Background information
With the fixie to Morocco #7: Land in sight!
by Jonathan Perraudin und Christoph Zuidema
With the fixie to Morocco #2: Surprise in the horror hostel
6.9.2018
Translation: machine translated
After their final university exams, Jonathan and Christoph head out into the world. Not on an all-inclusive holiday to the Canary Islands, but to Morocco pretty much without anything - just with fixies and light luggage. Here they report on their experiences. This time: EPO, equipment failure and beautiful women on inconspicuous rides.
Where's the adventure these days when you can find all the information you need on the internet anyway? Well, for two thrifty students like us, one option would be to take the accommodation with the worst reviews, which, luckily for us, often correlate with the price. Here are a few gems about our hostel in Montpellier
S**thole? Drugs? Beds that smell like burgers? Booked
And then the big disappointment: it's a normal hostel. At least almost, because the owner sleeps under Christoph in a bunk bed. There is also a shared bathroom and kitchen. Any hope of a bit of EPO left over from the Tour de France or other pick-me-ups is nipped in the bud. In general, Montpellier can't only score with positive events. For health reasons, Jonathan has to spend the next day on the train despite taking throat and nasal sprays.
Broken spokes and language barrier
Christoph embarks on the adventure and rides the Montpellier-Narbonne stage without his trusted mechanic. This is an unprecedented risk, as his two broken spokes were patched up in a makeshift manner shortly beforehand. Despite a bump in the wheel and without eight hours of beauty sleep, he takes enough care on the road - probably also because of the joy of being able to make a good impression despite the language barrier and being described as "trop sympa" on the way out.
On roads with more holes than a flour sieve and sandy beach promenades with fierce headwinds, it's not just the equipment that is tested, but also Christoph's muscle power and willpower - at the expense of his generally good mood.
Dali, beautiful women and a little more freewheeling
After his enforced break, Jonathan is fit enough for the next stage. Once in Spain and on the way to Dali's birthplace, we cross a winding forest route with exits that invite us to take a short breather. Unfortunately, each one is occupied by a scantily clad, pretty woman. We decide not to compete with them and postpone our break indefinitely.
In this constant ups and downs of altitude metres, strength and motivation, the little devil on our shoulder was too strong and we decided to continue freewheeling for the most part instead of rigid running. Given our lack of talent and the long distances involved, we can definitely justify this to ourselves. Nevertheless, there will certainly be a few more days fixed - especially for the next article.
What else happened:
