Jeremy and Juline from Mosko’s Europe team returned recently from an epic 3-week-long Morocco dual sport trip with Raphael from Outback Motortek France, along with his girlfriend, Noelie. 

The crew assembled the plan using GPX tracks, including gravel roads, two-track, and singletrack, sourced from friends, the DMD2 app, and various GPX file-sharing websites. Although they hadn’t all ridden in Morocco previously, they knew their destination: the famous dunes of Merzouga near the Algerian border and the Atlas Mountains.Jeremy and Raphael prepped the two KTM 500s, Husqvarna 350, and WR250F with higher-speed gearing and pre-trip maintenance. The crew opted to keep their kits lightweight and minimalist for this trip, forgoing gear and prioritizing building a route through technical and tight terrain. Their small kits consisted of basic tools, water and fuel filtration, and a few changes of clothes. They left their sleeping bags and camping gear at home and instead brought sleeping bag liners for the more buggy accommodations as they hopped between inexpensive hotels each night. 

After making their way through Spain and ditching their van in a friend’s warehouse near Almería, they took a 12-hour night ferry across the Alboran Sea to Nador and started south through Morocco. Their plan was loose each day, mostly consisting of examining the tangle of GPX tracks, identifying ones that roughly followed the direction they wanted to go, and setting off until they found a suitable spot to stay for the night.

The first week of the trip took them south through the Moroccan countryside, with the ultimate destination being Merzouga and the Atlas Mountains. They followed old GPX tracks from the original Paris-Dakar rally, making their way south from town to town.No plan is the best plan–until things go sideways, anyway. They intended to travel smart and keep ride distances manageable each day, but sometimes the appeal of the void calls, and you have to answer.On one ride day, the crew was enticed by some spicier singletrack on the map and ended up at the bottom of a river canyon, unable to return due to the technical nature of the route. They continued to push forward down the river, but travel slowed.After traveling about 20 km in six hours, they were dangerously low on water, fuel, and food. Running the risk of spending a cold and minimally prepared night in the canyon, Raphael set off to find a route out. Shortly, he encountered a local farmer, who gave him some fruit and guided the group to a road out to the farmer’s house.The day turned around entirely when they found some overnight accommodations not far away, including breakfast and dinner, for just €30 for all four riders.

Erg Chebbi in Merzouga is renowned for its vast expanses of flowing, golden-red sand. Jeremy had been wanting to ride dunes for years, and the intent was to get down there and live out a Dakar rally racer-inspired fantasy, exploring the wind-swept landscape. 

The Erg didn’t disappoint, and the crew extended their time to three days of riding and exploring to take it all in, during which they crossed paths with the Rally HRC Team out on a training mission.

Like most trips, this one wasn’t without its share of mechanicals. The well-prepared ride crew managed to resolve any repairs that arose, including sourcing a €17 chain for Jeremy’s bike on the return trip north.They wrapped up the trip with a route through the Atlas Mountains and then headed back north to the sea before crossing into Spain. This group was looking forward to exploring Morocco for years; and, they're stoked to say Morocco delivered: plenty of technical riding, wide-open desert, and a few “we probably shouldn’t be here” moments that will last for years.