Getting Back to Cycling in Marrakech

  It has been a long time since I spent any quality time riding my road bike. A few years ago, before I came to Morocco, I was training for my first ultra marathon. I quickly realized that if I did not start doing some cross training I was going to be in trouble so I started cycling. I really began to enjoy cycling both solo and in group rides. So, almost immediately after arriving in Morocco I went to a bike market, bought a 

used

 bike (notice the emphasis on used), fixed it up and then realized finding somewhere to ride away from lots of traffic was very difficult. Due to this fact the bike was set aside. 

My old steel frame road bike I bought for $35

  Well, since I recently discovered the

Palmeraie area of Marrakech

I decided that I had no excuse not to get back on my bike (that and an old knee injury creeping up on me). So I cleaned up the bike, got a new inner tube, put my kit on and went for a ride. 

This was going to be an awesome picture but the camel would not look up

  As I mentioned in a previous post the Palmeraie really is a great place. I love to run there and so do lots of others, and now I can say it is an excellent place to go for a medium length ride. It is not pancake flat but since it is in Marrakech there is by no means any great elevation change and there is very little traffic. Probably the best part of riding out there was having to dodge all of the sheep and goats hanging out either in the road or close to the sides. The first flock I came up to I almost hit one of the sheep because I was ridding into the sun looking for cars and was not expecting sheep.

Video I took while riding of camels and goats

  I can not say how great if felt to get back on the bike and after that first day I went back out there the next because I had such a good time. It was a great feeling getting back out there even if there is a noise coming from my old bike that kind of terrifies me. If you have ever ridden in Morocco or know of any good races or rides here let me know below in the comments and then get out there and go for a ride.

Another Tall Truck Sighting

  As proof to substantiate my claim in my last post that the highly stacked van phenomenon was not exclusive to our neighbors, here is another sighting. Just after I posted my previous article on this topic I was down near Jma El Fna and I was lucky enough that a traffic light stopped this van for a photo op.

The Van

  The material this van is carrying is used to stuff the cushions on the Moroccan style couches. 

An Unconventional Move

  Things in Morocco are often done differently. This is not a bad thing it is just different. Like in the U.S. other than pizza or burgers we really do not eat food with our hands and never from a communal dish in the middle of the table. However, because of this we do not have Tajine or Couscous. 

  So, I cannot say that I was surprised when I looked out the window of our apartment and saw that our neighbors, who were moving, didn't have a U-Haul but were taking a different approach. They were using the tempting physics approach with a van.

The moving van

  It is always interesting driving down the road and seeing trucks piled so high occasionally tall trucks will even have cows, sheep, or goats on top. 

Exploring on a Seven Mile Run

  Since I am currently on a build up cycle in my training, my mileage is beginning to ramp up and I am constantly looking for new places to run so as not to get bored. This past Wednesday I had an easy seven miles with just enough time to fit them in over lunch so I did a little exploring in a farming area close by the city.

Sheep!

Horse!

  As is the case with almost all of Marrakech, the route was pancake flat which is a problem I am going to have to find a solution for or suffer later in some of the events I would like to participate in this year. Sadly, it was still close enough to the city that I was running on pavement and not trails but although there was no sidewalks there was (as usual) a large shoulder. Also, as usual the cars and trucks passing gave me plenty of room. The sites I got were awesome, even if the smells were not. This was due to the amazing amount of donkey cart traffic on the road taking vegetables to the city and their byproducts. 

A Farm and Farm House

An Empty Field and Mountains

  This week, if you have the time, go out on your run, ride, hike, or walk and do some exploring in your area. I remember that when I was living in the States and started running I began to discover parts of my city my friends, some of whom had lived there much longer than me, had never even heard of. So, go out and find something new or interesting. Try out a trail or bike path you have never done before, you may find your new favorite route. If you find somewhere new or interesting tell us about it in the comments below. Now get outside and enjoy!

Views From Last Week

A Sidewalk Next to a Busy Road

  Running in general takes you to many interesting places and running in Morocco can take you to some really interesting places and sights. Like the run through the middle of a huge thousand year old souq (market) or to a 1,500+ year old castle with roman ruins inside. 

  However, as most runners will attest, on a normal day of running it is getting comfortable and enjoying running in the mundane. If you're a road runner, you probably spend hours on the empty roads on the outskirts of town. If your a trail runner, you often run the same trail loop in the woods close to your house over and over again until you can make it to the big parks on the weekends. 

  One of the things that I have learned in the last few years about running is not only being comfortable in the repetitious sights but to see the unique in all of my runs. Whether it be a small park in Rabat or a long stretch of city road in Marrakech, I am thankful that I have learned to find unique things in even the most repetitive runs. Before this gets too deep lets be clear, some of these things I see could be due to dehydration, the strenuous forces placed on my body by a hard training run, or the unhealthy intake of vast amount of engine exhaust associated with running in a highly populous city. I am sure that these things are more likely.

  The pictures in this post are from some of those repetitive routes that I did this past week. Notice that in the next two I'm running in a bike/moped/scooter lane. Although in Marrakech these lanes are few, when you can find them they are an awesome relief from running on the side of big busy roads, since these lanes are seldom used by anyone not on a bicycle. 

 A Bike Lane

The Same Bike Lane

  Now, go for a run and enjoy those awesome empty roads, trails, and bike paths.