What Remains of This BAM

Twelve years of BAM!.

When we started, gravel was still just a passing trend — for a few people.

Bikepacking was a bag that was too small.
BAM! itself was little more than an idea, nothing but a bunch of crazy people who came to Livigno to celebrate together and ride a route with no way back.

It feels like an entire lifetime has passed.

“Sometimes one believes oneself incomplete, and is only young” Calvino wrote.

So, how was this BAM?

It was like life itself.

There was a moment — Friday, under the rain — when we wondered why we were there instead of at home, living an easier life. And there were many other moments when we had tears in our eyes, from laughter or emotion.

Because really, who wouldn’t want to go to an event that feels like life?

What is certain is that soaked through, covered in mud, with flooded tents, an uncertain future, and at one point even the fear that Saturday would end with a simple “sorry, that’s it, see you next time,” we somehow all became a kind of family on the road.

Someone helped dry things out. Someone sliced salami. Someone opened a bottle. Someone cracked a joke with those walking in the rain at two in the morning.

And everything became easier.

And then you know how it went: Saturday and Sunday became a collective ritual, a fraternal embrace, a laugh, a so good to see you again.

There isn’t much more to say.

This is not the report of an event, but an attempt to describe an emotion — which is a bit like dancing about architecture, as Frank Zappa might have said.

So what remains of this BAM?

The tiredness, obviously.

But also the beauty of everyone who shared a magical night, danced, talked, promised a journey together, dreamed of leaving, or simply spent time together — as if we were all teenagers again and had an endless life ahead of us to waste.

BAM! was big enough to hold all your dreams.

See you out on the road.