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I cycled from Marrakesh to Agadir in April a few years ago in April so likely to be warmer than when you're travelling. I took the bus from Agadir to Essaouira and then back to Marrakesh. I stored the box my bike i flew in with at my accommodation in Marrakesh in flattened state with gaffa tape restoring it to service. I did come in when there was a torrential storm but fortunately the box was still usable when I arrived. bargaining with taxi drivers for a ride in to accommodation was interesting. You may have something of a walk from where you're dropped off to your accommodation.
Agadir got flattened by an earthquake in 1960 so there's much less of the cute old architecture that you'll find in Marrakesh and Essaouira (there was a really interesting exhibition in the Curve Gallery in Barbican about Agadir some years ago). That being said, Agadir felt friendly and because there's less Europeans going there, i had more luck interacting with the locals.
I kind of regretted not cycling to Essaouira from Agadir but then I wasn't quite so confident in my abilities then. I'm normally vege but am omnivore when i travel and was happy to eat meaty tangine.
I did some wild camping enroute which wasn't an issue. Marrakesh has lots to offer but is also a harder place with tourists seen as cash cows
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Accommodation looks pretty barebones
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Majorelle Jardin, if you want to go, advice i had was get there early
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majorelle_Garden
There's also the Berber Museum on the same site looking at indigenous cultures which i found really worth a visit
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Still in Maroc, but have finished cycling. Thanks to the hive mind for really helpful info, I’ll start contributing what I’ve learned if anyone needs to know for the future.
Marrakesh - airport is great - you pay for your taxi in advance outside the terminal, then the driver takes you to your destination. Cars can’t go into the medina, but guys with little trolleys can help you with your bike box for a couple of quid. Otherwise, you could easily build your bike at the airport and ride in (if you don’t need to keep your box).
Riding out of Marrakesh is easy. Traffic is fine - not that heavy, drivers aren’t dicks. Have tried to learn the rules on rights of way, if red lights apply to bikes etc, but it seems to be very inconsistent, go with the flow approach.
There are cycle lanes in all the bigger places, and they’re respected. Also on a lot of the A-roads equivalents. Even with that, traffic tends to give you a very wide berth, and there is very little speeding, even on the main roads.
Road surfaces are generally good, often excellent (other than in the earthquake zone, which I’ll circle back on). As the culture is more Berber than beer-beer (oh yes he did), there’s very little broken glass in the gutters.
Taking the Ouirgane route, there’s one road out that direction and you can’t go wrong unless you’re a fucking moron. In which case, you have to retrace your steps almost as far back as Marrakesh city limits and take a poorly-sealed cut-across where you will inevitably puncture, adding hours to your day. Fucking moron.
Other than that, it’s c40km of very boring straight road out of Marrakesh, then a lot of backloaded climbing to Ouirgane. You might want to take transport out of town to get to the interesting stuff.
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From Ouirgane, the facts of the earthquake start becoming very obvious. Shamefully, I barely noticed it in the news cycle last year, but 3,500 people were killed, and roughly the same number of villages were destroyed or damaged. There are so many tent villages and so much visible destruction that it’s clear this will take years to fix. The government apparently said everything would be fixed in a year (clearly nonsensical), but tens of thousands of families are going into this winter in the high mountains in tents. It’s horrible.
Out of Ouirgane, major roadworks instantly, into ankle-deep slurry. Saw a workman screaming into his radio - turned out he was telling the guy in the digger 30m above us not to drop his load of rocks. He didn’t hear, and a ton of granite landed ten yards in front of me. He then told me it was like this the whole way up the mountain.
Came very close to losing my shit and just turning back, but decided to try a few more kms. Luckily, it gets better - but not good, esp on road tyres. There are long, heavy-duty roadworks, long unsealed sections, and the few downhills are so potholed you’re going as slow downhill as uphill.
