Start at NADOR End at SAIDIA
Day dist.: 90.49 km
Total dist.: 1185.6 km
Riding time: 5:15
Avg speed: 17.2 km
Mx speed: 69.1 m/h
Up at 9:00. I biked around Nador for 7 kms and about 1 hour and a half.
Nador Center
Avenue Mhd V
Nador Sea front
Sea Front
Nador Cornich
Once I decided to hit the road for Saidia I followed the directions Hossein had given me and found my way. It took a while, whoever. It was a few kms before I was on the “route nationale,” and it was around 13:30.
The road, at least in the beginning, this changed later, was flat and easy going. I was taking it easy.
Some unusual spectacles are in order
Camels on the highway
The flat reality changed after a few kms and the mostly up and down took over.
In addition a mild wind (needless to say, always in my face) started.
For a while, though, I practiced drafting behind a huge tractor. It was, and so was I, doing 30 kms/h and for about 5 kms (between km 24 and km 29) I was following it at a distance of 1.5 meters behind it. The inimical wind disappeared and I was hardly pedaling. It felt like going down a mild downhill road where, every now and then one needs to add a pedal stroke just to keep going fast. The downhill illusion was so real that I caught myself a couple of time checking whether we were going downhill or not. I guess like everything else in life “tristesa nao tem fin, felicidade sim” as Orpheus Negro made clear in 1959. Five kms later I was left alone to struggle against the wind.
Beautiful mosque on top of a hill
Spithas waiting for me
Mosque on the side of the road
Route ntl in the open
The only disturbing thing was the km signs. At some points when according to my odometer calculations based on the signs I thought I had 15 kms left I saw a sign indicating 23 kms. The next sign, one to two kms later indicated 17 and the next one 19. I decided I would not pay any attention to the signs, just hope that I am not that for from Saidia.
Then I saw a sign indicating that I was entering Saidia
I was not sure I should trust it. After passing it I decided that despite the indication of having arrived, there might be may miles left, so I pulled over for my late lunch. It was 18:10 and the odometer indication was 75.68 kms.
After and approximate 40 minutes I hit the road again. My decision was correct, I needed more than 10 kms to enter Saidia. As I was biking, I saw on my left side huge complexes of luxury condominiums, about half of them finished and the rest in the process of being constructed.
I biked through some of the complexes in my attempt to find the city center. At some point I asked a person at the side of the street for directions to the city center and also asked if I could find hotels there. He showed me where to bike and added that the hotels are very expensive. I asked him if he knew of any that was more reasonably priced. He asked me for how long I would stay and I told him that I would be leaving tomorrow. He paused for a minute and then told me that I could stay with him for free. He was working for a security company and he would not mind it if I stayed for at his room for the night. I thanked him and told him that his offer was really touching but I could not impose on him.
I finally entered Saidia. The entire distance I covered was really well developed with good taste and one could tell that a lot of money had been spent to develop this vacation town. As I was told there is 14 kms of continuous beach and they did a great job of taking advantage of this gift of nature.
Entering
I found lodge at Hotel Paco near the town center at a price much lower than what I was led to expect.
After taking care of the usual, I went out for a walk. It is very interesting to see how the locals behave when on vacation in a summer spot. Other than minor differences everything was the way I know and expect.
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