The Highlands vs. the High Atlas
Hej, excuse the English from here on in...
Having just bailed out of my (ir)regular Wednesday ride in Uppsala due to a mechanical, I thought I'd make use of the time and post some pictures from a recent trip to the Scottish Highlands and our Spring trip to the High Atlas in Morocco.
If a comparison of the two were based on weather alone, then it wouldn't be much of a contest. Morocco makes a great place for almost guaranteed dry conditions (although not necessarily hot ones), while the Highlands had, well, very Scottish weather, while we were there.
Although the two places couldn't be more different in some respects, there were some commonalities. For a start, the riding in both proved to be very technically and physically challenging, which is nice.
Also, the people we met proved equally friendly and welcoming. Language could have proven to be a bit difficult, but fortunately my wife speaks excellent Scottish. Morocco proved to be no problem in that respect, all you need is a pair of hands to wave about. These also proved handy in the Highlands for keeping those pesky midges (Ceratopogonidae) at bay.
Anyhow, the riding is largely what we went for and we weren't disappointed in either case. In Morocco we discovered that Donkeys make excellent mountain bike trails over the millennia. So, if you plan your riding destinations around anywhere mountainous, where Donkeys form a main part of the transport network, you can't go far wrong in my book. It also benefits from some serious altitude, with Toubkal, the main peak reaching 4,167 metres and providing a quite breathtaking backdrop.
In Scotland, we based ourselves at Emma's Grannies old house, in the Wester Ross region of the North West Highlands. The house is surrounded by intriguingly and unpronounceable named 'Munro's', including Ruadh Stac Mor, Liathach and Slioch,
Some other interesting local place names which we linked include The Muir of Ord, The Kyle of Localsh and Rubha Reidh (Roober Ray).
I'd say that Scotland offers a beautifully - if not completely natural - barrenness (after all the original Scots Pines (Pinus sylvestris) were cut for fuel in the 1700's and for ammo. crates during WW1, I think).
The rides we managed in the windows of bearable weather (which makes them all the more precious) tended to start out perfectly, with hard but manageable technical singletrack climbs, then there would be a frustrating period of slogging and 'hand-bagging' before the good stuff would once again return for the descent back to civilisation. Not everyone's cup-of-tea I grant you, but if you like a really exhilarating, hard days in the wilds, then this is for you. We also stopped at Glentress on the way up, which was a fun half-day out, but not much more than that.
Anyhow, they say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here's a few, you can then decide for yourself....
THE HIGH ATLAS
===============
Not a bad backdrop
From a bit further away
Spot the village
Emma on the main road through the village
Wondering if my insurance is valid outside Europe
Congestion
There's no shame in being passed by a man on a donkey
It's not all brown and dusty
There's no smart arse comment for this one
Camping in style (although they proved highly flammable!)
THE HIGHLANDS
===============
Posing for the camera
Emma's shows her determination
Much trickier than it looks, but just as much fun
Hand-bagging
The End.
/Jamie
Having just bailed out of my (ir)regular Wednesday ride in Uppsala due to a mechanical, I thought I'd make use of the time and post some pictures from a recent trip to the Scottish Highlands and our Spring trip to the High Atlas in Morocco.
If a comparison of the two were based on weather alone, then it wouldn't be much of a contest. Morocco makes a great place for almost guaranteed dry conditions (although not necessarily hot ones), while the Highlands had, well, very Scottish weather, while we were there.
Although the two places couldn't be more different in some respects, there were some commonalities. For a start, the riding in both proved to be very technically and physically challenging, which is nice.
Also, the people we met proved equally friendly and welcoming. Language could have proven to be a bit difficult, but fortunately my wife speaks excellent Scottish. Morocco proved to be no problem in that respect, all you need is a pair of hands to wave about. These also proved handy in the Highlands for keeping those pesky midges (Ceratopogonidae) at bay.
Anyhow, the riding is largely what we went for and we weren't disappointed in either case. In Morocco we discovered that Donkeys make excellent mountain bike trails over the millennia. So, if you plan your riding destinations around anywhere mountainous, where Donkeys form a main part of the transport network, you can't go far wrong in my book. It also benefits from some serious altitude, with Toubkal, the main peak reaching 4,167 metres and providing a quite breathtaking backdrop.
In Scotland, we based ourselves at Emma's Grannies old house, in the Wester Ross region of the North West Highlands. The house is surrounded by intriguingly and unpronounceable named 'Munro's', including Ruadh Stac Mor, Liathach and Slioch,
Some other interesting local place names which we linked include The Muir of Ord, The Kyle of Localsh and Rubha Reidh (Roober Ray).
I'd say that Scotland offers a beautifully - if not completely natural - barrenness (after all the original Scots Pines (Pinus sylvestris) were cut for fuel in the 1700's and for ammo. crates during WW1, I think).
The rides we managed in the windows of bearable weather (which makes them all the more precious) tended to start out perfectly, with hard but manageable technical singletrack climbs, then there would be a frustrating period of slogging and 'hand-bagging' before the good stuff would once again return for the descent back to civilisation. Not everyone's cup-of-tea I grant you, but if you like a really exhilarating, hard days in the wilds, then this is for you. We also stopped at Glentress on the way up, which was a fun half-day out, but not much more than that.
Anyhow, they say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here's a few, you can then decide for yourself....
THE HIGH ATLAS
===============
Not a bad backdrop
From a bit further away
Spot the village
Emma on the main road through the village
Wondering if my insurance is valid outside Europe
Congestion
There's no shame in being passed by a man on a donkey
It's not all brown and dusty
There's no smart arse comment for this one
Camping in style (although they proved highly flammable!)
THE HIGHLANDS
===============
Posing for the camera
Emma's shows her determination
Much trickier than it looks, but just as much fun
Hand-bagging
The End.
/Jamie
