Morocco to Porgugal

[nightcrawler13]

hi everyone!

I received my 5 year all clear for cancer, so on the 4th of July I'm going to be cycling from Casablanca to Lisbon, 730 miles in 7 days! I currently have a Univega hybrid, but my work has just signed up to Bike2Work scheme, so I can get any bike under £1000 from Halfords (I know, but it's the only option we have)

So I've had a few people look at the options for me and the general consensus seems to be that the Tifosi CK1 Cyclocross Road Bike is the best choice

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/...uctId_872947_langId_-1_categoryId_165710#tab2


Apparently it's a speedy road bike designed for trails, so will be able to handle the shitty roads I'll have to be dealing with, plus it's made to have racks and such attached, so can carry the vast amounts of water i'll need in the Moroccan July sun!

Any advice would be wonderful, in regards to the bike and the trip itself, I'll leave a link below for my justgiving and blog in case anyone is interested

http://www.JustGiving.com/DanTasticBikeAdventure

http://www.farkThatsCool.com

 

[chrtho]

Congratulations!

Apparently it's a speedy road bike designed for trails

Which means it's probably not designed for hills. Have you chosen your route yet? How hilly is it?

 

[suffolkcindy]

cyclocross bikes are definately designed for hills and thrills - usually have a triple
sounds wonderful
wish you fun and sun

 

[Yellow7]

Hi nightcralwer.

Last year I cycled through Portugal and Morroco enroute to capetown, as far as water you're never far from supplies on the coastal route, there's plenty of villages and town, I used a Katadyn 'Pocket' water filter on tap water but expect you'll be using bottled? I only started carrying 8 litres when in Western sahara & Mauritania, of which the roads were pristine....

As far as road condition down to casablanca they're really quite good, obviously depends on what route you follow but I expect as you're doing century days you'll stick to the main roads so will ensure a good pace. My blog shows the route I followed should you like to look. Hope this helps.

Mark wallisonwheels

 

[nightcrawler13]

thanks chrtho (i live in Manchester as well!) and suffolkcidy
Mark, that trip looks epic!! As someone who has ridden across Africa you might be able to calm my nerves....
I've had a lot of people tell me my route is stupid, as it will be too hot to cycle. My plan is to get up around 4-5am, cycle till noon, spend a few hours in the shade eating/hydrating/napping, then finish off my 100 and be in bed for 9-10ish. Does that seem reasonable to you? I'm going to read your whole blog whilst I eat my dinner shortly, so if my questions are answered in it then I apologize
I'm getting the ferry from Tangier to Tarifa, then cycling up to Seville as I can't get any information about whether I can cycle through the Donana National Park, so I'm assuming I have to go up and round before I can get back to the coast.... Which seems to be a pain, but not much I can do around that.
Would you recommend getting the pocket water filter or is the bottled water cheap enough to buy as I need?
Can I get away with wild camping in Portugal, Spain and Morocco? I couldn't find campsites outside of main cities, though I was sort of hoping they just didn't have websites, I was thinking I'd just set up somewhere shaded in the evening?
Final question, I'm getting some pains in the front of my knees, at the top of the kneecap, my seat is pretty high up, and the internet keeps advising me to raise my seat, if I raised it any higher I wouldn't be able to cycle! Is there some magic combo of elevation, rest and stretch I can use to sort it out?
Thanks so much for your time!

 

[Yellow7]

Well I arrived in Morroco on 10th Nov 2010 so was cooler but it doesn't get that hot, it's only Northern Africa (almost europe!!) I prefer to crack out the miles rather than stop but it's down to preference (I cycled Route 66 on 2008 on century days and Mexico and california was 45'c).

I hope you've got a 5 course dinner as there's a few pages to read on my blog,!!... if you want to chat send me a private message and we can talk ov phone or skype if you'd like.

Yes, you can cycle through the Donana National park, that was just ace there as such little traffic but so much beauty. There's a tarmac route through / along it with dirst road diversion at various point, don't miss it, I still remember that section so clearly.

