Atlas Mountains — teaser, taster & race recce

Mountain Biking Collection by carbonbreaker

Tours

51:00 h

563 mi

32,925 ft

This Collection is the result of a trip to the Atlas Mountains in Morocco made between Christmas and New Year by four friends.

The idea was to explore some sections of the Atlas Mountain Race route for 2020, and to stitch them together into something that was achievable for mere mortals — as a holiday — bearing in mind the conditions in December regarding daylight and temperatures.

I arrived a little earlier, so there is a nice warm-up ride in and around Marrakesh, followed by the main bulk of the route. We had planned to ride for nine days but only rode eight days of the planned route — after two rear mech breaks, we were forced to take a bus at the end of day seven and to opt for a flat ride to the finish in Sidi Rabat on day eight.

The route is based on the Atlas Mountain Race 2020 (komoot.com/collection/911143/atlas-mountain-race-2020), but cuts out some of its most easterly sections. We also took some cool but accessible alternative routes and shortcuts to the official AMR route. This made it easier for us to find accommodation and made the distances manageable in the shorter winter days and without night riding.

There are some very challenging gravel sections in the Collection, so it should not be undertaken without preparation, but in saying that, there are some good "rescue" points with public transport links, should you need to bail.

You'll note that I have left out the planned route(s) from Issafen through to Sidi Rabat, these are public and available on komoot via my profile called:

8.1 Issafn to Tafraoute (Long) komoot.com/tour/103253128
8.2 Issafn to Tafraoute (Medium) komoot.com/tour/103253177
8.3 Issafn to Tafraoute (Short) komoot.com/tour/96295969
9 Tafraoute to Sidi Rabat (Short) Road komoot.com/tour/103253420

I've also included the singlespeed mayhem of the bail-out ride from Taroudant to Sidi Rabat on the flat, featuring tortoise exploits..

On The Map

Tours & Highlights

Messing about in the hills and the Souk
05:49
80.1 mi
13.8 mph
2,700 ft
2,700 ft
The acclimatisation and cycle tourist day. I arrived ahead of the rest of the group and rode in and around Marrakesh for a couple of days. I really enjoyed the gravel and the views of the mountains on this ride, it was a real contrast to riding through the Medina and the alleyways of the old city, playing…
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1.1 Marrakech to Telouet - Road
08:31
85.6 mi
10.1 mph
9,050 ft
4,825 ft
Escape the city! A road alternative to the full first section of the AMR2020 route to Telouet. The route out of Marrakesh is on quiet roads with good cycle paths, all the way to the first offroad sections as you get into the foothills of the Atlas Mountains, looming ever closer. There are some varying…
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2. Telouet to Skoura
06:01
63.0 mi
10.5 mph
4,175 ft
6,075 ft
The classy gravel and Berber tea day. Continuing on the AMR2020 route for the first 55 km, superb route of many and varied conditions, from tight goat trail through villages, high plateau traverses, to tough gravel constantly up and down. The area feels quite isolated, thanks to the routing, and it really…
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3.2 Skoura to Oasis Fint - Road
02:50
38.5 mi
13.6 mph
1,250 ft
1,350 ft
The easy day. Here in the Collection is where we started to deviate from the AMR route. We took a recovery day rolling along the quiet main road to Ouarzazate, until getting onto the mud and gravel for the highlight of the day — the road into and stay in Oasis Fint.
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4.2 Oasis Fint to Tamskrout (non main road)
06:50
79.9 mi
11.7 mph
5,975 ft
4,675 ft
The dust cloud day. Here we continue to bypass some of the AMR2020 route, it's close by if you want more gravel and a longer day, we rejoin the AMR route briefly before Tasnakht. After this larger town with good facilities, we took the opportunity to ride the Tagdalt reservoir road with its magnificent…
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5. Tamskrout to Aguinane
03:35
34.0 mi
9.5 mph
1,850 ft
3,025 ft
The jaw-drop day. An amazing ride from start to finish, nearly all on gravel and 100% the AMR2020 route. The latter half after the small road section just gets progressively better, beautiful, remote and a constantly changing, geological backdrop. There were challenging surfaces with tough climbs and…
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6. Aguinane to Tagmout
06:33
74.0 mi
11.3 mph
3,625 ft
4,175 ft
The glorious canyon sunrise day. What a way to begin 2020, a sumptuous sunrise in an astounding sandstone gorge, with the narrow strip of tarmac running like a ribbon in the valley floor — if you want to feel small ride this! The gravel in the second part of the day is isolated and equally impressive…
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7. Tagmout to Issafn
05:01
41.6 mi
8.3 mph
3,225 ft
2,900 ft
The colonial piste day. Virtually the entire ride is spent on a French Colonial era engineered piste, with a gradual gradient, but in places terrible surfaces. There's some hike-a-bike and fun to be had for all! The highlight is basically the entire piste section, up and down. Amazing geology, exposed…
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9.1 Taroudant to Sidi Rabat (Post Mechanical Recovery)
05:50
66.5 mi
11.4 mph
1,075 ft
1,725 ft
The bail out day. Quickly planned recovery day after having a second bike which needed to be 'single-speeded'. It's flat, the roads are straight and there is lots of sand towards the end when it rejoins the AMR2020 route to the finish in Sidi Rabat. The highlight is reaching the sea, and the beach, do try to catch the sunset.
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