Morocco to Togo and back in a month?

[Overland2010]

Hello members of horizons unlimited,

Over the past month myself and a good friend of mine have been planning a trip from Morocco to Togo.
In the summer of 2010 we have about a 4 and a half weeks in which we both are free. Our intention is to make it to Togo and back in this time period. Although we have no prior experience on bikes... we are extreme outdoorsmen in great shape, and would most definitely be able to handle the hardships of this trip that may be caused by lack of experience on bikes.
I have done a lot of reading and have decided to come here to see what help I could get with planning the best route to Togo and back. As well as to see if it is even possible to complete this journey in the allotted time period.

Thank you for your time,

Alex

[markharf]

You haven't done enough reading. Forget "hardship:" without riding experience you've got no idea how to assess risk, consequence, distance, difficulty, fitness....or anything else that might be relevant (like, for example, humility). So start by buying a bike, getting licensed, and riding a lot. No one can do that for you, much less on the internet.

And, as you'll see when you start inspecting your fellow riders, being "outdoorsmen" in "great shape" has little to do with any of the above. Really.

Second: that's not enough time, even for an experienced rider. You'd be riding hard, every day for a month straight. You can't do it, and neither can 98% of those reading this post. You won't like it, and will give up in disgust even if you don't get run down by an errant bache in a moment of inattention.

On the other hand, it might be that only by trying such silly stuff and failing miserably will you learn the necessary attitudes for later success. In which case, please carry on....but be sure to leave yourself some escape hatches along the way.

Hope this helps.

Mark

Edit to add: Oh my. I just noticed that you're thinking summertime. Don't forget to look into certain salient weather-related issues.

[Overland2010]

After re-reading my initial post I realize I sounded quite arrogant. Sorry for that... We do intend on training as much as we can in the coming months on bikes and through different courses offered here in Colorado. So that hopefully will give us a little more advantage. I mean obviously we will have nowhere near the experience many of this sites members have but still a little more advantage.

I also understand that the trip would be of great difficulty, and we by no means underestimate the dangers of the road... or sandy pathway in this case.
Would you or anyone else be able to recommend a more feasible path to travel in one months time?
What would be a more appropriate time frame for traveling such a distance?
So I just found a flight from Ghana to Barcelona, our return destination, for $750 would it be feasible to travel just to Ghana and fly back?

Alex