El Mito

El Mito is a self-supported gravel crossing of the Strait of Gibraltar: from Ronda, perched above its gorge and the Puente Nuevo, south to the sea, over to Africa by ferry, on to the old medina of Tétouan and back again. There are no aid stations, no course markings and no outside help, and the organisers are clear that it is not a race against anyone. The one deadline that cannot be argued with is the sea itself: miss the last ferry of the day from Tarifa and the African leg is over.

The route stays inside the Intercontinental Mediterranean Biosphere Reserve, the only one in the world that spans two continents. On the Spanish side it threads through the Sierra de Grazalema, Los Alcornocales and El Estrecho natural parks; in Morocco it climbs around Jbel Musa and the hills near Tétouan. Riders who took part in 2026 wrote of fast gravel roads, broken rocky tracks and climbing that barely relents once across the water, and of tea and long conversations along the way. Twelve checkpoints, four of them physical, honour the twelve labours of Hercules, whose pillars legend places right here.

The team behind it was born on both shores of the Strait and treats the event as a way to tell the story of its own land through cycling. Their rulebook opens with leave no trace and asks for respect toward the communities along the way, leaning on the honour code that bikepacking events depend on.