Have you ever been strolling along minding your own business, when like a punch in the gut, you realise that almost everything would be better if you were sitting too close to the ground on a tiny bike? If you have, then we’re kindred spirits. This is how the Monkey Run Morocco was born. If you haven’t, then hopefully this article will open up your consciousness and assist with that realisation.

A Bit of History

Our notoriously pickled Institute of Adventure Research – Mr Tom and Buddy Munro – tested this one back in 2015.  Don’t worry, they knew exactly what they were doing. You can see the evidence for yourself in this here videogram.

Hiccups on the path to adventuring

Shortly after the initial launch of this adventure, our entire fleet of monkey bikes got stolen. This was a particular high point for the project of Adventurism. It meant we had to take copious notes and work with some of the (actually very helpful) forces of boredom like lawyers to get them back.  Which only took us 5 years.

We don’t let little things like that get in the way of course, and the adventure itself went ahead unimpeded with a fleet of shiny new monkey bikes (or by whatever mode of making sure it happened we could find). Indeed, the path of organising these ridiculous adventures is not an easy one. We do it because it’s worth seeing our punters grinning with the awe of a child as they emerge only partially scathed from 1000kms of adventuring across the Atlas mountains and the Sahara on a tiny steed more suited for pizza deliveries.

Eleven years later…

These days, this mighty slab of adventuring chaos takes place 3 times a year in January, April and October. Here’s some of our most recent gaggle of riders, who finished the Run just last month. (With enviable style we think).

Historical Significance

None. It’s just incredibly cool. And what this man said…

“We were born too late to explore the earth & too soon to explore the galaxy, So the only purpose of you being alive right now is to ride kid’s toys across the Sahara desert…”-Schuyler Lifschultz, January 2023

It is a bit like exploring the galaxy we suppose. For example, if you ignore basically all the detail and try not to account for any of the very obvious errors in this photo, it could be the moon:

Pretending to be the moon, Monkey Run Morocco.

The Adventure

Over the years we’ve honed this adventure to be a perfectly balanced blend of suffering and joy. Our riders start at a desert camp in Merzouga, where they meet the diminutive steed that they’ll be partnered with for the following week.

Test driving

Here, they spend 2 days acclimatising to the fact of their new existence, as they prepare to cross a sizeable chunk of Morocco (about 1000 kilometers) on a bike that is absolutely not appropriate for the task. In between the mechanical briefings, Sand Championship games and partying, the riders test drive their bikes and work out how to attach their luggage.

Packing light

We always recommend they travel as light as they can. Our approach would be to take some party shoes and a spare pair of pants for example. But there’s always those who bring more, and then grapple with the minuteness of the luggage rack, which represents their entire home for the duration of the adventure. Out of this conundrum have come some remarkable innovations, the best of which we’ve covered in another blog post here, should you wish to marvel at them.

On the road

Once they hit the road, the riders are on their own. This is – in case you’re wondering why anyone would want to fling themselves into the Sahara on a tiny bike and with no support – the entire point of the adventure. They decide how lost they get, which mountains to push their bikes up, where they sleep, who they eat with, how far they try to ride each day. In a world increasingly monitored, where getting properly lost and driving off the edge of a map with only your wits to rescue you has become almost impossible, we like to think some proper old school adventure is the salve.

It’s a finely perfected measure of overland chaos, designed to slap you around your grinning chops as you ride the world’s most perfectly unsuitable adventure machine across an epic slab of Morocco. Call it therapy.

Desert ponderings. Who knows what this chap’s thinking in all that endless deserty goodness. Monkey Run Morocco October 2025.

The Steed

We didn’t accidentally acquire a fleet of bikes that were tinier than we’d imagined. It’s certainly the case that we get our choice of chariot very wrong sometimes (in fact, the list of failures deserves a blog of its own). However, on this occasion we knew with absolute certainty that this was the best way to tackle 1000 kms of Morocco’s best deserts, mountains, rivers, roads and non-roads.

Our mega fleet ready to adventure. Monkey Run Morocco October 2025.

Why the monkey bike?

