The Mines & Dunes route starts with some tough climbs. The steepest and longest climbs of the entire route come on the section towards Chefchaouen.
Nevertheless, Joel and Jens on the road route, and Richard on the piste/gravel route, made it to Chefchaouen (road 152km , gravel 132km). Chapeau!
In previous editions, riders often made their first overnight stop at around km 134 on the road route or km 119 on the gravel route, at Rueda, where a hotel and a gîte offer rooms with dinner.
From Rueda, the road cyclists face a real wall of a climb, with gradients reaching almost 20%.
For Jens, the first day showed him where his limits are. Even though the route behind Chefchaouen becomes less demanding in terms of climbing, with longer and faster stretches, Jens decided to take a bus to Fes. From there, he plans to rejoin the route near Midelt.
To keep following Jens on the tracker, we will keep his dot alive and change his status once he has arrived at Rekkam Boudnib.
“Der erste Tag hat mir meine Grenzen aufgezeigt. Das Rifgebirge ist zu heftig. Ich werde heute versuchen, mit dem Bus in den Süden zu kommen, um dann später wieder auf die Route zu kommen.”
“The first day showed me my limits. The Rif Mountains are too intense. I’m going to try to take a bus south today so I can get back on the route later.”
(Machine translated)
Photos: Jens tackling the first climbs after the start.
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