Cycling - and particularly mountain biking - is becoming an increasingly popular pursuit for Western travellers to Morocco. The country's regular roads are well maintained and by European standards very quiet, while the extensive network of pistes - dirt tracks - makes for exciting mountain bike terrain, leading you into areas otherwise accessible only to trekkers or four-wheel drive expeditions.

 

The biggest negative factor is the pest of local kids in the countryside, who for some reason have developed a fondness for the sport of throwing stones at cyclists. You need to keep your wits about you, wherever you cycle, and your eyes wide open. The heat and the long stretches of dead straight road across arid, featureless plains - the main routes to (or beyond) the mountain ranges - can all too easily drain your energy. Additionally, public water is very rare - there are very few roadside watering places such as are found in Europe - and towns and villages are often a long way apart.

Regular roads - are generally surfaced ( goudronné or revêtue ) but narrow, and you will often have to get off the tarmac to make way for traffic. Beware also of open land-drains close to the roadsides, and loose gravel on the bends.

Cycling on the pistes , mountain bikes come into their own with their "tractor" tyres and wide, stabilizing handlebars. There are few pistes that could be recommended on a regular tourer. By contrast, some intrepid mountain bikers cover footpaths in the High Atlas, though for the less than super-fit this is extremely heavy going. Better, on the whole, to stick to established pistes - many of which are covered by local trucks, which you can pay for a ride if your legs (or your bike) give out.