Desert Riding in the Algerian Sahara
by Dan Ward ~ September 2007
Riding
a bike in the desert is almost the most fun a person
can have, so when I saw an advert in TBM for a
three week trip to the Algerian Sahara, I jumped
at the chance. The trip offered a rare opportunity
to travel with legendary desert rider Chris Scott,
author of ‘Adventure
Motorcycle Handbook’ and ‘Sahara Overland’.
Chris is a well known figure in the Sahara (which
became clear when he was mobbed by a group of adoring
fans during the trip, at a roadside café in
Arak). He isn’t
a professional tour operator, but he does occasionally
take groups out into the desert to help fund his
own adventures. Chris is a very easy going character
who doesn’t take himself or anything else
too seriously.
The route chosen by Chris took
us in a 2600km anticlockwise 
loop,
heading west from a pretty oasis town of Djanet
in the south of Algeria, and stopping halfway at
Tamanrasset to visit the Assekrem (a hermitage
in the Hoggar mountains), before looping back east
to Djanet (click map, right).
Chris’s
unique experience and knowledge enabled us to explore
remote and normally inaccessible regions, riding
largely off-piste in the most beautiful desert
I have ever seen. Apart
from Djanet and Tamanrasset we spent all of our
nights camping out in the desert under the stars.
Support
During the trip, Chris drove the MAN support lorry
which carried all our food, water and fuel, and
occasionally, the odd broken bike. Experienced
desert rider Jon Escombe was the pace bike rider,
and, since it has been obligatory in Algeria to
have a local escort after the tourist kidnappings
there in 2003, we were also accompanied by two
entertaining local guides in a 4WD Toyota Land
Cruiser.
Riders and Bikes
The seven riders on the trip were a very experienced
group, most having previously ridden enduros or
desert rallies, and all had travelled a fair bit.
Oddly enough, out of seven riders – five were TRF members: Mike (who is
now TBM’s ‘Mud Life Crisis’ columnist),
Nick and Gerald from Cornwall, and Dave and myself
from Surrey. Sean from Surrey and Ken from Scotland
completed the group.
We each rode our own bikes on
this trip. Chris drove the bikes to Djanet in the
MAN and we flew out to meet them. There
were two KTM 450s, one Beta 525, one Dominator
and almost the complete range of Honda XRs (250,
400, 600 and a 650L with 40l
tank!).
Preparation
I had decided to splash out on a KTM 450EXC for
this trip, as the horrors of kick-starting my recalcitrant
XR250R in the desert didn’t appeal. Chris
Hockey, aka Dr
Shox,
did a great job of lowering the KTM (as I’m
just 5’6”) and set it up for my weight
and the type of riding I do. (Chris sorted
out my shocks and forks by POST!).
I fitted a beautiful Scott steering
damper to calm the legendary KTM speed wobble,
and this also had the beneficial side-effect of
raising the bars to a much better position. I also
fitted Michelin Desert tyres, a KTM cooling fan
(essential) and a 13l Clarke fuel tank.
Bike Performance
The KTM turned out to be a great choice for the
desert - its light weight, electric start, fantastic
suspension and responsive ‘point and squirt’ power characteristics
made riding a joy. The steering damper took the big impacts,
and kept the bike on line with much less effort on my part,
greatly reducing fatigue. The combination of Excel rims,
heavy duty spokes and stiff Desert tyres meant that I didn’t
have to worry too much about punctures or dented
rims when riding at speed over the more rugged
terrain, although the Deserts might sometimes have
been a little too stiff for the light bike to gain
enough traction in the really soft sand.
The KTM ran well on the local
Algerian fuel (89 octane), and the need for bike
maintenance was minimal. A daily check of oil and
water, chain tension, nuts and bolts and spoke
tension, plus a single air filter skin change and
engine oil change was all that was needed. The
chain didn’t
need any adjustment. The bike didn’t use
any oil, and the water needed topping up only once
when the radiator boiled over (after the cooling
fan became accidentally disconnected during a slight
tumble.) Odd spokes and the one or two nuts which
I had missed with the Loctite came loose due to
the heavy pounding the bike took.
Dave’s XR400 probably had
the best size, power and handling characteristics
for this type of ride, but all bikes performed
well, although Mike’s XR250 was nailed
the whole way as his KTM 525EXC hadn’t been
ready in time for the trip. Gerald’s four
year old KTM 450EXC was the only bike to have any
mechanical problems, although this might have been
due to lack of cooling fan. The bike overheated
and ran completely dry, resulting in its ultimate
demise, and the end of the trip for Gerald at Tamanrasset.
Routine
During the trip, the days and nights quickly settled
into a routine. Each morning, we were woken in
our tents by the distant burble of the volcano
kettle, signalling the imminent possibility of
hot tea and breakfast. I
would then emerge from my layers of sleeping bag,
bag liner, thermal clothing, rustling emergency
space blanket and bike jacket. Yes, the nights
were a bit cold!
After breakfast, we would pack
up and ride out with Jon, meeting up with Chris
and the truck at agreed waypoints for lunch and
the evening camp. In the evening, Chris cooked
the dinner while we rested and munched on snacks.
After dinner, we would sit around the camp fire
to chat and watch the stars.
