blog | Morocco Bike-Adventure

10/01/202510/01/2025

Chefchaouen – the blue city

The blue city on the route 150km after the start and checkpoint one fo the piste and the road route. Most riders reach the town at sunset and stay the night at Chefchaouen. It is the last chance to find a touristic accommodation along the route for a while.

It is the chief town of the province of the same name and is noted for its buildings in shades of blue, for which it is nicknamed the “Blue City”.
It was founded in 1471 by the Moulay Ali Ben Rachid, a distant descendant of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad. The original settlement consisted of just a small fortress, now referred to as Chefchaouen’s Kasbah. The fortress was erected to help defend the area from potential attacks by Portuguese invaders; at the time, Portugal was launching attacks against northern cities and towns in Morocco.

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05/01/202505/01/2025

Lakes filled with water have shaped the landscape

In October 2024 the Sahara Desert was green and lakes filled with water have shaped the landscape.

Photos: October 2024 near Icht in the south
Rider: Arnaud Duruisseau

29/12/202429/12/2024

Road route 2025 is set

The road route for the 2025 Morocco Bike-Adventure from Tangier to Sidi Ifni is set:

2,590km fixed route
29,100m vertical climbing to conquer
11 checkpoints
2,709m above sea level is the highest route point
240km new

28/12/202429/12/2024

55 piste route segments

For the 2025 edition riders get a collection of 55 piste route segments with a total length of 3,500km to build your own route from Tangier to Sidi Ifni.

Choose the sections you like to ride and connect them to your route to the finish in Sidi Ifni. It’s up to you what distance you cover on paved roads.

We give you 2 examples of a possible route:

a short version of 1,730km (red)
a longer version of 2,260km (blue)

21/12/202420/12/2024

Early bird registration ends in 10 days

The early bird registration ends by 31st of December. Only 10 days left. Don’t miss it.

For the Morocco-BikeAdventure road route register here:
https://morocco-bikeadventure.com/registration-for-the-2025-moroccan-adventure/

For the piste route use this link to go on with the application:
https://morocco-bikeadventure.com/2025-application-for-the-piste-route/

20/12/202419/12/2024

New route Tétouan – Chefchaouen

The mainroad RN2 from Tétouan to Chefchaouen is forbidden. As alternative tot the new piste section riders can take the RN16 along the coast that is also part of the road route.

As a goody riders taking the route over the mountains, passing Mokdassene and Boukar, get the typical smell of the Rif mountains in their nose.

Photos: from the new piste section starting in Tétouan

19/12/202419/12/2024

New route Tétouan – Chefchaouen

It has never changed that the Morocco-BikeAdventure passes Tétouan, a white city at mountain near the sea. The old town, the medina of Tétouan has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997. Since 1999, it has been the summer residence of King Mohammed VI due to its temperate climate.

From Tétouan to Chefchaouen riders can choose between the traditional paved road along the Mediterranean coast or a new piste (gravel) route over the mountains. The route over the mountains is 44km long with 1235 vertical meters and fills the basket of the piste rider already with 80 dates (points). The route along the sea is 54km with 970 vertical meters.

Photos: Tétouan and the new piste section over the mountains.

18/12/202418/12/2024

The route to Chefchaouen

After the start, the route climbs up to the wind turbines, where riders have great views of Tangier and the inland hills. The environment changes immediately and riders feel like in another world.

14/12/202414/12/2024

Tangier – the start

The start is at the Lighthouse Cap Malabata, about 8km from the center of Tangier. Riders meet in Tangier and ride together to the start, where they take the opportunity for a coffee before they start their adventure to Sidi Ifni.

14/12/202414/12/2024

Tangier – hotel Continental

The Hotel Continental, was our base the last 4 years. The hotel built in 1870, is one of the oldest hotels in Tangier. The yellowing pages of the 19th-century guestbook refer to notable residents, Edgar Degas, Winston Churchill, and the Beat poets among them, and Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Sheltering Sky was partly filmed here.

It also became part of tradition that after the riders registration riders met for dinner the evening before the start.

Next meeting for dinner in Tangier: 4th October 2025

The application for the piste route is open:
https://morocco-bikeadventure.com/2025-application-for-the-piste-route/

For the registration of the road route use this link:
https://morocco-bikeadventure.com/registration-for-the-2025-moroccan-adventure/

13/12/202414/12/2024

Tangier – the medina

Some impression from the medina of Tangier.

12/12/202414/12/2024

Tangier – where we start

Tangier, port and principal city of northern Morocco is located on a bay of the Strait of Gibraltar 27 km from the southern tip of Spain. The city is more then 2000 years old and one of the oldest in northern Africa. As a major port city in northern Morocco, Tangier is a fascinating city, with a wicked charm and rich in history.
Tangier is built on the slopes of a limestone hill. The old town (Medina), surrounded by 15th-century city walls, is dominated by a kasbah, the Sultan’s Palace (now a museum of Moroccan art) and the Great Mosque.
Tangier has been the setting for several Hollywood movies. In 1987, scenes for the James Bond film The Living Daylights were shot in Tangier.

