Have You Ever Felt Like Going to See for Yourself? And Other Existential Questions We Could Probably Do Without

Often, it’s simply a matter of going to see.

In November 1962, a twenty-two-year-old German man left home on his bicycle. He thought he would be away for a few months.

His name was Heinz Stücke. He worked in a factory and had decided to see the world—and to do it by bike.

Today, that might sound almost normal.

Back then, it was simply absurd.

There was no GPS. There was no dedicated touring gear.

Crossing many countries was not just an uncertainty—it was a total leap into the unknown.

There were no communities, no podcasts, no motivational reels, no companies explaining how to pack a frame bag.

There was a three-speed bicycle, a tent, very little money, and an enormous curiosity.

Heinz started riding north and then just kept going.

Europe, Africa, Asia, the Americas, Australia: entire years spent sleeping wherever he could, crossing deserts, borders, wars, mountains, and places where he was the first Westerner people had seen in decades.

For years, he supported himself by selling postcards and photographs taken along the road.

He was simply living by bicycle.

When he finally returned home, almost fifty years later, he had covered more than 600,000 kilometres.

And perhaps that is what still fascinates us about certain stories born long before bicycle travel became fashionable:

people set off back then without really knowing what they were looking for—or what they might find.

Maybe they were driven only by that feeling that occasionally appears in some people’s lives:

the desire to see what happens if you just keep pedalling.

In the end, BAM! comes from that place too.

From the desire to gather with people who, in different ways, still feel that same pull.

People who have crossed continents—or perhaps just a single region.

Driven by exactly the same curiosity.

People who have fixed punctures in the rain, slept badly, taken wrong turns, found unlikely friends, and discovered that a bicycle can sometimes truly change the way we look at the world.

In just a few days, we will meet again at Villa Contarini.

Bicycles loaded with tents, tired legs, dust, and stories will arrive.

Some will have ridden for days. Others for only a few hours.

But for one weekend, we will all be part of the same simple and beautiful idea:

To see what happens if we keep pedalling.

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This year’s programme is packed.
Things kick off on Friday afternoon with stories to listen to, rides to join, things to learn, music to enjoy, films to watch, and—most importantly—time to spend together.

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BAM! is a free and open event for everyone,

If you’d like to stay in the BAM! Camp Area, you’ll find all the information here

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But do people actually ride bikes at BAM?

Of course they do!

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🚀 A Few Beautiful and Interesting Things. Or Just Interesting. Or Just Beautiful.🚀

⚡ Ultralight Bikepacking Tents
Lightness is like a good bottle of wine: (almost) everyone likes it, but you can live perfectly well without it.
Still, here are two ultralight tents for those who appreciate slightly esoteric—but extremely reliable—bikepacking gear.
We’ve spent a lot of time testing the VAUDE tent, and it has survived all our abuse, including wind, rain, and everything in between.

The VAUDE Hogan 2 is one of those tents that seems to have been designed specifically for bikepacking. Compact, dependable, stable even when the ground refuses to cooperate, and featuring a freestanding structure that often makes all the difference.

The Nordisk Lofoten 2 ULW, on the other hand, belongs to that category of almost unreal objects. It weighs less than a kilogram, packs down to an astonishingly small size, and still manages to provide proper shelter for two people. It’s a tent designed for those who count every gram but aren’t willing to give up the idea of carrying a home with them—even a very tiny one.

These are two different approaches to travel: one a little more reassuring, the other almost radical. Both, however, begin with the same idea: carrying less so there’s more room for the journey itself.

Both VAUDE and NORDISK tents will not only be available for those renting BAM!’s pre-pitched tents, but will also be on display in the Panorama area.

⚡ Storytelling on the Road – The New Insta360 GO 3S Retro Pack
All right, we agree: nobody actually needs this.
But the new Retro Pack that transforms the Insta360 GO into a tiny vintage-inspired camera, complete with a waist-level viewfinder aesthetic, is undeniably fun.
It’s a compact solution for taking photos and videos with almost no bulk, while offering a distinctive visual style—not only in its design, but also in the kind of images it encourages you to make.
Why not?

When you’ve finished riding for the day and your tent is finally up, having a chair feels like a luxury comparable to a seaside jacuzzi.

The Helinox Chair is lightweight, highly packable, and—most importantly—ridiculously comfortable for drinking beer, sipping coffee, and eating the junk food we’ve undoubtedly earned.

👉 Discover more

There’s a reason the ancient Greeks called Sicily the Land of the Gods.

We’ve been hearing about the Sicily Divide for years, and many friends have ridden it, describing a route that combines adventure, mountains, an unparalleled concentration of historical sites, and the legendary hospitality of the Sicilian people.

And at the end of the journey: the Mediterranean. 

💪Sicily Divide

Mechanics – The Ultimate Multi-Tool

The best bikepacking multi-tool is the one that gets you out of trouble in the rain, in the middle of nowhere, without requiring too much swearing.

Over the years we’ve seen multi-tools as large as dictionaries, and others so minimalist they can barely tighten an Allen bolt properly.

Somewhere in the middle are the features that really matter:

solid tools, a dependable chain breaker, sensible dimensions, and the ability to use it when your hands are cold and you’re completely exhausted.

One tool we continue to see everywhere—and for good reason—is the Crankbrothers M19.

Discover all the details

BAM! is, first and foremost,

the road you’ll take to get to BAM!

With friends or on your own.

Riding far or riding just a little.

It doesn’t make much difference.

Here you’ll find the Road to BAM! Manifesto,
along with a link to our Komoot page,
where many of you are already sharing
your own Road to BAM! routes.