Last month, 90 riders lined up in St. Gallen, Switzerland, to participate in this year’s Dead Ends & Cake event, a self-supported bikepacking event with fresh cake at each checkpoint. Find a recap from event organizer Dominik Bokstaller here, alongside photos taken during the event…

Words by Dominik Bokstaller (@denk_an_den_kuchen), photos by Johanna Wildmoser (@jorunswild), Jonas Traber (@tronasphotos), Mathilde Widmann (@mathildewdmn), and Tobias Schürer (@tobiasschurer)

The Routes

Dead Ends & Cake featured five Checkpoints, each located at the end of a dead-end road somewhere in the mountains of eastern Switzerland. All participants planned their own route to connect the checkpoints in any order they desired. Take the road bike and stick to tarmac or explore the paths beyond the checkpoints when the road ends for a more direct route. There were many different routes, all around 450 kilometres with between 8,500 and 9,500 metres of climbing.

After an early start in St. Gallen, trackers were all over the place, and it was dot watching at its best. You can’t say the same about the weather. Pouring rain, thunderstorms, and temperatures close to freezing in the mountains made this ride even harder. But the rain stopped around midnight on the first night, and we had a perfect weather for the rest of the event.

  • 2022 dead ends and cake
  • 2022 dead ends and cake
  • 2022 dead ends and cake

The Riders

Was this the first bikepacking event with more women than men at the start line? At the inaugural edition, there was a 50/50 split. This year the event saw more women than men, but more importantly, there was a great bunch of people. More than half of the riders had never ridden these types of distances before, and hardly anyone had logged so much elevation in so little time. On the other end, there were many experienced and fast ultra-cyclists with countless races and top rankings under their belts.

The Hike-a-Bike

There were less than six kilometres between the checkpoints in Safiental and Alp Nurdagn, with just one problem: the huge “Farcletta digl Lai Grand,” a 2,659-metre alpine pass without any kind of road, only an alpine hiking trail. Riders had to make the tough decision between a 10-kilometre hike-a-bike (or climb-a-bike) with 1,000 metres of climbing or a 71-kilometre ride with over 2,000 metres of elevation.

  • 2022 dead ends and cake
  • 2022 dead ends and cake
2022 dead ends and cake

Friday’s weather conditions were miserable, and the alpine crossing wasn’t possible. Most riders tried to reach as many checkpoints as possible during the day and took some time to sleep at lower elevations in preparation for a better forecast the next day. Early Saturday morning, they put on proper shoes, strapped their bikes to their backs, and set off. The further you get, the harder the climbing becomes—but the views are simply unbelievable. Goosebumps all the way. The fastest hikers crossed in about four hours and gained some time over those riding the very steep ascent to Alp Nurdagn.

The Fast Ones

The first rider to collect all their cakes was Loïc Marin-Lamellet (22h, 55m), following his second self-supported event after a victory at last year’s SUCH (Swiss Ultracycling Challenge). He was followed closely by last year’s runner-up at the Silk Road Mountain Race in Kyrgyzstan, Axel Brenner (24h, 15m). Simon Geiser, who placed fifth at the Race Around Rwanda and was the winner of the Ppairs category at Pedalma Madric-Barcelona, came in third (26h, 01m). The first woman and fifth overall finisher was Jana Kesenheimer (28h, 42m), followed by sixth overall Simone Eder (30h, 47m). In total, there were 11 women in the top 25.

2022 dead ends and cake

The Adventurous

What would you do if a good friend planned their wedding on the weekend of Dead Ends & Cake? New beginnings or dead ends? Well, Christof Jeker decided to do both. From the start, he headed to the first checkpoint and descended with an adventurous off-road/hike-a-bike route. At the train station in Ziegelbrücke he rented a car to safely store his fully loaded bike. After a 130-kilometre train ride, he attended his friend’s wedding in style—wearing a proper suit and the starter socks with his race number. After a well-earned refuel with wedding cake, he hopped on a train back to his bike. He pushed through the night and arrived at Safiental, the bottom of the monster hike-a-bike, in the early morning. As an experienced ski-tourer, he climbed efficiently and went on to collect all the cakes and finished 10th overall. Unbelievable!

  • 2022 dead ends and cake
  • 2022 dead ends and cake
  • 2022 dead ends and cake
2022 dead ends and cake

Alicia Köster, a 20-year-old who is “not really a cyclist” in her words, had one of the most impressive rides as her first cycling event. At the first checkpoint, she forgot her smartphone, her only way of navigation. She continued her ride, following street signs and memories from planning the route. Arriving at the checkpoint in Alp Nurdagn, she decided to tackle the huge hike-a-bike instead of riding on the road, “Because there is only one hiking path and sooo many different roads,” as she explained. She strapped her city bike on her back and off she went.

Losing your only way of navigation is a pretty good reason to scratch from your first race, but she finished in great time. She climbed more than eight times the height of her hilliest ride before the event! Her confidence, calmness, and ability to adapt were truly impressive. So, we decided to assign a volunteer to the mission to bring her back her phone. Not that she would have needed it to find the way, but to be reachable by family and friends.

  • 2022 dead ends and cake
  • 2022 dead ends and cake

Next Up: Dead Ends & Dolci

A very special weekend full of smiling faces and great stories came to an end at a cozy campfire. But the next cake is already in the oven! The Dead Ends & Cake format attracted so much interest and there is another region in Switzerland that has so many secret and unknown dead-end roads that I want to show everyone. Ticino, the Italian speaking part of Switzerland, has a Mediterranean vibe and climate and will serve as the backdrop for the inaugural Dead Ends & Dolci. At the end of April, we will explore the rugged roads, climb countless switchbacks, and taste the best local “dolci.”

Learn more at DeadEndsandCake.ch.

  • 2022 Dead Ends and Cake
  • 2022 Dead Ends and Cake
  • 2022 Dead Ends and Cake

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