Stories from the road

Partiti!

An Intro to DEAD ENDS & dolci

![Dead End and Dolci image 8](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/6yDHo7E9TK3OKcAStDdHAf/7f7a46df710887f573c7ad32e0e4da25/292A6312.JPG)

__First Finishers__

The first rider of last year's edition is also our first rider this year. Local rocket Guido Toscanelli finished his route in a blistering 22 hours and 43 minutes on a very lightweight gravel bike. Followed by fellow Dolci veterans Lukas Franciszkiewicz and Christian Holweck who both opted for a racy setup with a rigid fork on a MTB. They both took the big hike-a-bike between Naucal and Cava while Guido pedaled an extra 50 km to avoid walking..
Ellen Martin is the first woman to eat all Dolci and 11th overall. Soon after Miranda Schloss arrived as second woman and 13th overall.

__The stories__

Rider #45 Michal Fok is always good for a good story. He arrived at Checkpoint Adula and somehow managed to fall asleep on the toilet. “It was so nice to sit on something other than a saddle” was his comment. Can’t argue with that.

There is always a little bit of truth in every cliché. Italian rider Alessandro Scaccia was in a hurry to finish early: “because my Mama is cooking tomorrow and I have to be there”.

__The food__

Although our Dolci are big and full of calories, Dolci riders arrive hungry in the camp. To refuel their legs we went on a huge shopping trip and bought all kinds of ingredients. For two days our kitchen-crew has been creating delicious dishes out of it. So we have homemade meals for all arrivals and for the rest of the weekend. A chili sin carne, Polenta with Pumpkin, beetroot pasta with feta, curry, homemade bread, ratatouille, … it’s like paradise!!
And of course we have our own little gelateria, a coffee truck and a bar on site. 

__The camp__

Many riders pitched their tents around the camp. Festival feeling with campfire, funny smelling but happy people and a lot of stories to tell. Riders can camp for free from Thursday to Monday, to avoid the high prices of accommodation in Switzerland.

![Dead End and Dolci image 9](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/7t6Er0vpO8pOj30c0X6mu3/d33cfa93bb121da20701022a68da6549/IMG_1844.jpeg)

__The Volunteers__

Almost 40 volunteers are contributing to this very special atmosphere and help creating an unforgettable adventure. Hosting Checkpoints, Kitchen-Crew, Media-Crew, Bartender, Barista or handing out Gelati - every Volunteer is an important piece to the puzzle that makes DEAD ENDS& dolci possible. Does this make any sense from an economical standpoint? Definitely not… Is it fun? Hell yeah!!!

![Dead End and Dolci image 10](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/5QnzDirgDTlgGGoDUkKQwZ/24b160e593e9dc20ce745d2c260440bb/292A6851.JPG)


![Dead Ends and Dolci image 3](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/2vRh9WQkhwWd7shJvxRjsX/9a7013f66f5d50fe2345baf28e8c8566/292A6061.JPG)

6 AM our riders took off in all kinds of directions to collect all six Dolci! Some went straight up north to tackle the biggest and longest climbs first. Soon they will find out that up high we had some snowfall at night. Checkpoint Adula is covered with snow like a sweet cake in icing sugar. 

![Dead Ends and Dolci image 4](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/19IR9N7l17eVMPXmk1ic5z/6aae1726de20a160c0cd6611d3a31dd5/WhatsApp_Image_2024-10-04_at_09.24.19.jpeg)

The crew of Checkpoint Adula had to abandon their van and walk up to the hut

![Dead Ends and Dolci image 5](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/72qIkWNMDjqrjz6ZZLxEd9/254d311b5ec8fd765b3e429e07bf60d9/WhatsApp_Image_2024-10-04_at_11.53.08.jpeg)

Other riders went southwest first in hope that the snow will be gone when they go north later. Let’s see if there will be less or even more snow?

![Dead Ends and Dolci image 6](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/6djcdYKDJ58iiQXZ1MvIW2/d8e12f5b499343ac219dc0dbbefcc7c2/9O4A0167.JPG)

![Dead Ends and Dolci image 7](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/2TQdx1ICj5NRjtSOwR4YWW/b96b2f38f8628828f75123cc9c5f51a0/9O4A0107.JPG)

Weather will be the main topic of this year's edition only for the first day. We have some sunny days coming up. In the mountains it will stay cold (max 3°) but down in the valley temperature will rise to 20°. 

