Thinking of heading out to Morocco in October. . Thinking of taking the bike as I’m sure I’ve heard there is good biking in the atlas mountain’s. Just not sure of the lay of the land. What would be the nearest main city to stay in as I’m sure the other half would like to do her own thing during the day..and would it be a feasible to do day trips biking?

there are some good trails around but you need fairly detailed map to find them, or some local knowledge… and distances can be large between areas..both high atlas and middle atlas have some good off-road riding either on a mix of dirt roads and walking/mule trails. Perhaps look into basing yourself in one of the ‘trekking’ centers like Imlil or in the middle atlas somewhere like imilchil perhaps. There is some great riding in the Djebel Sahro too. I made a significantly offroad tour through the area last year (https://mikesimagination.wordpress.com/category/cycling/cycle-touring/morocco/), caveat being I was on my own and touring rather than trying to do center based riding so you’ll need to do some research online about day routes – the info is there, remember seeing it. There are gites dotted around the countryside and the folk that run those can be a mine of information about paths to explore. Best bet try and get some hiking maps, and also the Reise 1:1000000 map is useful for an overall lay of the land and showing some dirt roads.

I also met some mountainbikers on a guided tour one day out on a great bit of trail, they were on a week long thing out of Marrakech with a support vehicle. Worth looking into, there are operators that do anything from day trips to week long trips.

Spoke to Marko whilst we were at Ciclo Montana about his Moroccan side of things, He said that even though he’s been going there for a few years now, he doesn’t guide, he leaves it to the local guides and he goes tail gunner as it’s a very difficult area to find the good trails, lots of junctions etc and very poor mapping.

You’d struggle to do it pricewise for what Ciclo charge I’d imagine.

Just come back from a week out there last week, did the Saddle Skeddadle Atlas traverse.

Fantastic trip, with a support team and full guiding. You could ride without support but the language gets difficult further out (unless you speak Berber) we managed about 150 miles and 17000 ft in six days.

Its not super technical but there is some great Singletrack and some epic views.

Not long back from a week in Morocco with Marco (Ciclo Montana) and just as no beer says it’s a complete maze of tracks and paths etc… And he leaves it all up to the locals. Taking the wrong path could lead to an amazing descent but leave you with a hell of a climb up to get back on track and that’s if you end up in the same valley. You can get guided days out from Marrakesh but I would bet there is a long transfer to and from the trails.

The guide we had was from Atlas Sport

The language barrier could prove tough too, although the people are amazingly welcoming (we had Berba tea made for us whilst we fixed a flat at the side of the track on more than one occasion)

Carlos

Just a quick note to say for me the Atlas where the absolute highlight of a trip to Morocco last year, we did Marrakesh and Essouira on the coast too. We went in January and had 2ft of fresh snow – the contarst between the red rock and white snow was fabulous. Couldn’t make it to the ski resort as the traffic jam was so bad !

I imagine the deal with the companies is to ensure they hire locals as guides, its only fair to provide employment. If you are going self supported I would imagine if you arrange in advance a local guide will not be too expensive even one-on-one.

You can reach the mountains from Marrakesh as a day trip (1-2 hrs ?) but doing that for a few days on end would be a waste. Suggest you stay in Marrakesh for a few days (2-3 is ample IMO) then move to a base in the mountains and say get up early for some biking when its cooler and meet the wife for a late lunch

Another vote for Ciclo here.
I reckon trying to do it by yourself would be an absolute nightmare.

The Ciclo trip was just fantastic, we were the very first group to go. Even as guinea pigs, everything ran like clockwork and the trails were amazing.

Did a week with Freeride Morocco http://www.freeridemorocco.com/ Awesome riding (very technical) and great value. Would definitely recommend.

These guys are ace with better price point than Freeride Morocco.
Trekmorroco trail holiday.
I stayed with them 2010 whilst doing this number: -http://dirtmountainbike.com/news/video-places-we-want-to-ride-morocco-ibis-cycles.html#850cBct7Usxi4wom.97.Ibis ride in Atlas range

Morocco and the Atlas range are indeed amazing, enjoy yourself where ever you end up going.