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
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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
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.
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
We see more and more, how riders underestimate what’s awaiting them on the Morocco-BikeAdventure piste route. That’s why we change the registration process.
To register for the 2025 Morocco-BikeAdventure piste route, you have to go trough the application process that shows us, you are ready for this adventure. We will check your application and if successful, you can register for the MBA2025.
Wild card:
You finished minimum 50% of the piste route of a previous edition of the Morocco-BikeAdventure.
You finished the Morocco-BikeAdventure road route.
October 2019 startet the first Morocco-BikeAdventure. The route has changed since. Pistes disapeared, new pistes added, a road version was introduced in 2021. Five times started the piste route. Time to introduce some more changes. Related to the years of experiences and feedback we got.
NEW: finisher Party Friday evening in Sidi Ifni Finisher party Friday evening gives you more time for the journey back home and to be at your desk Monday morning.
New concept: TIME DOESN’T MATTER With the new concept, it doesn’t matter how much time you need from the start to the finish. New it’s counting how many points you collect from the start to the finish.
How it works: You get a selection of piste sections. Out of these piste sections or modules, you build your route. Between the selected piste sections you can use paved roads. Related to the difficulty of the piste section it’s counting one, two, or three points per km. You are allowed, to change your route after the start. This gives you the opportunity to react to circumstances on the way to the finish. Additionally, at the checkpoints you can collect points too. It depends on the difficulty to reach the checkpoint, how many points it adds. It’s up to you which checkpoints you add to your route. To be listed on the finisher ranking, you have to show up at the finisher party.
Nothing changes for the MBA road route and the 2-Continents Adventure: 2480km fixed road route from Tangier to Sidi Ifni. And the 4000km gravel/piste and 4200km road fixed routes from Irun to Sidi Ifni.
The Morocco-BikeAdventure 2024 was our last bikepacking event of the year. Unfortunately no rider finished the road or piste parcour this year. Lot’s of unusual rain the weeks before the start and in the Sahara desert also during the event, made this edition at some section more challenging as usual.
Benoid had to scratch only 300km before the finish. A swolen ankle and pain that made even walking a challange made it unpossible to finish on his bike. Paddy came in the night in a storm and 25km after Zagora the road was heavely damaged and a crossing of the river, that usually has no water, was not possible. Back in Zagora Paddy scratched 2 days later. Tomos scratched only 490km after the start.
On the piste route Bart got issues with his hands and decided to stop. Scott left the piste route on the stretch from Boudnip to Merzouga. On this 160km remote stretch a minimum of 8l water is mandatory when leaving Boudnip. Scott made the mistake, not eating and drinking enough in Boudnoup. With his 40mm tires he made only slow progress and needed too much water. So he decided to continue on the road route but soon felt not the same motivation anymore and stopped in Alnif his journey.
The next Morocco-BikeAdventure will kick off in Tangier 4th October 2025. The finisher party will be new Friday evening 17th October in Sidi Ifni.
Registration for the 2025 road route is open: click here
The registration for 2025 piste route will open around 1st December. Until then we work on the new concept, a different kind of competition you not seen so far.
6 days on the MBA route, Paddy took a brake in Zagora. This morning he left early to continue his journey on the route direction Foum Zguid. About 25km after Zagora, he got stopped, water destroyed the road. Short decision, going back to the hotel in Zagora. Paddy is now waiting for information, when the road will be open again.
