Gear

This is a post about the gear I took on our Morocco High Atlas Traverse by MTB trip – further down is a list of the gear. All three of us were on 26″ full-suspension MTBs, and used various bits of bikepacking gear. All in all this meant we were carrying about 50 lb of gear (taking into account food and water), on top of the bikes (which generally weighed around 30 lb unladen). Apart from some loose chainring bolts (sorted quickly) and my snapped derailleur hanger (I carried a spare, so, again, we fixed this at the time), the bikes and gear performed brilliantly. If the proverbial really hit the fan and we all had to overnight out in the open then we each carried a plastic survival bag, which, with our sleeping bags, could have got us through the night down to about -5 to -10°C – luckily this wasn’t needed! (all accommodation was pre-booked) We checked historic weather records for the time of year for the areas we were going through, including at the highest altitude we’d reach (the temperature drops approximately 7°C every 3,000 ft due the the environmental lapse rate).

The biggest amount of prep came in the form of putting together the route. This include many hours scouring satellite imagery to find trails where the GPS-traces that we were able to find online were lacking. My previous life as a cartographer/geospatial-analyst came in useful, whereby I scanned the EWP maps into Esri’s ArcGIS tool, georeferenced them, then added our intended GPS routes over the top to create a set of paper custom EWP-based maps for us, with the route highlighted (this meant that we only needed to carry the bare minimum of paper, considering that using the EWP maps you buy off the shelf to cover our route would have been much heavier and bulkier). Also, for our two Garmin eTrex GPS units, I managed to install the brilliant Olaf Maps onto the units as basemaps, which meant we had contour maps on our GPS screens, also showing rivers, roads and some villages with our GPS route overlain too – we then generally tended to use the GPS units for navigation, so that we could keep moving, consulting the paper custom-EWP maps if needed, including for planning in the evenings, once we were actually in Morocco.

Because we were unsupported, with no tour company, guide or vehicle back-up being able to take over if things went wrong, and due to the remoteness of much of our trip, including being off-road, plus often being many days on foot from medical facilities, we also used a SPOT satellite tracker. Shim, my girlfriend, could then follow our location in real-time and knew our intended route – the device included an ‘SOS’ button, similar to an emergency beacon, which if pressed meant that the Moroccan rescue authorities would be passed our location by satellite so that they could then attempt to perform a rescue (this was enabled by having a GEOS search and rescue insurance policy linked to the SPOT satellite tracker). Thankfully, we didn’t need to use the SOS button!

Mobile phone coverage was surprisingly good up out of the remote valleys, but could not be relied upon in the valleys. This was a big and demanding trip, which on a number of days meant 10-15 hours of riding – having the option to call on a mobile was therefore incredibly useful. On Day 2 we used my mobile to make a call from a remote hilltop, and on Day 6 a few miles from Anguelz, in both cases to let the proprietors of our accommodation know that were still coming and needed dinner!

We pretty much wore one set of clothes solidly for 2 weeks, washing padded biking shorts and jerseys as often as we could!

Bike
– Frame: Trek Fuel EX9.9 21.5″ 2012 OCLV Carbon / OCLV Carbon Stays
– Forks: Fox Float RLC FIT 32 120mm 2012 tapered 2012
– Rims: Mavic XM819 26″ Black 32-spoke
– Spokes: DT Swiss Competition DB Black
– Spoke Nipples: DT Swiss Pro Lock
– Front Hub: Hope Pro2 Evo 110 x 15mm
– Rear Hub: Hope Pro 2 Evo 142mm x 12mm
– Tyres: Maxxi High Roller II EXO TR 26″
– Tubes: Continental MTB 26″ x 1.75″-2.5″ Presta 42 mm
– Front Shifters: Shimano Deore M530 Rapid Rise 3 Speed LH Front
– Rear Shifters: Shimano Deore M530 Rapid Rise 9 Speed RH Rear
– Chainrings & Crank: Shimano XTR M970 175mm 22 / 32 / 44 (Hollow Tech II) 9 Speed with Titanium / Carbon Fibre Middle Chainring
– Bashguard: Spire Big Ring protector (clear)
– Front Mech: Shimano Deore M591 Conventional 9 Speed
– Rear Mech: Shimano XTR M970 Rapid Rise 9 Speed SGS Long Cage
– Rear Cassette: Shimano XTR M970 11-34 9 Speed with Top 4 Cogs in Titanium Alloy
– Chain: Shimano HG93 9-Speed
– Bottom Bracket: Trek BB90/95 Shimano Bearing Kit (Press-fit)
– Pedals: Time Roc Atac
– Brakes: Hope C2 Hydraulic Disc with 205 mm rotors at Front & 180 mm rotors at Rear (both 6 bolt)
– Front Brake Adapter: Hope Tech 74mm Post Mount to 51mm IS Caliper Adaptor
– Rear Brake Adapter: Hope Tech IS > IS +20mm HBIS20
– Handlebars: Ritchey 760 mm
– Headset: Cane Creek IS-3 E2
– Grips: Race Face Good ‘n’ Evil Black
– Stem: Bontrager RL Stem 31.8mm, 5°, 90mm, Black
– Seat: SDG Bel Air (v1.0) RL Titanium (Rails) Black
– Seat Post: Thomson Elite In-line, 410 mm, 31.6 mm, Black