Their list of attributes includes that they’re lightweight – handy for pushing them up hills; they’re slow – perfect for taking in your surroundings and hopefully not hurting yourself too badly when you fall off; and they’re expedition ready, with a luggage rack only just big enough for storing your very basic essentials.

In most of our riders, they incite a full spectrum of emotions, from delirious joy to utter despair.

Do they break down?

People sometimes ask us if they break down. The answer is that we hope so. They’re not employed for their suitability or reliability and they’re not our chosen steed because we hope they’ll get all our riders from start to finish without a murmur. They’re our chosen steed because we think they probably won’t. You will have to push, you will wonder if you’re about to slide backwards when you hit more than a slight incline and you will want to bury yourself in the sand with frustration when you can’t get your engine started after 35 attempts.

But it’s precisely that frustration, the sweat, the jeopardy, the joy of reaching the top of a hill, or hearing the engine start up again after a well earned rest at a remote desert garage and the people you break bread with when you’re there, that makes this adventure worth doing. You’re riding (slowly) into the unknown, golden sands stretching out ahead of you, snow capped Atlas mountains sitting stolidly as your next gauntlet. You have no idea if you’ll make it, or who you’re going to need on the way to make sure you do. And that is what makes the Monkey Run exactly the brilliant adventure that it is.

Mixed emotions (ok, mainly hatred) towards the monkey bike, Monkey Run Morocco October 2025.

Why bother?

Whether it’s because you need the solitude of a solo adventure with just you and your as yet undiscovered capacity for coping with the unknown, or because you want to cross Morocco with a bunch of like minded-fools who can rescue you from the quicksand of your own bad decisions when you need it, monkey biking across Morocco is just a good idea for the soul.

Morocco is awesome

Its hospitality, beauty, epic off road tracks, rivers, desert fortresses, endless skies, pristine deserts and huge mountains make it a perfect candidate for trying to adventure across on a tiny bike.

Monkey bikes posing in their natural environment. Monkey Run Morocco October 2025.

It reminds you what adventuring is really about

Getting stuck and hopefully a bit lost somewhere as big as the Sahara reminds you what adventure really means. It’s you, maybe some of your mates (if they haven’t abandoned you) and your wits, versus the fates of the adventure gods. Against the odds, you’ll likely make it to the finish line out of sheer grit.

It’s therapeutic (honestly…)

We like to think of it like a kind of adventure therapy, where you and your smallness in the universe can get acquainted, even if just for a short time in that fleeting life of yours.

You raise money for charity

In return, you can also do your bit for the rest of the world. The Monkey Run exists to puncture the pesky veil of monotony, but it’s also there to raise money for charity – either our official chairty, Cool Earth, or some other cause that’s meaningful to you.

Also, what Mike said…

“I hired a man with a horse to help me find the pre-run beers and the fucking thing tried to kill me…” – Mike Elhard, January 2023. Precisely, Mr Elhard, precisely.

Charity fundraising

All of our adventures raise money for charity thanks to the efforts of our teams. The Monkey Run Morocco riders raise at least £500 each for our official charity, Cool Earth.

So far, across all of our adventures, our incredible Adventurists have raised £2.3 million for this charity (and that’s just for this charity alone, not for all the other causes that our teams choose to support).

Cool Earth is our official charity partner because we rather like the planet, and hope there’ll be one left for future generations to adventure across. We check in regularly to make sure that the amount our teams are raising for them is more than cancelling out any impact of driving a tiny bike across a slab of Morocco.

We do the same check based on our teams flying in from all over the world to join the start line. And so far, it’s clear that the money raised more than outstrips the carbon footprint of our teams. And we’re rather proud of that.  Ultimately, if we’re going to wobble around on our little adventuring machines, we’d like to make sure we’re also looking after the planet we’re wobbling around on. You can see more about why we support Cool Earth here and find out more about what they do here.

The Monkey Run Morocco Live

Our next cohort of intrepid fools sets forth into Morocco on 1st January 2026 – you can follow their escapades on the Monkey Run Live Tracking Map and on our social channels.

If you fancy joining them, check out the full info about the Monkey Run here, or sign up here. We don’t personally think there’s a better way to start the New Year, so hopefully we’ll see you on the start line (with just some spare pants, maybe your party shoes and a hefty dollop of optimism).