Iberica-Traversa

Iberica-Traversa crosses the whole Iberian Peninsula in one unsupported push, from Irun on the Bay of Biscay down to Tarifa, the southern tip of mainland Europe, mostly on unpaved tracks and trails. It is run by Transbike Adventures and Andy Buchs, a long-distance rider whose own palmares includes the Trans Am Bike Race and the Silk Road Mountain Race.

The line strings together some of Spain's wildest scenery: the bare desert of the Bardenas Reales, the megalithic tombs and cave dwellings of the Gorafe badlands, old pilgrim trails, the bridges of Ronda, the gorge of the Caminito del Rey and a view of the Alhambra from the Mirador de San Nicolás in Granada.

The idea came to Buchs in 2017 while riding through Spain on another of his routes, when abandoned railway lines, gravel roads and a chance meeting with local riders praising the GR7 convinced him the country deserved a gravel crossing. The rules are simple and self-policed, there is no time limit, riders go solo or in pairs, and the field shares a dinner in Irun the night before the start.