Ride Report - Atlas Mountain Race

Posted By Gravel Union On 15 September 2020

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Sometimes you need some mental head space to process everything that you experienced during an event. Shimano Gravel Alliance rider Stefan Haehnel recounts his adventures in the 2020 Atlas Mountain Race.

Atlas Mountain Race

15-22.02.2020

1145KM

https://www.komoot.de/collection/888220/atlas-mountain-race-2020

Marrakech > Agadir

Morocco

20,000m

75%

Cicli Bonanno – Stay Loco

2.0”

Morocco is a great winter destination to escape the dark and cold times in Germany. It’s not too far away and the weather in February is sunny, dry and hot. Back in winter 2015, I completed my first ride across the Atlas Mountain Range. This time, I was pretty sure - I’ve an idea what I signed up for. Through various personal reports from the Silk Road Mountain Race, the first race scouted and organized by Nelson Trees, I knew Nelson likes the rough stuff. And so it was - rough - but a new level of roughness, in multiple ways!

Starting in Marrakech, almost 200 single riders and a few dozen pairs headed straight out the capital over dusty roads, guarded by an impressive amount of local police. The mission for Day 01 was climbing to the highest point of the race, the Telouet Pass at 2600m. Fun fact: There was a new gravel road leading up to the summit, but on the other side - just nothing. It meant our first hike-a-bike over a rock field before an old mule trail appeared, which was unrideable anyway. Check Point 01 was just after 123km, which took me around 9hours to reach. The sun was starting to set. I got a bit scared, would the whole race be slow like this? I got my brevet card stamped, filled up water and continued pedalling.

During the night I made a first big learning: More than half of the day, after sunset until around 8am there isn’t a high chance to resupply with clean water. The few small shops along the road are closed and taking water from natural resource is tricky unless you carry a proper filter system. (I just had disinfectant tablets which I used twice.)

Crossing dozen of dried out river beds in total darkness, I got scared by goats and accidentally woke up the shepherds – the first night was tough. Of course, I didn’t manage to speed up the game during the night-time. I decided to ride on, to benefit from the lower temperatures, instead of starting after sunrise with just a small reserve of water. A little red light showed up beside the path - another rider set up his camp and prepared food - I noticed I’m hungry as well. Just a bit later I got frightened by suspicious noises close to the track. One more rider looking for shelter? No! As I pointed my headlight to the right three camels were standing just a few meters besides the road. Hello friendly strangers. Around 5pm I stopped at kilometer 250 – 20 hours riding in. A main road was nearby where I could get some food and water even after sunset.

Three hours later the sun was up, two riders passed by as I packed my bivi bag. After I had some omelette, tea and coke, a 100km stretch without any re-supply was ahead. Five, six hours, how long 100km will take? At the end it was more than 9 hours - almost the whole day. The terrain was barren and hilly, the sun was burning everything. I got low on water, again. As I arrived at the next small shop, the sun was already at the horizon of the Anti-Atlas mountains. As so often during the event I eat bread with some kind of cheese (alternatively canned fish), yogurt drinks and chocolate snacks. I packed as much water as possible and continued after a little chat with locals.

Shoes on - shoes off - the night started with a few river crossings. Not always easy to find the perfect way through the water in darkness. A tarmac section ended with a long ascent, a little village marked the top of the mountain. Instead of finding water I just spotted other riders sleeping behind low walls. As I was about to leave town I could hardly believe my eyes - an Auberge! Open! In the middle of the night, lucky me. After the usual dinning - omelette, sweet Moroccan mint tea and coke - I got a shower and three more hours of sleep.

Before I was starting to pedal out in the dark, I was a bit keen to experiment with my choice for breakfast, omelette, tea and Fanta. My navigation device was dying during sunrise. Luckily it rebooted after some nervous minutes and showed me the track again. But this procedure happened a few times during the next days, at the end it just recorded about 400km of the whole route.

The first time since the start I spotted a control car at the track. As a racer, do you stop for a chat? I’m not sure, I pedalled on while greeting Lian, Chiara and Jacopo.

The 3rd day was characterised by the remoteness of the Anti-Atlas. To be honest, some memories from day three and four are blurred. Probably because I couldn’t take a look in my analogue recordings. After the endless shaking, my point and shoot camera, which I was carrying on the bike to capture the race, stopped working. (I had a 2nd camera in my luggage, which was waiting at the finish line.)

As the sun set, I was extremely exhausted and tired that day. There should be an Auberge in the next village, the road book said. So, I planned to get some much needed food and a few hours of sleep. When I figured out there’s just a little bar with snack, I was disappointed. A dozen men where drinking tea and watching soccer. I had bread with canned fish and coke. In the bathroom I spotted a shower. The owner said, I just have to wait 10 minutes for warm water then I can use it. In the right moment small things can make you so happy!

After all this I felt fresh and decided to move on into the dark. There was a lot of nothing. No noises beside the sound of tires rolling over gravel. Absolute darkness, with one of the most amazing starlit skies I ever saw. I even stopped for a few minutes to turn off my lights and enjoyed this sky with millions of stars. Of course, I was tired, but not too bad anymore – I pushed on and on. Might it be possible to reach CP2 this night and get a bed and food there? The path was going uphill, little but steady. After hours of riding through the night I managed to reach the top before descending again. I knew Aguinane Palmery, and so CP2 Auberge le Paradis, must be close. This place looks amazing, a narrow valley with a palm oasis. Unfortunately, I was passing at night and so only know this place just from Lian’s photos.

Day 4. Was hot, again. The last Check Point 3 was not even 300km away. Yes, would be nice to end the days with food, a shower and a bed. Unfortunately, it worked out different. A lot uphill and more of that mysterious rough stuff. This meant pushing and walking. Not just up the switchbacks of the old colonial road with its broken corners, where we had to climb through like a mountaineer. During the whole race I was walking for more the 30km.

The last night was not as quiet as the last one. The rocky track followed a dried out riverbed for some kilometers, when two handful of dogs came close, barking wildly, following me. As the first dog was just a meter a way I was screaming as loud as I could. They seemed impressed and stopped, I moved on fast.

After leaving the riverbed behind I reached a mountain plateau, CP3 was probably just about 50km away and dawn had announced the day already. But I just was to sleepy to move on. I lay down, literally beside the road, and took one hour of sleep. Breakfast and a shower at Check Point 3 was exactly what i needed. Considering the previous strains, I felt pretty good and ready to go for the last stretch of the race.

Skip - I might just repeat myself at this point. More river beds, more hike a bike, more rough stuff. At the end it was hard, believe me. And no, I don’t complain anymore about the 5km walk through a sandy desert right before the finish line. The challenge was high, I finished with a reasonable 12th place. It was worth it, and looking back at it with a few months in between, I’m sure I would race the AMR again.