Bicycle Touring and Bikepacking

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For all the pedal pushers out there that love long distance cycling. There are no gear requirements and no 'minimum distances' here.

Have you ridden for a cheeky overnighter or a 3 year global trek? Doesn't matter, you're welcome here.

Have you got panniers, bikepacking bags or just a backpack with the essentials? Doesn't matter, you're welcome here.

Have you got the latest in carbon engineering or your dads old 10 speed from the 70's? Doesn't matter, you're welcome here.

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The Rock of Gibraltar comes into view (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 month ago by JubilantJaguar@lemmy.world to c/bicycle_touring@lemmy.world

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This after several weeks of bikepacking (literally: see photo), roughly following the coast from Alicante to Gibraltar, with a couple of short legs by train.

Surprise: it turns out that cycle touring in winter is generally more pleasant than in summer, at least in southern Europe. No need to organize the day around avoiding the midday sun and heat, and accommodation is (slightly) more affordable.

The pedelec motor helps with hills (very welcome when there are cars around). On the flat it changes precisely nothing from traditional touring. The dual suspension made the seat miraculously comfortable from day one, which was a genuine surprise and revelation.

Now in Morocco, accessible in 1 hour by a ferry which takes bikes for free.

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[–] twinnie@feddit.uk 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Good luck in Morocco. Driving isn’t terribly good there and I don’t recall ever seeing anyone doing long distances on a bike, they’re more of a local around town thing (I used to live there). Where are you planning on going there?

[–] JubilantJaguar@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Not leaving Tangier or even getting on the bike for exactly the reasons you mention! Very nice city, though.

[–] twinnie@feddit.uk 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

There’s a good train service that’ll take you all the way to Marrakech if you want. It’s cheap and you can go first class for relatively cheap. It’s one of the few things in Morocco that’s reliable and runs on time. It also stops at Rabat and Casablanca on the way. Rabat’s clean as it’s where the king lives but Casa’s a bit of a dump.

[–] JubilantJaguar@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

Yep. Really what would interest me in Morocco would be some warmth in winter, but in reality it's just as cold and damp as the rest of the Med, with even less of a culture of indoor heating and even worse insulated houses! Just spent a not-very-pleasant week in Tangier for these reasons. Same deal everywhere north of Agadir and obviously far worse in the mountains. Time to build that train line to Agadir! But Tangier was otherwise quite a pleasant surprise so I plan to go back at a more comfortable time of year.