Hello from the Rif Mountains

Bonjour tout les amis!

Well, we're now fully immersed in Moroccon culture - know some very basic Arabic phrases, eat tagines, and converse with locals in the medina (town centre). We're in Chefchaouen (meaning "Look at the Peaks"), which is a beautiful town in the Rif mountains in the north of the country. It's an amazing little town with a fascinating history. The Jews and Muslims were expelled from Granada in 1471, and settled here. Most of the town is painted in blue and white; apparently to reflect its Jewish heritage, and gives it a beautiful feel.

Yesterday we enjoyed wandering the narrow streets, meeting Berbers (native people from this region), watching an old Moroccon man cook our lunch and have a local ask us "What's the craic?" when he realised we were Irish. I think this town sees many tourists in the summer, but it's completely hassle-free. People like to talk to us and a woman came right up to me (Linda) to tell me her name and shake my hand. The old people here must be fit as there are so many steps to climb and the children play easily in the natural playground of narrow streets. Many men wear long coats with pointed hoods called djellabas. They have a distinctly "Lord of the Rings" look about them, but also look very warm!

We're set up in a fully-equipped campsite above the town. It's surprising how many people choose to holiday at this time of the year. There's only one other tent here, but LOTS of camper vans driven by mature European couples. I can think of a few people who should plan their next campervan holiday here! You know who you are! We have all the tips for you now!!! There are quite a few converted vans too.......

It looks like we'll be staying here a ltttle longer than anticipated, but it's a lovely place to be "stuck" in! Our poor "Capall Mor" has been so loyal, hard-working and compliant for the past 1900 miles that she finally decided she needed a rest and a slight upgrade. Over to Mike now for all the technical details.....

Hi,

Well we expected that something would need to be fixed on the bike during the trip but we also thought that we'd get further than our first full day in Africa! Ha!

We pulled into Chefchaouen on the day before yesterday only to notice that the rear tyre was coated in oil.

This looked all too familiar as being symptoms of a wheel bearing failure.

It's a weak point on these bikes.

(Technical bit - The rear bevel has a single point contact ball bearing which takes radial loads only. It is held between the machined gear and the cast housing and the bearing is shimmed accordingly on each individual bike.

If the shim size is wrong, it puts axial loads on the bearing and the bearing eats itself)

Here's the rub; I 'fixed' this bearing and shim back in October when it failed on me then. Obviously, a quality piece of engineering on my part!!! The Ford lads got a detailed account at the time - I blame Carl's vernier caliper!

So the bike is now propped up on some concrete blocks with the rear wheel off and a complicated bungee cord strapping system holding it up.

A new bearing and seal are winging their way to this camp-site and all we've got to do is wait.

Thanks to Dad for help with the shipping.

We'll keep you updated (but without the techie bits, I promise)