Essaouira

June 3, 2026

Finished Well

The 800km journey from the ferry that carried me across the Strait of Gibraltar less than a month ago to this beach resort town ended in a 90km rip in a steady tail wind.

It was a good moment rejoining my wife, Sharon in a place we both know well.  It was also a good opportunity to meet up with old friends that were visiting Morocco from  Texas.

Dan Driscoll and Pam Wright are well known in the world of long distance cycling.   Around the world, we call this style Randonneuring. It’s a French word which includes events like Paris-Brest-Paris (PBP), and many similar 1200km events that have adopted the French rules.  The first was PBP which has been running for over 100 years.

This 1200km event must be completed in 90 hours or less which makes it much more demanding than the 800km I just completed in about three weeks. 

I have crossed paths with Dan and Pam at these events in years past.  Dan has done nearly 40 so far in his career.  Pam has done several as well.  Dan runs the Lone Star Randonneurs in the Dallas area and is well known in the sport.

So how is it that we get to rub elbows with such star power?   Dan, Pam, Sharon, and others have been Randonneuring together for decades.  Dan is Sharon’s mentor in this sport.

We took a bus to Marrakech to meet them at the airport and booked a riad in Marrakech near where Dan and Pam were staying.

Marrakech is a tourist town.  There are lots of things to do.  We filled a few days with guided tours on bicycle, tuk tuk, and hiking

We got to retell war stories. Stumble our way through language barriers.  These were good moments together. 

But in June, Marrakech gets to 40C (100F) just about every day.  The others were used to the high temperatures of Dallas.  I wanted to get back to the Atlantic coast where it was much cooler. 22C (72 F).

Now I am faced with a decision.  In the cool coastal climate, I could continue cycling.  It would make sense to head north and retrace my path back to Europe.  The only issue is that great tail wind that got me here, would be a headwind on the way back.