The application for the piste route is open:
https://morocco-bikeadventure.com/2025-application-for-the-piste-route/

For the registration of the road route use this link:
https://morocco-bikeadventure.com/registration-for-the-2025-moroccan-adventure/

Photos taken during Morocco-BikeAdventure 2023

06/12/202408/12/2024

Life in the Sahara

On the piste to the Cité d’Orion.

Photo taken during route scouting October 2024.

05/12/202405/12/2024

Photo from the Sahara

Terrifying? Fascinating? Impressive? Breathtaking?
From the new piste section to the Cité d’Orion.

Photo taken during route scouting October 2024

04/12/202404/12/2024

New piste

CAUTION:

Do not look too long and too deeply into this picture – risk of addiction!

(to get the full effect, click into the picture to make it big)

This is a new piste for the Morocco-BikeAdventure leading to the Cité d’Orion. We could also call it: Sahara Experience.

The application for the piste route is open:
https://morocco-bikeadventure.com/2025-application-for-the-piste-route/

For the registration of the road route use this link:
https://morocco-bikeadventure.com/registration-for-the-2025-moroccan-adventure/

Photo taken during route scouting October 2024

01/12/202401/12/2024

The application for the piste route opens tonight

Tonight at 20:00 (8pm) CET the application for the Morocco-BikeAdventure piste route will open.

The registration process is now the same as it was for the Alaska-Divide already this year.

How to get to the start

Gain essential insights into Morocco’s wilderness and the route and study the website carefully.
Complete the questionnaire of the application.
We’ll review your answers, and upon successful completion, you’ll receive the access for the registration.
Secure your spot for the Morocco-BikeAdventure 2025.
Plan your route and gear up for the adventure.
Meet us in Tangier on October 5th, 2025.

Photo: MBA2024, Scott in the Rif mountains

29/11/202428/11/2024

New checkpoint: La Cárcel Portuguesa

La Cárcel Portuguesa is back as checkpoint on the piste route.

This crater was used as a film stage for a James Bond film, as well as the Brendan Fraser blockbuster film, The Mummy. The Mummy (1999) is set in Egypt, but filmed mostly in Morocco. In the southeastern Moroccan desert, an entire set was built for the fictional Egyptian city, Hamunaptra. The set for this fictional city was constructed in a dormant volcanic crater close to the real-life oasis town, Erfoud.

Photo: MBA2019

28/11/202428/11/2024

New checkpoint: Stairway to Heaven

Stairway to Heaven is the 3rd new checkpoint and the first of Hannsjörg Voth artistic objects in the Moroccan desert. The three objects from Hannsjöeg Voth form a 10km parcour.

The Himmelstreppe (Stairway to Heaven) was built and self-financed between 1980 and 1987. Fascinated by astronomy, he built a staircase whose top side walls are narrowed, creating a vertical slit facing the stars. The structure/sculpture is 19m high and has 56 steps, creating a shadow that runs all around. The interior of this monumental staircase is also accessible, as different rooms are built into the structure.
Source: Senses Atlas

Photo: May 2024, Stairway to Heaven

27/11/202427/11/2024

New checkpoint: the Golden Spiral

The Golden Spiral is the second new checkpoint and located in the Marha plain a short distance after La Cité d’Orion. This immense work of art was Hannsjörg Voth second project in the Marha plain and built from 1993 until 1997 with local artisan using their hand skills in a traditional manner.

Photo: May 2024, the Golden Spiral

26/11/202426/11/2024

New checkpoint: La Cité d’Orion

We added 4 new checkpoints to the piste adventure.
“La Cité d’Orion” is the first of the new checkpoints. It’s situated on a new 55km long piste section starting south of the Valée de Ziz palm grove, one of the biggest in Maroc. The “City of Orion” was built between 1998 and 2003 by the German artist Hannsjörg Voth.

“La Cité d’Orion” is made up of 7 large towers that form a three-dimensional model of the constellation of Orion. Once again its intention is to connect the earth to the sky and more particularly to the celestial. The constellation of Orion is one of the most mythical constellations in many civilizations. It is notably associated with Osiris among the Egyptians but is also present in Sumerian, Greek (from which it takes its name) or Chinese mythology.
The arrangements of these towers are not insignificant: their dimensions have been calculated in proportion to the size and brightness of the stars. The rectangular towers are built in cob, like its previous desertic works. They are obviously observatory towers allowing to follow the course of the 7 most visible stars of the constellation.
Source: Senses Atlas

Photo: October 2024, La Cité d’Orion in the green desert after the rain