Sleeping:
– Marmot Helium 850+ fill -9°C down sleeping bag
– Lifeventure silk sleeping bag liner

Luggage:
– Porcelain Rocket MCA Handlebar System
– Porcelain Rocket Booster Rocket Seat Pack
– Ortlieb 7 Litre PU Coated Dry Bag (for sleeping bag, liner & down jacket)
– Osprey Escapist backpack 32L M/L
– Exped Dry Bag (to be liner for backpack)
– Exped Dry Bag (to be spare for food)
– Exped Dry Bag small (for belongings in handlebar bag)
– Topeak Drybag 6″ for smartphone with handlebar mount
– Ortlieb A3 waterproof mapcase & lanyard
– x2 bungee cords

Clothing:
– Gore GoreTex Paclite waterproof lightweight jacket
– Regatta £5 waterproof lightweight trousers (could be cut-down if needed)
– Western Mountaineering Flight Series 850+ fill down jacket
– Gore Microfleece
– Trekking trousers, zippable at knee to make into shorts
– x2 pairs of padded liner shorts
– x2 long sleeve merino tops
– x1 short sleeved cycling jersey with pockets and zip on rear
– x2 pairs of Helly Hansen long johns
– x1 pair 4″-high merino socks
– x1 pair 2″-high quick wicking socks
– x1 pair short SealSkinz waterproof midweight
– x1 pair arm warmers
– x1 pair Gore knee warmers
– x1 thin Mountain Hardwear beany skullcap
– x1 thin cotton bandana
– x1 pair midweight long fingered padded bike gloves
– x1 pair silk sock liners
– x1 pair silk glove liners
– x1 silk balaclava
– x1 fleece buff
– SIDI Dominator 5 cleated cycling shoes

Tools & Spares:
– Topeak Hexu Multitool with chain breaker
– Leatherman Wave with pliers, knife, file, cable cutter, scissors
– Mini pump
– x2 spare 26″ tubes
– x1 spare tyre
– Tyre boot material
– Puncture kit
– x2 Spare spokes: x2 256mm 2mm, x2 258mm 2mm
– x4 2mm spoke nipples, DT Swiss Pro Lock (not standard)
– Spoke key 3.23/3.30/3.45mm
– Selection of nuts, bolts & washers
– Spare cleat & bolts (Time Atac)
– Zip ties
– Mech hanger
– Duct tape (for bike fixes, bag rips & first aid!)
– 1m thin garden wire
– Spare chainring bolts
– Gear cable x1
– Disc pads x3 pairs (x6 pads)
– x3 tyre levers (x2 metal, x1 plastic)
– Blue Loctite

Comms, Navigation & Media:
– Suunto watch & spare batteries
– Samsung Note 3 smartphone with 128GB SD memory, with lead
– Garmin eTrax with MicroSD with batteries plus GPX-route & Olaf maps basemaps of Morocco
– GoPro Hero 3 with battery, spare battery, backpanel LCD, 64GB microSDs, leads, camera helmet mount
– GoPro handlebar remote with spare battery and mount
– USB charger plus Moroccan adaptor
– PowerMonkey Discovery charging unit plus charging lead
– x3 Spare batteries for Samsung Note 3
– EWP 1:140K paper maps for route (custom) – 2 copies
– NG 1:1M map of Morocco showing route (custom)
– Compass with Mirror
– Earbud headphones

Medical, Safety & Hygiene:
– Earplugs
– Spork
– 10m paracord (for crossing rivers in spate – not needed in end)
– 2m long survival bag
– Front light, rechargeable via USB
– Back light, rechargeable via USB
– Rechargeable light USB lead
– Glasses
– Sunglasses & case
– Paracetamol 20 tabs
– Ibuprofen 20 tabs
– Dioralyte 10 sachets
– Piriton 10 tabs
– Imodium x20 tabs
– Suncream factor 50 200ml
– Doxycycline antibiotic x10 tabs 1 per day – for severe stomach problems
– Metronidazole antibiotic – for wound infections
– Daktacort antifungal skin cream
– Anti-vomitting under the tongue tabs
– Iodine tincture as back-up for water purification
– Iodine tabs (& Vitamin C to clear colour & taste)
– SPOT Satellite tracker
– Syringe needles
– Notes from doctor to carry prescription drugs & needles
– Small travel deodorant
– Antibacterial hand gel 150ml
– Bar of antibacterial soap
– Maltodextrin energy powder to make up 10 litres
– x2 money belts
– x1 fake wallet with expired cards & $20 in cash
– Small travel towel
– Plasters
– Germoline
– Chamois Cream sachets
– Toothbrush
– Travel toothpaste
– Sawyer Mini water filer
– 3L Camelbak bladder
– Waterbottle
– Tissues
– Matches
– String

Left in Marrakesh for return:
Bike box, non-biking clothes, books, grease, more duct tape, more zip ties and bubble wrap