atlantic route by bicycle

[expeditiondoctor]

Hi, this time I want to take my moutainbike instead of my motorbike and cycle around the world. In north Africa I want to take the atlantic route from marocco to Dakar. I read that the atlantic route is fully sealed(paved) since 2005. Is that true ? Is it possible to cycle down to Dakar ?

[Hans Bo]

Hi,
The atlantic route is completely sealed, except for the no mans land between the border post of Morocco and Mauritania (approximately 3 km), at least it was paved when I drove down there one month ago.
It is rather difficult to answerer your question if it is feasible to cycle to Dakar.
The short answer is: No problem, there is water at least every 100km, it is paved and the people are usually very helpful and at least one car per hour. I have cycled more remote spots.
If you ask if it is desirable to cycle all the way I would say clearly not, because there is very little change of landscape in Western Sahara and in Mauritania until you reach the capital. One cyclist I talked to in Gambia, did cycle down there along the atlantic route and was really annoyed by the constant wind in Western Sahara, despite the fact that it was tailwind most the time and he felt very lonely some times.
I did some desert cycling myself and I am into empty landscapes, but I would use public transport from Laayoune to Nouakchott and cycle the route d espoir (beautiful landscapes and frequent villages) from NKT to Ayoun el Atrous from there to Mali and on into Senegal.

Greetings
Hans

[woo140]

I cycled the atlantic route from malaga (spain) to dakar last summer. Very do-able. If you like empty, vast landscape then its great, then again if not I guess it could drive you crazy.
If you have any specific questions e-mail me.
bmwoolley@gmail.com
Ben

[stellan]

Originally Posted by expeditiondoctor

Hi, this time I want to take my moutainbike instead of my motorbike and cycle around the world. In north Africa I want to take the atlantic route from marocco to Dakar. I read that the atlantic route is fully sealed(paved) since 2005. Is that true ? Is it possible to cycle down to Dakar ?

I think you can the road. I did from Casablanca to Bamako last year by mountainbike. No problem in Marocco, Western Sahara and Mauritania. The road are sealed al way now. Then i did it in september 2005 it was still 7 km with sand.







More photos at www.sandstorm.se and press "Bilder"

Good Luck

/Stellan

[Sam Rutherford]

Perfectly feasible, incredibly boring road! Er, that's it!

Sam.