__The Hike-a-Bike__

There is one passage for the dolci-hunters that like to hike their bike. Between Naucal and Cava (or vice versa) there is a “shortcut” crossing Alpe Giumela. An alpine hiking trail of 5 kilometers to go for another dolci. Will it be faster than the additional 50 km of riding? Time will tell. One thing is for sure - it will be more adventurous.
There are some riders going for an extra walk with their bike, hiking up and between several checkpoints. Look out for those lonesome dots somewhere in the middle of nowhere…

__The Bikes__

DEAD ENDS & dolci is a Gravel event. With free route planning, riders can add quite some gnarly stuff. Most participants opted for a gravelbike with tyres between 40 and 50mm. There is a big bunch of hardtails or even full suspension MTB. And for those who think DEAD ENDS & dolci isn’t challenging enough, a fixed gear 26” MTB does the trick!


The start of the second edition of DEAD ENDS & dolci is getting closer and closer. On Friday at six in the morning, 130 participants will ride for Dolci (sweets).

![Dead Ends and Dolci image 1](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/6MAAanT1o4ogwmcV4PqbWU/0100b038d29bebac4d9bbe3d8cf7eaa2/2023_Dead_Ends_Dolci__JT_025.jpg)

The event has some exciting changes compared to its inaugural edition:

__Six Checkpoints instead of five__

Because of heavy rainfalls and landslides some of the initial checkpoints can’t be reached by bike. To keep the magic mix of distance and election perfect for a weekend full of riding and exploring, a sixt checkpoint was added. Riders will get a different locally produced Dolci and a Stamp at every checkpoint. Five out of six checkpoints are manned 24 hours.

__Gravel instead of road__

The first edition was suited for fast roadbikes. This year's Graveltracks will take participants to even more remote and less known places. We all know that the gravelbike brings the perfect mix of exploring and traveling fast.

__Banned roads__

In free route events riders often end up on ugly and dangerous main roads for a good reason, these roads are fast.
With DEAD ENDS & dolci we want to take riders to the graveltracks, backroads and some funny little trails they would never ride on if the main road would be allowed to ride. That’s we banned most main roads and even some well known smaller roads. It’s all about exploring and riding the most beautiful routes between checkpoints.

__Start & Finish__

Last year's homebase in Bellinzona’s UNESCO world heritage site “Castelgrande” was unique. But we wanted to find something more suited to the spirit of our little bikepacking family. Let’s be honest - we aren’t supposed to live in a castle!
This year we have a tiny hut outside of Bellinzona. A big kitchen downstairs, some trees and a big meadow around it. This will be our little Hippie-Camp where participants are welcomed to camp in their tents during the event. For free!
The Volunteers in the kitchen will prepare fresh homemade food during the weekend, the Vertical-Coffee-Van will keep people caffeinated and on Sunday there will be a sweet surprise.

__Commentary on Dotwatcher.cc__

Last year we invited commentary legend Peta to our castle and captured all the best stories from the finishline.

This year you will get the inside view of DEAD ENDS & dolci from me, race organiser Dominik Bokstaller @denk_an_den_kuchen . I founded DEAD ENDS & cake four years ago and created DEAD ENDS & dolci together with local friend, tour guide and route planning legend, Stefano Bergamaschi. The coming days I will give you some inside views from the race office. 

![Dead Ends and Dolci image 2](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/7rZ3tg0vya6spDJiPPGazY/402243ccf1859142ebf4cd32ba0517d8/2023_Dead_Ends_Dolci__JT_061.jpg)


Dominik Bokstaller

DEAD ENDS & dolci 2024 Tracking and Commentary. The five checkpoints are situated in very remote, beautiful areas of Ticino, Switzerland, each at the end of a dead end road. This is certainly one for the grimpeurs with a sweet tooth!

DEAD ENDS & dolci 2024 Tracking

The five checkpoints are situated in very remote, beautiful areas of Ticino, Switzerland, each at the end of a dead end road. This is certainly one for the grimpeurs with a sweet tooth!

DotWatcher.cc

DEAD ENDS & dolci 2024

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