We drove Mhamid to FZ today. Not done this since the last millennium in a 60 series boneshaker along the corrugated/stony northernmost track and was put off forever. Never actually ridden it.
Today, just followed our noses out of Mhamid in an auto TX; a deep-sand roller-coaster for a few km with the added risk of meeting others belting in from the camps. Even in a car there are places you'd not want to stop and try and start again.
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Minimal offroad experience? Forget it. You need sand experience, lighter bikes and preferably no luggage.
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That was my conclusion. Must be something less testing to the north? but if there is a sand-free way out of Mh, I'd be interested in seeing a tracklog.
We turned south at the Oasis then skirted the Erg's north edge along miles of soft sand ruts to Iriki. Driven this before but would't fancy riding that on a travel bike, either.
But from there we went diagonally SW across the lake (a track on OSM/free Gaia) which, even in poor viz, was great fun, threading past isolated dunes. Came in at the Control (fort, no one in) carried on west via Dakar mounds and loads of other signs/mileposts etc, then turned north via Nsour Pass (Control; pic below) which I recognise from Tim's video 4 thumbnail. All up a great route and just about the smoothest way to link FZ with Mh in a car. Who knew! Loads more enjoyable than Kem Kem to Tagounite, for example (looking forward to not doing that for another 25 years).
For 'MS7' and variants – now called S2 in the new book – westbound on a regular travel bike up to GS12 etc, I'd come in/exit via the Tagounite/Jebel Bani gap and sit it out to the north until you can cut across to the Rimal cafe on the Lac (on Google Maps), then ride as above, going low, across then up to FZ for an OJ at Ibrahim's.
Last edited by Chris Scott; 5 Days Ago at 17:30.
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