Catering for nine people is a
challenge in the desert. There are no shops, no
refrigeration and no water, but oddly enough, Chris’ claim
that the desert is a sterile environment is perfectly
true. UHT milk kept very well decanted into a plastic
bottle on the lorry, as did a 3kg block of cheddar.
Baguettes also kept well in a black bin liner.
Chris baked fresh bread for us a couple of times
which was lovely (both the act and the bread),
and one evening our guides went off into the desert
and came back with warm camel milk – though,
sadly, the taste fell somewhat short of my romantic
expectations.
Riding
I found the trick on this trip (as any other) was
to relax and try to ride with maximum technique
and minimum effort. You can’t ride flat out for three weeks without becoming
exhausted. The remoteness of the region and lack of possibility
of any medical intervention in the event of accident means
extra care is needed at all times. The riding requires
constant vigilance, constantly re-checking the foreground
looking for ridges, boulders and ditches, and looking well
ahead for larger obstructions like oueds or dunes which
may need to be skirted, and in which the unwary can be
separated from the group. The weird optical effects of
the desert also mean it’s difficult to judge
distances.
The bikes mostly travelled independently
of the truck, so were able to travel off piste,
which provided some great technical riding over
a huge variety of terrain. There are fast, exhilarating
sand plains, sometimes with unexpected flood channels
and ditches which are very difficult to see. There
are island outcrops of basalt and exfoliated granite
in golden white sand seas, and beautiful sandstone
formations and arches reminiscent of the Utah Arches
national park. (Mike couldn’t
resist exploring one). In between the larger
outcrops and formations there are valleys of soft
sandy ruts. Often there are enormous boulder fields
or lava fields where the outcrops have broken down
over thousands of years and become spread out in
a carpet over the desert floor. The black lava
fields are sometimes marked by white, narrow, twisty
camel trails, formed over centuries by each passing
camel shuffling its feet in the footsteps of the
preceding camel to form a path through the shattered,
pointy rocks.
Dune fields are the most fun, it’s incredibly exhilarating
playing in the dunes, but they can be dangerous. In the
really big ones, it’s easy to get disoriented
with no sense of which way is up or down, just
white sand in all directions, and on all dunes
the crests can hide unexpected vertical drops,
so it pays to stop or ride along the crest first
to check the descent before going over the top.
Oueds were the particular feature
of the desert that provided most entertainment
for our group. Oueds are dried out river beds,
containing channels, ledges and deep ditches, and
boulders which have been washed down from the mountains
many miles away. In between the boulders, acacia
bushes have sprung up and become covered with sand,
forming close-spaced soft sandy clumps and humps.
These features all combine to form an interesting
enduro course, where picking a line is sometimes
impossible and it’s often easier just
to ride straight over everything except the very
deepest troughs and channels. The oueds became
a familiar experience on the trip, and became known
as the ‘boondocks’.
Crossing the wider boondocks caused the group to
scatter in all directions in a mad scramble, to
emerge erratically on the other side with wild
grins.
Parallel and close spaced fields
of transverse sand ridges (giant sharp-edged ripples)
up to five feet high were a particularly dangerous
feature of the terrain. They are usually found
in the areas between large rocks or dunes, and
are difficult or impossible to see, especially
with the sun behind or above, when there is no
shadow.
We had one 
serious
crash during the trip when Sean hit a series of
the afore-mentioned sand ridges and launched his
XR600 30 yards over the top, suffering a broken
shoulder, other minor fractures and 2 sprained
ankles. There was no possibility of being airlifted
out as only the military have helicopters in Algeria,
so Sean had to endure an uncomfortable couple of
days being driven out of the desert in the Toyota.
Crises do bring out the best in
people though. Chris showed great calmness and
pragmatism, and also sensitivity, when looking
after Sean after his accident. Sean was incredibly
strong and stoic. Even when helpless with painful
injuries, hanging half off a makeshift orthopaedic
board/sand ladder in the middle of the night in
the desert, he was reluctant to wake anyone up
to help, and suffered in silence. The guides were
also really kind looking after Sean during the
following days, and even gave up their sleeping
blankets.
Conclusion
I was originally slightly wary of going to Algeria in
the current political climate, and, being female, I was
concerned about how I would be treated. However the reality
of the trip was far removed from my fears, and full of
lovely surprises, including the fantastic riding, the genuine
warmth and generosity of the local people who made tea
for us in the desert and invited us into their homes, and
the staggering beauty and purity of the landscape. Oh,
and finding hedgehogs in the sand dunes was a bit of a
surprise too.
I would do this trip again in
a heartbeat. For me there were moments of sheer
joy and exhilaration, and also a sense of personal
achievement. I am really grateful to the people
who made this trip possible and enjoyable. Chris’ openness
and willingness to share his world with us for a short
while, Jon’s capable care, and the Algerian guides’ concern,
generosity and humour, and of course, my fellow
riders for their company and willingness to chip
in and look out for each other in true TRF fashion
made the whole thing a brilliant experience I will
never forget.
Of all the many bike trips I have
been on, this was definitely the ultimate off road
bike trip. Check out Chris’s
website.
Travellers reports from the Sahara 