Belgian rider lost for 2 days on MS7
 

We heard of a Belgian rider missing over the weekend on the Foum Zguid - Mhamid piste (MS7) when he fell and his companions didn't notice. Perhaps a big bike that couldn't be picked up the tiring dunelettes near Mhamid? Same place that bloke from the Bike magazine article had his pee-drinking drama a year or two back
Big helicopter and nomad searches but he turned up Sunday, safe and sound.

Link

Funny enough I was just planning that part of my trip last night!

You never know what is going to happen, but I, at least, am a complete expert at picking up my bike. It has spent a lot of its time in a horizontal state and I have got the total hang of getting it back to vertical through countless practice sessions!

Thanks for the book Chris, its great to have and give the confidence to get to some of the more lonely places in Maroc. Any tips , apart from writing it out backwards for following your routes in the opposite direction is is written in.

I don't like the thought of just trying to read the book backwards, it could be a recipe for confusion, especially when hot an bothered!

cheers

Be interesting to know more about what actually happened on this, to me it seems odd that travelling companions wouldn't notice a fall.

I did MS7 solo only a month ago on a very hot windy day (in a 4x4) and didn't feel the route was that risky. I did scare myself when I deviated from the piste to cut out the rocky section but cutting a corner across Lac Iriki. Towards the Mhamid end I found myself very quickly surrounded by dunes in a small sand storm. A stupid mistake that happened quickly and did scare me a little. Key thing here was I took a risk and went off my planned route, solo. I could have easily got stuck out of sight of others with nobody knowing where I was

This is something that keeps coming to me as a most important fact. I like to ride solo, mainly so I can go where I want to go. There are a number of risks to this, as anyone could tell you.

The important thing is to stay on the main pistes in remote areas, only leave a trail if you know exaclty where you are and where you are going and keep your position updated, in your head.

Also, perhaps from this event, perhaps your mates will forget about you so know where you are anyway...!

I always have a plan for those what if possibilities. I leave a google earth route plan with someone at home a text as I leave and arrive at my start and end point. It also easier in a a 4x4 to carry more supplies, I carried about 50litres of water this year, ott for my route which was mostly easy pistes with a town at either end

I think that's something you learn the hard way when travelling in a group off road. But when you are concentrating hard on trying to get through and stay upright, everything and everyone else falls by the wayside. Odd that he disappeared for so long though.

This is true. Olaf on a satnav can be a real help + mobile. Plus not biting off more than you can chew and if doing so on a bike, not going alone. And if you do all that anyway, accepting the consequences!

Ch

Sounds like the sort of event if the fallen rider had a Spot tracker, or similar, then his friends could have worked out where they were, assuming that they could get a wifi / internet connection through at laptop / tablet / phone they had, or could phone someone who did have access.

We met the bloke today at the Zizmo in Nekob with his mate. Turns out the press was all made up or exaggerated, perhaps by MK police to make them look good?

He told me he got stuck in the dunes 30km from Foum Zguid while following his mate and bike and car tracks (tho I can't think of any substantial dunes that close to FZ). Stayed with his bike 2 nights until the jeep his mate hired found him on Sunday and a helicopter lifted him out. I didn't get the full story but Belgians in my group said the 2 were a bit angry about the misleading coverage.

He's riding a very lightly loaded HPN Paralever or similar. Not the most cumbersome machine but when it's stuck behind a dune what can you do?

Ch

As a 4x4 driver it difficult some time to compare travel with bikers as I don't have any experience on a bike. I've been in Morocco with groups and solo. In a group we had radio comms between vehicles and always keep an eye to those behind and slow down/stop if they fall behind. I can appreciate that a bike is smaller to keep an eye on and in difficult section, focusing on your own riding could mean you miss a friend falling or dropping behind.

Likewise I don't recall any dunes near MS7 that close to FZ, based on your info he was west of Lac Iriki but I didn't see dunes until KM70 ish and the east end of Lac Iriki.

There's a small dune field at 29N 51'10" 6W 33'20" at the west end of Lac Iriki about 40km SW of FZ. We've camped there a few times.
Last month, one of our group went out in the night to answer the call of nature and got completely disorientated.
We were there in Sept 2011 when a huge storm rolled over Jebel Bani and howling wind and swirling wet sand trapped us in our cars for a couple of hours. Eventually the storm passed and we went to bed. In the morning the lake had flooded an we were now on an island. It took us two days to get to Tagounite which was a foot under water. Mhamid was cut off for days.

Spot trackers and satellite phones are great but you still need to have someone local who can read coordinates, has a gps and is going to come and look for you.

If you get lost in the Chegaga, just keep heading north towards Jebel Bani, you'll hit one of the main pistes eventually.

Happy trails,

Peter

That was exactly my thought. The only dunes you can't avoid are at the Mhamid end.

Ch

Keep heading N and NE across the rocky plain and you'll pick up the piste that leads to to the gap in Jebel Bani at 30N03'00" 5W44'30" then swing ESE to Tagounite. We went this way when Mhamid was cut off in 2011.

Peter