Day 224 28th February
20 miles (Midelt to Zaida) Average speed 8.1 mph Top speed 21 mph
Brekkie of 2 large crepes, one cheese and a jam one, well it is Shrove Tuesday!
Shrove Tuesday brekkie
I went back to the room and tried another shower but the water was not as hot so just packed and left, saying goodbye to helpful Ali. On the way out of town I got bread and biscuits and prepared for the wind.
Midelt
The first couple of miles were downhill and quite enjoyable. I went into the Hotel Tadart and checked out the museum of minerals.
Exhibition at the Mineral Museum
Then off into the wind and some long open roads with a lot of traffic. Next stop was a drainage pipe out of the wind for a drink and respite. I am really regretting mocking the wind yesterday. I was cursing it and telling it to throw whatever at me but that was as I was about to reach the top of a hill. Today it really went for me! After 20 miles I gave up for my own safety. I had been run off the road twice by cars and a van came very close too, but the final straw was when the lorries passed and the back-draft was pulling me into the middle of the road. When trying to overcompensate for this I went off the busy road another two times. I decided to call it a day. So after 2 1/2 hours of cycling either into a headwind or it coming from my left I stopped in Zaida.
Beside the road
The first hotel in a petrol station looked closed but they offered me a room for 150 dirham and when I asked about camping he wasn’t interested. So I tried the Hotel Maison in town and he also wanted 150 dirham, so I found a run-down one in the centre for 60 dirham. The owner is really nice and can’t do enough for me. Although there are no showers she gave me a towel to use at the hammam across the road. I had a pot of tea and brochette before a walk round town and bought new insoles from a tat stall. Then had my hammam where a very helpful punter offered to wash me down with the scrubbing mitt he’d just used himself. I declined the offer and listened to the moans of the man that accepted! I decided not to have a haircut as I’m heading into the mountains.
View from hotel
Then after a look at the map to decide the route, which will be determined by the wind tomorrow, I went for fish cooked on a street vendor’s stall. It came with salad and hot sauce and was delicious, so I had two and the owner was very accommodating and gave me a milk crate to sit on. Then I found a cafe with wifi to listen to the O’s lose to Stevenage 4-1. We are doomed. In bed by 9.30
Hotel ? 60 dirham