Erg Chebbi

"An inverted tear-drop shape, spanning an area of 125 square kilometres, 20km west of the Algerian border (closed since 1994). ‘Don’t stray too far, they’ll chuck you in the slammer,’ says John. The giant golden sand pit of Erg Chebbi, with the 150-metre-high Cathedral Dunes in its centre, pushes up the skyline. We detach our satnavs. Our bearings removed. This is the only section of the tour where John rides with us and gives us specific technical instruction as to how to proceed in this alien environment. If an episode of The Mighty Boosh were to be written about motocross, they would surely be riding over mountains of caramel blancmange...." BP

Read the full story of my five days riding with 13 others, in the Sahara, for our first Sideburn Sunburn tour, in Sideburn #21.
It wasn't all sand, sand, sand, sweaty scruttocks. Plenty of rocks and cooling rivers too. BP