Atlas Mountain Race

Yikes - sounds traumatic!
GWS

What now - back to TTs?

Gravel, gravel, unknown, plan next AMR...

shit, sorry to hear.

Worst of all, there's fuck all beer in Morocco!

;-)

Best read the small print next time!

You can get it in the resorts, no?

I remember the food was pretty dire - either tagine or couscous - all pretty bland and similar to each other.

I could've bought some from Carrefor at the start. I didn't see the need though. I did have some in a beachfront bar at the finish as well as the finish party.

I liked the tagines and omelettes. Yeah, pretty samey and would scare food hygene freaks but they're still better than 7 Day croissants.

Sorry to hear that Hippy, still managed a greater distance fucked than I’d manage at full health! Look forward to the next adventure you undertake.

Ha yeah, cheers, not quite enough though. The course gets easier after that climb I bailed on so of course now I'm wondering to myself "what if you'd just walked over that 34k climb?" and then I realise I'm being an idiot. I've always had the mentality to finish at any cost but now it seems stupid to further damage my health or just suffer through miles of route with no enjoyment. I think it was the right call to quit. I'm still struggling to breathe properly so will probably go to local hospital to see what's up. It might not be a technical MTB route but it's got enough to kick people's arses.

Note to self: turn off the panic-inducing "off-route" beep on the Garmin.

You should be able to get beer in most restaurants. Even more so in Marrakech. Casablanca is the best stuff.

Not where we were. Essauoura and Marrakech were fine but on the race route the resupply options are limited to quite small cafes and shops. Lack of beer was the least of my worries though, really. :)

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https://torstenfrank.wordpress.com/2023/02/19/how-to-not-only-survive-but-thrive-in-the-atlas-mountain-race-an-unsupported-offroad-bikepacking-race-in-morocco/

https://richardgate.wordpress.com/2023/02/20/atlas-mountain-race-2023/

https://epic-cycles.co.uk/the-adventure-diaries-atlas-mountain-race-1
https://epic-cycles.co.uk/the-adventure-diaries-atlas-mountain-race-1-2 (fixed)
https://epic-cycles.co.uk/the-adventure-diaries-atlas-mountain-race-3
https://epic-cycles.co.uk/the-adventure-diaries-atlas-mountain-race-4
https://epic-cycles.co.uk/the-adventure-diaries-atlas-mountain-race-5

Neutral over, a further few kilometres where drafting is inevitable and accepted

That pass does look fun at night with snow. At least it was with other riders so you had people about, and after being the third could just follow the path made.

Nelson said something about that at the start. It's inevitable when you have 200 riders heading up a single track there's gonna be a non-zero drafting amount. It's not like RATN or something though when people are trying to cling onto my wheel at 40kph, it split up pretty well (at least from where I was).

That pass does look fun at night with snow.

It wasn't.

That's not true. The climb was ok, the descent was fucking sketchy. My Garmin routed me 20-30m lower down than the goat track and it was slippery as fuck. I threw me and the bike at a huge rock to avoid skating all the way down a snow chute to god-knows-what end.

"Don’t be deceived, the path will reveal itself. At least that’s what we were told, perhaps that’s more true when it’s not 3:30am, and you’re not lugging your bike in snow filled shoes over a narrow, un-rideable mule track."

.

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Yes there is a difference.

Looks fine. Snow makes it easy to navigate

That's the way up. I was too busy trying not to die to take pics on the way down.

In hindsight, the lack of footprints should've tipped me off to being in the wrong place. Hindsight is great like that.

"I lucked in at this point, and as a rider passed me he revealed that he had ridden this stretch just the week prior. His flashing rear light became my map, glancing at my Garmin only occasionally to check he did in fact know where he was going. He did."

I could've/should've waited and followed other people.

Even further down when bits were rideable, there were still HAB sections and I was falling arse over tit on them. It was a fine dust or something and my shoes just didn't grip at all. Was pretty fucking stressful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8f9zcH-nq1M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlhWyFZqq50

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYoE6y9sa5A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HO1QK3b06FE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjWZaG1NyAk

Thanks. I enjoyed reading that.

https://rab.equipment/uk/basecamp/reflections-in-the-desert

and another one from 2022...

Jochen Böhringer

https://ultra-jo.com/2022/12/03/amr-report/