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Morocco (again)

Posted: Mon Nov 04, 2019 4:47 pm
by oreocereus
I’m in the midst of a more conventional pavement-heavy tour from Ireland to Morocco. Obviously the name of this forum implies a bit more actual bikepacking, but a friend suggested this was a nice place with reasonable crossover. Indeed the little back reading of threads I’ve done on Morocco on here has better and more interesting info than other bike forums I’ve browsed..

Anywho, I’ll be arriving in Nador in about ~1 week. I’ll have about 3 weeks to get to Marrakech where I’m meeting some family i haven’t seen for a couple of years. Afterward, if money allows ill continue and explore the anti-atlas a bit more...

Anywho, anyone have some rough route suggestions with the terminals of Nador and Marrakech? Should any areas be skipped across by bus?

I have a more conventional touring set up (two rear panniers then a few stuff sacks strapped budget-bikepacking style to the frame and forks), so can’t do any routes that are technical - but I’m going to grab some wider tires before I get there to hopefully have more options for gravel roads and 4x4. Basically I can do a mix of tarmac and dirt road, but not after anything technical or single track!

Any suggestions of rough routes and/waypoints to hit?

Re: Morocco (again)

Posted: Tue Nov 05, 2019 11:19 pm
by Rasta
I think the definition of bikepacking has gone out of the window. So don't worry about that.
Half the stories on bikepacking.com have racks and panniers. Or worse, a saddlebag resting on an unused rack. And don't get me started on a saddlebag on the front, resting on an unused front rack :lol:

As for Morocco, unless someone has ridden the section you mention, then you won't get a reply.
I know there is a popular area along the way with monkies and another with amazing cedar trees.

Re: Morocco (again)

Posted: Wed Nov 06, 2019 8:16 am
by oreocereus
Aye, the terms were always slippery for me before I was even particularly interested in touring or bikepacking.

Mmm indeed. I did read your report of south morocco actually. How did you go about constructing a route, what maps did you find reliable etc? For more road-riding in Europe I’ve generally just put points of interest into cycle.travel, but it doesn’t cover Africa + OSM data mightn’t be reliable I suspect. So paper maps seem the go?