Sideburn in the Sahara

Last month, Sideburn undertook its second sold out Desert and Mountain Tour of Morocco with 12 adventurous readers in partnership with MotoAventures.

We are planning to run the tour again from 13-19 March 2017 (to try avoid the biblical rain storms). We have 10 now just 7 places.

It was a tough tour. Some riders got broken, others exhausted, while many just smiled the whole way through. One day it was boiling, the next we were riding through a blinding sandstorm for 30 minutes, then the final day served up flashfloods.

We had riders from the UK, Kuwait, Australia and the USA and it was an unforgettable experience for all.

Read Andy Baker's no-punches-pulled report from the 2016 tour on the new Sideburn website's STORIES page.

The price for 2017 is €1950. For this you get...

• Seven night's accommodation, six in hotels, kasbahs and riads that range from good to exceptional plus one night in a desert bivouac
• Five full days riding, 95% off-road
• Rental of a late model, very well maintained KTM 450 EXC
• Breakfast and evening meals and most lunch meals, plus drinks and snacks
• Full technical support from MotoAventures, a company that's been running off-road tours for 20 years
• Transfers from Marrakech to Ourzazate, the start and end point of the riding
• Use of a personal Garmin with an (almost) foolproof route so you don't have to follow a leader, you can ride at your own pace
• A whole week of riding and hanging out with Sideburn readers on the same wavelength as you

What isn't included: Flights to and from Marrakech; drinks with evening meals and any alcohol; Damage to bikes (limited to a maximum of €750 - 2016 figure, 2017 figure not confirmed); meal on last night in Marrakech; food on transfers to and from Marrakech; personal accident insurance with repatriation cover - this is essential.

For more info or for details on how to pay a deposit, email us at sideburnmag @ gmail.com

NOTE: This is a hardcore off-road trip not to be taken lightly. We had two riders with limited experienced of off-road riding, but who'd both done the Sideburn Himalayan tour with no problem. One of the riders survived, the other broke his wrist on day two. Although I'm a dirt tracker, I don't have a lot of trail riding experience (or skill). I find this tour tough, but rewarding.  G