I think this will just be a lovely, only slightly tough day of climbing when the roads are fixed, and probably wouldn’t be too bad now on the right tyres. I had a hard day tho on old-skool road skinnies. Some fantastic viewpoints on the way up to Tizi n’Test tho.
Worth saying that Apple Maps and maps.me show there being almost no villages to stock up on sustenance. There are some, but nothing in the last 20 km or so, so stock up.
On warmth, the top of the pass was the only time I needed arm warmers. This was at sundown and very depleted (hadn’t stocked up), and in the early morning before the sun came over the mountain. No call for gloves, though winter may come earlier in other years.
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Waking up in Tizi, you get to see the most wonderful of vistas dropping away in front of you. Gorgeous. On the bike, the first 10km is solid roadworks at present, but after that you reach the new, improved, wide and beautiful road. And every metre of it is downhill. I -literally - did not have to push a pedal for the first 30 km.
Then it’s pure flat (actually, false flat in your favour) into Taroudant. Which is a perfectly nice, traditional town. Not much to keep you there for more than a day, but pleasant to walk around, find a decent tagine etc.
Oh yeah, on food, the mountains were the only place I’ve been other than the Karakorams in Afghanistan where I’ve found it impossible to stick to veganism. When you’re in a poor area with poor supply lines, you can’t exactly say, ‘Here is my list of bourgeois Western proclivities, pander to me’. I had fucking omelettes for 4 meals in a row. And due to the strict culture in this area, not a single one of them was washed down with a beer, in direct contravention of my god-given rights as a cyclist. Just don’t tell Oliver, you know he’ll be a dick about it.
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To Agadir, there are a few options. Trying to avoid the busiest roads, I took the 114A until it reached the 1010. These were good roads, and the traffic was light, and gave plenty of room. Lots of villages etc to pick up stuff. I think whichever route you take will be similar - flat, straight, depressing amounts of plastic waste caught in the scrub.
Agadir seems to have a bad rep, probably because most of the tourists are northerners, but I quite liked it. Lovely long, sandy beach, kept clean, good surf if you’re into it, nice swimming if you go out past the waves. Some perfectly nice restaurants, friendly people, nice parks and long boulevards to wander down. And you can finally get a beer. Was happy to chill there for a day before catching the coach which is currently taking me back to Marrakesh (riad there was more than happy to mind my bike box btw).
A couple of majorly lucky things happened on the trip:
After going thru the high mountains solo, my pedal crank snapped on the way to Taroudant - just as I passed thru my first town since Marrakesh, and 50 yards from a bike mechanic. The little wizard sent me to his pal to buy a crank (1 pound fee) then fixed it (1 pound fee). Was on my way in half an hour. If that happened the previous day, would have been fucked.
10 miles out of Agadir, a tyre started to fail, bulging out horribly. Nursed it into town without blowing but again, would have been an issue in the mountains.
Overall, really enjoyed the experience. If I were to go again, I’d consider bringing a tent, and maybe another person. Researching better and being more prepared. Maybe take another route and spend more time in the mountains. Or just go to a country where I can more easily get vegan food and a beer.
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buy a crank (1 pound fee) then fixed it (1 pound fee)
Awesome.
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Epic. Enjoyed reading that!
As the culture is more Berber than beer-beer (oh yes he did)
I hate you for this.
unless you’re a fucking moron. In which case, you have to retrace your steps almost as far back as Marrakesh city limits and take a poorly-sealed cut-across where you will inevitably puncture, adding hours to your day. Fucking moron.
lmao
You've rekindled my urge to go back - was 'meant' to be on that tour with friends last month, but life happened - uncannily though, my next stop should be the karakoram/s.
tmevans
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Morocco / Atlas Mountains
Posted by
@Gustav
Nice. Unless you're riding at night then I wouldn't expect too much chill, or if you're going way off the tarmac.
Like others have said though, Agadir isn't all that - not much to see/do. Better off going East from Agadir to Taroudant (30 miles or so). Lovely little, historical town that. Still fully surrounded by its medieval wall, though it took some blows from the earthquake last year.