11/26/2023 Bikepacking Morocco Day 110 : Atlas Unplugged

Today’s ride is an inflection point in the journey - both geographically as well as climatically. I left the last remnants of the Anti Atlas Mountains behind this morning, along with the very dry desert air. Yes, it’s 1900 miles of flat desert ahead, but the Atlantic influence can also be felt. Gone are the days of washing my cycling kit after dark at 7pm and having it be dry by 8pm. I will miss the dry heat, but my skin and formerly chapped lips are correspondingly relieved. For my North American Friends, geographically, I’m parallel with Guerrero Negro / Chihuahua in Mexico.

My expectation was that today’s ride would be bad - I had been searching for an alternative route through the desert (as opposed to the lone paved highway). Satellite imagery revealed two possible routes that paralleled the pavement - but you can never be sure what you will find on the ground in places with sand dunes. Some sections looked like they could be 1mph pushers. I made some fake strava segments and zero people had done any of the stuff I had been considering. Moreover, the “bike shop” guy said it was impossible. I had some intrigue to conduct a scouting mission (even though I knew the scenery would be the same)… but there is also this precious weather window that I’m paying attention to. In the end, the main highway between Guelmim and Tan Tan was excellent riding. First, it was a Sunday morning, meaning almost no vehicular traffic. Second, the entire 70 mile stretch is 4 lane highway, but because it is under repair, the cars are only allowed to use two of the lanes. This meant that I had my own 30 foot wide, independent and paved bike path to relax and just enjoy the ride. Which I did until that 8-12mph head wind picked up around 1pm.

This morning, I went to do one last check on the puppies, but unfortunately the vet was closed early on Sunday. I’ll miss those cute little fur balls. I had expected to dislike Guelmim, but instead, I liked it a lot. Because today was on a highway with zero intervening small villages, I saw almost no children. Just as in Guelmim, the couple of people I met in Tan Tan were also welcoming and friendly. These experiences continue to solidify my belief that tourism can pollute local people; my favorite locales are often just the boring and regular places.

I pulled over every 10 miles to check and adjust blood sugar, drop a pin, and eat or drink. During one of these stops, a van pulled over, a guy jumped out and broke a 1.5 liter bottle out of its 12 pack shrink wrap. He came running over a small gulley and insisted I take it - without me even asking. Most passing drivers gave thumbs up.

Later, I saw a guy sitting behind his parked truck. I thought maybe he had broken down, so I stopped to offer him water or help. He looked at me befuddled. “Maybe he doesn’t understand French?” I left him with, « c’est bon? »? « Oui » he replied. in my rear view mirror, though, I saw him get up and walk around the truck to stare at my receding bike with a puzzled look. A few minutes later I saw another truck pulled over. But this time I got it. He had his prayer mat out and he was bowing up and down in bare feet. It wasn’t Yoga time. It was prayer time. Yeah, I may have caught that other guy right after his prayer.

One thing that I had been meaning to report was the paucity of people I have seen praying. I hear the mosques almost every day - even when I’m in pretty remote locations - but until now have hardly seen anyone on those mats - and today I saw a dozen. Maybe there are regional differences in devotion, or maybe it’s just that this is a good excuse for the truckers to all simultaneously take pee breaks. I haven’t been in a highway like this with truckers until today, but a cyclist could get 5 brief respites from traffic on a daily basis if they simply go to and download the schedule. If you didn’t know: There is a official prayer schedule, and it changes every day in relation to the sunrise and set.

Today’s prayer schedule is as follows:

05:19
06:38
12:08
15:16
17:38
19:00

Wait! That is six prayers. This would be perfect for my friend Nancy Prier who always has to do “bonus miles”.

Interestingly, I noticed that everyone I saw was also quite adept in their knowledge of the cardinal directions. I think I need to know that for my wind analysis (though the reality these days is that “the direction you are heading dictates the inverse of the wind direction”). Every time I saw someone praying, they had a perfect rhumb towards Mecca. The best pray-er of the day was a man with a horse drawn carriage parked on the side of the highway. The horse patiently waited as he knelt and bowed several times. The arches of his bare feet arched tightly. Of course, a photo of this picture perfect moment was desired, but not sought; you’ll have to use your imagination.