31st January 2023
My 8-Day Tour of the Atlas Mountains - part 2
In early January 2023 Josh Ibbett started an 8-day bikepacking trip of the more remote parts of the Atlas Mountains in Morocco on his MASON InSearchOf. Here is part 2 of his 750-mile story, days 5-8 (you can read part 1 here).
Here is the route for part 2:
Day 5 - Boumalnes Dades to Agoudal via R704
Day 6 - Agoudal to Beni Mellal
Day 7 - Beni Mellal to Denmat
Day 8 - Denmat to Marrakech
On day 5 in a fresh -8 degrees, or as Josh described as “bloody freezing” and with “a lot of climbing on the menu” he started riding back into the high Atlas up the Dades gorge. With a headwind for company and the map suggesting there was a road, he rode into the unknown, topping out at 2,900m before finding a room for the night.
Day 6 was a “Lunch at 6pm kind of day” with another morning riding out in -8 degrees, Josh’s descent down to the city of Beni Mallal at 600m left him saying “Well, that was a pretty mind-blowing road decent, this place is just awesome.”
Riding from Beni Mellal to Denmat on a series of winding roads, on day 7 Josh rode from the flats back into the mountains. He said, “It could have been the south of Spain or Portugal, a hidden cycling paradise.”
Day 8, was a shorter day of 65 miles as he rode back towards Marrakech. “It’s been an awesome week on the road. A beautiful country, incredible mountains, such friendly people, it’s a shame to end now.”
Watch Josh’s part 2 video diary…
Here is Josh’s Bikepacking Morocco Bike check video:
If you missed part 1 of Josh’s trip, days 1-4 you can catch up here.