Canyonlands - a bunch of rocks and sand .. well yes but also the destination for yet another group of intrepid Skedaddlers keen to hone their riding/hiking/drinking/altitude acclimatising skills.

To describe a Skedaddle holiday ( sorry - adventure ) involves many superlatives - Canyonlands is no exception!

“Grand Canyon and Moab offer the opportunity of exploring one of the natural wonders of the world, and one of the best mountain biking locations - all in one 15 day adventure”. That what the brochure said and after stumping up the required dough I just turned up at the airport - it was that easy, I even persuaded my girlfriend to come along. This brochure was from ‘Saddle Skedaddle’ that had passed my way one miserable morning in Derby and this particular trip caught my eye. The only question one needed answering was “can I take my SPD’s ?” (Yes) - everything was provided, along with food, transport, accommodation, etc.

This superb desert biking adventure focuses on the deep south of Morocco, a land of big skies and stark mountain ranges where mud-brick kasbahs appear to rise up out of the desert, sitting in tranquil palm oases and framed by dramatic backdrops of snowcapped mountains. We ride along Morocco’s dirt roads, taking us from Marrakech to the Tichka Pass, the highest in the High Atlas, and then southward, descending along the Draa Valley to the fringes of the Sahara Desert.