Morocco 2023 trip report

[Rasta]

Just got back from a month of riding in Morocco.

I went as light as possible so I could carry lots of food and water. No backpack. The setup below is only missing food pouches and water bottles.

20230325_095250 by Hola Siesta, on Flickr

[quoteMarrakech 123km by Hola Siesta, on Flickr[/quote]

20230311_104117 by Hola Siesta, on Flickr/quote]


Can you see the solar needle in the background?




[quote20230224_123825 by Hola Siesta, on Flickr

20230325_095143 by Hola Siesta, on Flickr/quote]



Sorry, mostly only got pictures of my bike and tent.



[quotecat moroc by Hola Siesta, on Flickr

And cats.

[Rasta]

[quote20230303_153947 by Hola Siesta, on Flickr[/quote]

[Rasta]

[quote20230319_104544 by Hola Siesta, on Flickr[/quote]

20230319_090229 by Hola Siesta, on Flickr/quote]

20230306_151254 by Hola Siesta, on Flickr/quote]

[Rasta]

[quote20230305_102030 by Hola Siesta, on Flickr[/quote]

I did part of the old Paris Dakar route. I tried to race it overnight as it was much cooler and meant I could carry less water. 150km through the desert, 100km in the dark with only maps.me and a Diablo on the head was a very remote experience.


[quote20230304_222520 by Hola Siesta, on Flickr[/quote]

[Rasta]

kasbah ruin by Hola Siesta, on Flickr/quote]

[Rasta]

I knew I had forgotten something, when I got home I noticed that I had forgotten to switch on the auto feeder.

[quote20230303_154746 by Hola Siesta, on Flickr[/quote]


I had a great trip. But Morocco is changing very quickly. I have been 5 times, 3 by bike. Quiet donkey tracks between villages that I wanted to ride, recorded on my last trips, are now paved, with new BMWs and Range Rovers passing by. Desert highways which saw 4 cars per hour, 4 years ago, now have 100s. And going fast. Observations, not complaints.
Still highly recommended.
Plenty of cyclists on the north side of the Atlas mountains. A few organized tour groups.
But only met 3 on the south, desert side. I saw 1 in the middle of the desert, in the middle of nowhere. Red shirt, blue Tureg scarf. He wouldn't stop to say hello. So I assumed he was French or Woodsmith from this forum. Maybe I smelt bad.

Worth puting on your list. Easyjet flights can be cheap, Marrakech or Agadir. It is starting to get hot there now.

[voodoo_simon]

Looks a great trip, loving the pictures!

[redefined_cycles]

Thanks for sharing them pics Rasta. Looks fantastic.

[Teaman]

Looks great Well done and thanks for sharing

[fatbikephil]

Sunshine! Dry trails! Cute moggy!
Mightily tempted by that after my soggy BAM last night...

[Sajama]

Rasta is spot on about the dirt roads disappearing, we were over for a month just back. Took a section out of the Morocco Overland book by Chris Scott. Its out of date now, lots of new tarmac, with the recent floods some of the new roads have been washed away in parts and a few bridges are wreaked. We flew into Agadir from Glasgow,flights were cheap but the bikes were almost twice the price of our seats. Done a zig zag route down to Zagora and back to Agadir in November trying to avoid most of the tourist run from Marrakesh to the desert. This time we stayed south of the main tourist route. Bumped into Woodsmith in Askaoun, we are hopeless organising packing,so it was 4 small Ortlieb panniers ( much easier to carry food and water if away from accommodation) on the Trek 920. The Traffic was less on this trip compared to November.

[Rasta]

Thanks for the comments.

EasyJet flights are £45 (+ £45 for the bike) at the moment. Get out there.
Turkey next for me. I did a month of riding there in Nov/Dec. Amazing.

[woodsmith]

Plenty of cyclists on the north side of the Atlas mountains. A few organized tour groups.
But only met 3 on the south, desert side. I saw 1 in the middle of the desert, in the middle of nowhere. Red shirt, blue Tureg scarf. He wouldn't stop to say hello. So I assumed he was French or Woodsmith from this forum. Maybe I smelt bad.

Worth puting on your list. Easyjet flights can be cheap, Marrakech or Agadir. It is starting to get hot there now.

Not me. I did think about getting one of those Touareg scarves but guessed I would look and be perceived as a complete twit. And what would I then do with my helmet?
I onlly saw about 10 cyclists in almost three months, about half of those being on bikepacking style bikes and half on trad 4 panier-long haul trucker type set-ups.