In soft sand the bike floats when it moves and digs when it stops.
Stand up with your weight slightly back, so the front stays light and steers on top of the sand instead of ploughing into it.
Look far ahead. Sand changes colour and texture before it changes hardness; reading it early gives you time to adjust speed.
Keep the throttle on. Roll off smoothly and early instead of braking hard. A hard front brake in soft sand tucks the front wheel.
Let the bike move under you. A loose grip and relaxed arms let the front find its own way through ruts.
Climbs and crests
Up the dune, over the top
Most dune crashes happen at the crest, not on the climb.
Approach straight and with enough speed, in a gear that pulls without spinning the rear wheel. Losing momentum halfway up a soft face is the most common way to get stuck.
Ease off just before the crest. You cannot see what is behind it: often a steep slipface, sometimes a hole or another rider. Arrive at the top slowly enough to stop or turn.
When unsure, take the crest at an angle so you can see the other side before you commit, then choose the line down.
Descents and slopes
Going down and across
Slipfaces are ridden straight down, weight back, a little throttle to keep the front light and only gentle braking. Turning on a steep face is how bikes roll.
Riding across a slope needs steady speed and weight on the downhill footpeg. Avoid stopping on the side of a dune.
If you must stop, stop pointing downhill or across, never uphill: starting again uphill in soft sand is close to impossible.
When it goes wrong
Stuck, down, tired
Every rider gets stuck in sand. The skill is getting out without burning energy.
The rear wheel is digging in
Stop the throttle at once. Spinning the wheel only digs deeper. Lay the bike on its side, fill the hole under the rear wheel, stand it up and pull away gently with your body helping the bike forward.
Fesh-fesh and soft valleys
Fine powder hides holes and stones. Keep momentum, keep your line and do not stop in it.
Heat and energy
Sand riding is physical. Drink before you are thirsty, carry 2–3 litres, and take short breaks before you are exhausted. Most mistakes on dune days come in the last hour.
Navigation in the dunes
Tracks disappear. Hold the CAP heading, use landmarks between dune lines and check the tripmeter more often than on hard ground.
In practice
How we teach it
On the Erg Chebbi day of Morocco Rally Training riders are grouped by experience and start on small dunes: approach, crest, descent, turning and stopping on slopes, then recovery drills. The goal is control, not speed. The next two days put it to work on the Grand Merzouga Loop and a marathon stage simulation.
New to roadbooks as well? Start with the Roadbook Rally Bootcamp in Europe and bring the navigation to the desert already learned.
14–19 March 2027
Morocco Rally Training
Six riding days around Merzouga and Erg Chebbi, about 1,500 km. Own bike or rental KTM 450 / Ténéré 700.