For a trip that size the water filter is not required (and there £200+), as far as supplies (food) Morroco is pretty much like europe, fanta, coke, water etc all at normal prices. Just be warned about the pesky "come and have a look at this sir" from people tyring to get money for this or that, that sort of shyed me away from people as it can get annoying and difficult to know if they are genuinly friendly or just after your wonga.

In Portugal you're spoilt for campsites, there's a chain of them iI found every 50/60 miles apart, and were open 363 days of the year, I rode that part off-season so was pretty much the only one in the campsites, also they had free wifi so was just perfect, as you're going in-season you'll find even more open, every main costal town will have one, rest assured.

I had knee problems in Morroco, through some of the Atlas mountain section, maybe get that checked out but as far as saddle height I have mine set so I get full leg length, and use a Brooks saddle WITH the big springs, unlike many tourers, that makes it so much more comfortable as they are essentially shock absorbers, helpng smooth out occasional bumps, of which also reduces stress on the frame / spokes .

Pic is of Donana park:
https://picasaweb.google.com/yellowafrica/4Portugal#5754694896869068402

 

[Tight Git]

Have a look at the Boardman Team CX as well - a little bit more but the Boardmans seem well rated and reviewed (I have the hybrid and it's been excellent).

HTH

 

[nightcrawler13]

It seems I should be expecting highs of 40', If I can just ride through that type of heat then I shall, it's not really something I can practice in Manchester, I tried wearing loads of layers for practice but it's not really the same

Your blog is great, it's made me want to make mine look nicer, so your helping me on many fronts

Just to check about Donana park.... My route is taking me up to Seville because nothing on the internet seems to indicate that I can cross the river and travel through the park, so did you cycle through it and out the other side or is it more that you can go for a cycle around the park? I'd love to stay close to the coast so I can keep cooler, so if it's possible (and that photo makes it look like a lovvvvvvvely ride through) I'll be a happy tourer

I dealt with a lot of those types in India, I'm pretty good at chatting along up until the point they want me to follow them to somewhere, then I just wander off. I got ripped off within an hour of arriving in India from a fake tour booking shop my hotel sent me to, luckily I pestered a military cop into helping me get my money back I'm a bit more weary now

I'm going to try and bosh out the 210 miles from Casablanca to Tangier in two days, so I can get on the ferry to Tarifa first thing in the morning on the third day, that way I have more time to deal with navigating my way through Spain!

I'm buying my last bits of kit, your opinions would be great

I have a single pannier currently, going to buy a matching one, super waterproof and holds quite a bit,
Avenir 23 litre pannier

If I bring an overshoulder duffel bag to put my stuff in for the flight, then decant it all into panniers, that makes more sense then bringing a full on rucksack yea?

I need to buy a multi-tool, mine is terrible, do i need anything better than one of these, a spoke key and a spanner?

I need to buy a backpack to put a water bladder into, all the camelbacks have flat backs which I'm thinking will make me hot(ter) and sweaty(er), so I think I'm going to buy this pack, is there any super pack somewhere I should have a look at?

 

[Yellow7]

I avoided Seville and went through a town just south 'Dos Hermanas', there was a camp site there, the route through the Donana park was actually at the side but still extremely scenic and traffic free, zoom into my blog's map and you'll see. (good to read my blog's inspiring yours, I used software from Artisteer, as Google’s templates are a tad plane and doesn't make your blog unique, all depends on what you're after, it can consume a lot of time getting things 'just right'.

Be warned that the capital city of Rabat is a busy place, best buy a map or your daily distance time will be consumed getting lost in the maze of the city.

The Tangier ferry port is also about 30Km from Tangier!!.. It’s a new, bigger port to cope with the increasing ferry numbers, again, my map shows where I entered (it's possible the ferry you've booked does depart from Tangier but my ferry ticket did say Algericas(Spain) to Tangier so be really cautious on that one.

The panniers look fine, should be little rain (it's all here!!) ;-!

