sure of road quality from google maps. For Morocco, you get a Michelin 742 and it's the best guide for finding out the best roads, the ones marked with green surroundings and plenty of lookout symbols are always great, and the ones market "dangerous" are even better. Top tip for Morocco: bringing your Michelin map, either carry it in a closed pocket in your jacket and never show it, or carry two (one on top of your luggage, one in the bottom). They are now confiscating these maps on customs as they identify the Ocidental Sahara as a country and Morocco does not like that one bit. You might be able to them buy those same maps on shops outside the customs but that a different matter As a note, I would not want to ride the roads I did yesterday and today in a purely road bike with road tires and small wheels. Sure you can do any road in anything, but it's too easy to damage a more delicate tire on these roads, and the suspension and riding position, etc etc. For those bikes, you can find nice scenic roads too, but in my opinion you will not be seeing the cool stuff in the mountains. The locals will ride everything in a chinese 125, but they are going slowly, not carrying much luggage, and not doing big distances. In the coastal areas and south of the Atlas you can see cool stuff on any bike and sticking to nice enough tarmac, though.

Reminds me of a joke, I'll put it in the adequate thread as it's a little dirty.

Well, I have plenty of pictures, and look forward to post a proper ride report once home.

I treat my bike like a touring bike, which is what it is. Nothing I rode today is not a road if you look at a map, the parts with the biggest drops in those pictures are a regional road too, which the step down from a National

It’s that, floods that wash you away, and mud slides that block roads. I wouldn’t get out of tarmac if it rains. Plus the GS and mud simply doesn’t sound like a good idea.

You rode around the UK and through spain at least a couple of times. Your pictures show bikes in supermarkets, emergency exits for brake faillure, motels, etc Go for a ride, get off the main roads, and take pictures, TOTY is also in December…

Because, you want to be to wear gloves, but a too loose muff is also not good!

Where I rode today would normally be snowed in by now, and I wouldn’t have dared. Nor would I with rain, that’s serious country there to mess up with the weather.

Are they tight? The muffs?

I rather focus on the riding and spending time on the saddle. Today was great, but some moments completely fuck me up.

Tomorrow, I’ll see camels and big dunes! Indeed, but here temperatures drop about 10°c once the sun starts to set, I’ve never experienced such quick changes in temperatures. Plus riding around quite comfy, stopping and realizing it’s actually warm but then a wind gust blows by and it feels freezing. It’s very odd weather, but I have been very lucky indeed as I am not prepared for proper cold.

With no handguards inside won’t they press against the levers with the wind force?

That’s engine coolant temperature, so 85ºC. woke up far away near mountains to 5 or 6°c, rode off at about 10, then it varied between 12 and 15 for most of the day, by mid-afternoon it got to 18 or 20 and stayed like that untill sunset. Minimum over last night was 2C Yesterday morning it was 7C in Ifrane, and 10 for quite some time. It’s chilly, so not really swimming pool season up here yet. I have been lucky with plenty of sunshine as the wind feels proper cold, had it been overcast I’d freeze.

Some nice offroad roads today, spent all day riding with just a stop for some tea. It’s a shame the days are so short now. Now just had a very surreal dinner in which a Moroccan tried to be fancy and ended up putting banana slices inside crème brûlée Hope I’ll pass out in bed and sleep well tonight.

It’ll give @Slowlycatchymonkeytime to maybe even post a ride report with pictures not just of sex motels

We talked about this before, if each member can submit whatever picture they think is their best from the year then everyone gets to enter instead of just the 11 winners which sometimes are even less than 11.

Maybe they had to get the big van to deliver it!

Tried my best to look stylish but it’s hard to do after having to prop up my phone on some rocks. All I thought was that morrocan must be laughing himself silly in the distance looking at me