I’ve not long returned from my recent adventure to Morocco and Spain, which was amazing to say the least. In Morocco I joined the Tuareg Rally (www.tuareg-rallye.com) thanks to the invitation from Holland Rally support team Memo Tours (www.memotours.nl). In Spain I rode with Redtread Tours (http://www.redtread.com), but more about this later.
It was back in January while standing on a hill next to the Dakar course in Portugal – to capture a good angle of the coming riders – where I met Bennie, the owner of Memo Tours, and in-between shots we got to know each well enough to talk further about me joining him and 40 or so other Dutch crew on the Tuareg Rally.
Two months later Bennie picked me up in his 4WD Ute from Paris towing one of the biggest trailers I’ve ever seen. 16 bikes in total it held, and with another two in the back of the Ute we motored south for 30 hours to the port of Almeria in Southern Spain, and yes, I was very happy to peal my butt off the seat on arrival and unload the bikes in preparation for my first off-road ride in Europe, and my first since leaving Australia in Nov 2006.

Props: Thanks to Mick and Ben from E-MotionDesign for getting my website back on track, great job fella’s, much appreciated!!

My Moroccan mate I met in the middle of somewhere on the trails, and he was on a bloody pushbike!

Riding out of Missor on day two

For those wanting to experience the feeling of what it would be like to ride Dakar, without the long liaisons, the Tuareg is one of the best rally’s to enter, and at a fraction of the cost. It’s well organised, friendly, and has challenging special timed stages, which are taken very seriously by the front runners, but for those – like most of the field – that want to enjoy stopping along the way to take in a beautiful landscape or taker a breather, the allocated time set to make each stage allows for this, making it a stress-free adventure-type ride for those wanting to treat it that way.

In Morocco the dirt trails just keep on flowing like this one through a dry, barren valley

I’m about to knock out 3-4000 words about the Tuareg Rally for Trail Bike Adventure magazine, which will offer a good insight into what it takes to ride it, the terrain ridden, adventure’s had, and how you can ride it in 2008 if you’re up for it. (If you are keen to join next years Tuareg Rally and don’t read TBAM pop me an email and I’ll fill you in on the best way to go about it, including support and all).

A usual night hanging out with the crew from Memo Tours...Good beer, food, company and many laughs.

Redtread Off-Road Tour in Spain

I made it back to Spain after riding the Tuareg in one piece…Just! At one stage I thought I’d never make it out of the dunes, but you’ll read more about that in a coming issue of TBAM. After not riding a bike previously for eight months you’d think I would have had enough after eight days, but no way man, five days later I was on the mountain trails in southern Spain riding in some of the weirdest weather conditions I’ve ever experienced – sun, rain, hail and snow in three days, but I loved it!

Ian from Redtread sitting aboard his new ride on top of one of many beautiful mountains in southern Spain

Before leaving Oz I’d lined up a ride with the UK off-road riding company called Redtread (http://www.redtread.com), who base themselves in the beautiful village of Competa, three hours west of Almeria in the hills 40-mintues from the Mediterranean Sea. In all my years of riding different tours I’ve never experienced staying in a set-up like Redtread offers. Their mansion overlooking a valley dotted with Spanish homes takes your breath away, and the accommodation is first class, and the trails….Totally awesome!!! I’ll also be writing a feature article giving a full description of what Redtread offer and an account of my experience with them in a coming issue of TBAM.

Ian climbing higher into the Spanish hills

For those who can’t wait see below for some more Redtread images, or check out their website by clicking the link above to see for yourself. There’s some fantastic riding to be had in Southern Spain, and Morocco, which is a short ferry ride across the Mediterranean, so keep it in mind when planning your next European holiday.

I would like to give a big thanks to Ian and Sal at Redtread, Bennie and Monique at Memo Tours, and the Tuareg Rally team for making my three week off-road journey possible, and one that I won’t forget in a hurry.

I would also like to thank Alpinestars Europe (www.alpinestars.com) for supplying me with my riding gear as with out it my riding adventure’s would not have been possible. Great gear it is too!!! Cheers Goba.

More photos from Morocco...Spain below....

Bennie backs in his monster sized trailer into our ferry that took us to Morocco

It wasn’t all dry and brown as this photo shows

Nick from Touratech, UK, making his way through the dust aboard his new KTM 525

Our home away from home in the Sahara

Moroccan kids love you stopping for a chat, but sometimes the little buggers throw stones

Another fun flowing section of trail through the mountains

Big Memo Bennie, right, and support offsider Alex spotting one of their riders coming in for fuel

The dunes were massive compared to any I’d ridden in Oz

Kicking back Moroccan style at our Hotel stop in Missor

Fancy a Camel ride anyone? I gave it a go during our stopover in Mersouga, gave me a sore arse though!!

Donkey or moto?? Give me the moto anyday…

More Redtread/Spain photos...

The day I arrived at Redtread I was greeted by a new fleet of Honda CRFX’s, but I was one week too early to run them in…Doh!

UK Dakar legend Mick Extance joined the tour to help Ian give riding tips and advice to the novice riders. Tuition is an option on any tour of course….

Mick takes it easy down a rocky trail, about the slowest he went all weekend…The lad is fast!

What were these fisherman doing fishing in a road river crossing for anyway huh? They were cool, but a little surprised to see us ride through.

Did I mention the hills were awesome??

Check out the snow on the mountains behind…Southern Spain in April…Global warming?