For luggage if you've paid extra for the bicycle you'll still have your normal (20kg?) allowance so could just use cardboard boxes as your normal luggage, and yes, rucksack for hand luggage.

As far as tools I use standard allen key's and chain tools etc, those multi tools looks a bit fiddly but if the bikes set up ok before you go you should be fine, and just need a 15mm spanner for the pedals (Left pedal being a REVERSE thread)

I'd never wear a backpack /rucksack when touring, you're right, it'll make you sweat and cycling for 6-7 hours would get uncomfortable. If you're not using front racks then maybe lash a couple of water bottles onto the handlebars if there's space. I carried two of these in a 2-litre version from here for the desert sections, but again, you're never that from the next town on that section your doing. Even tying a 2-litre coke/fanta container onto your bars. I carried three 1-litre SiS bottles on the frame.

In spain you need to wear a helmet when out of towns and cities, altough most time I never bothered, I wore a full-brim hat to keep the sun at bay but be on the look out for dibble wanting to make a quick fine.
Any more questions fire away, I'm glad to help you....
Mark

 

[Brains]

Heat.
We did s. of France a few summers ago, we found that at 40c you sweat so much and use up so much energy that is is easier to do the local siesta thing and do a long lunch and continue cycling into the early evening.

We found that we could all tell when the magic 40c had been reached, and so stopped at around 38/39c irrespective of the actual time of day

 

[nightcrawler13]

ahhh, I was hoping I could cycle through the middle of Donana National Park, and come out at Sanlucar de Barrameda, i knew I was asking for too much I use Yola, which is incredibly basic really and quite templated as to what I can do, but I bought my web domain through it and it has widgets for google ads once I get enough traffic flowing through it so I can begin to profit in more ways than one from my travels

I'll attempt to avoid going through the centre of Rabat, try to stick to the coastal road and bypass it, I don't want to be distracted by stuff, food and pretty girls when I still have 40 miles to go!

Someone has lent me some front panniers, but I'm not sure if I'm bringing enough to fill them, so might just use them to store water and food so I don't need to stop as often. I was thinking about just using boxes to take the bike over, but I couldn't get any reply from Lisbon airport as to whether they'd have any for my return.... Plus, I'm going to a festival the day I finish journey (The Cure, Radiohead and Stone Roses) and have to get up pretty early to get the flight home, so don't want to be relying upon others to find me a box before I take the bike down. Also, having the bike bag means I can carry it onto a train to get me from Marakesh (where I arrive) to Casablanca (where I start) as I've been told by a few people on Couchsurfing that they won't let me bring a bike on board!

I didn't realize that about Spain, thanks for the heads up. I have a massive head, so will need to start trying to find a helmet today as most in shops don't fit me

Brains - I'll be going for that technique too I think, maybe add a swim into the lunch time plan to ease my knees a bit

Thanks so much everyone! I'm off to get a steam extension and foot holds fitted, my bike becomes more practical day by day

 

[Yellow7]

There are dirt trails through the park but expect could prove easy to go wrong so, with your daily distance, best stick to tarmac, again, it was an absolutely ace section, smooth tarmac, clear skies,

In the Pyrenese I was colared by dibble for no helmet, i'd been in the country only minutes, it was a police check-point just on the Spanish side, apart from that I never had problemo's señor.

Rabat is perched on the coast and the coastal route will feed you into it, just ensure you keep as far left (coast) but it does get traffic manic, maybe print some google-earth zoom in sections of that area just to play safe.

If you are following the coastal route all the way to Lisbon you’ll need to take the ferry from Troia Peninsula over to Setubal (the peninsula was very nice as such little traffic), and then also another ferry from Almada over to Lisbon itself, the bridge there has motorway regulations so no cycling permitted. If you are taking that route I expect both these will be crossed on your last day.

What is your blog address?

 

[nightcrawler13]

here is my blog

here's a video someone made about my trip

and here is my donation page

thanks so much for your help Mark! I'm off to catch a plane, tide and time wait for no man!

 

[Yellow7]

All the best man! I've added your blog to my fav's!