Morocco July 2010
 

This is the video

After 5 years with this idea around my thoughts, I decided to detail a plan. My friend Marco decided on the last minute not to come along on the grounds of risk, so I had to confront the plan of reaching the dessert from Marrakech on my own. My only motorcycle experience reduced to a Vespa 75 pk I rode for 1 year some 20 years ago...

Thanks to Tim Cullis and Eric web pages, I could get sufficient info of what I needed:
- 250cc motorcycle (rented in Marrakesh at m2r.ma) with off road tyres
- gps
- gps waypoints and routes
- fuel station locations
- carry of extra fuel
- sleeping bag and tent
- carry of 8-10 liters of water
- mobile phone with extra batteries
- Gandini books and Michelin map
- motorcycle wear: hard boots, pants, gloves, and jacket all with specific protection, helmet
- good physical training, as you have to lift the motorcycle when you fall (in my case I did only 7 times with no further consequences)

There's one more item you shall carry with you: being lucky (not a joke!). Driving piste and dessert sand for 150 km during 2 days in parallel to Algeria border, with no mobile coverage, on one's own, spotting a car only once that in return didn't see me, is risky for obvious reasons. In this regard, it might be wiser going with somebody else.

For example, once after falling the bike would not start for 20 mins - those were the longest in my life !!

The experience is of course unforgettable and it's something you will carry with you all the time

just keep the idea in your head, it will come at the right time