Pedaleo is a three-day bikepacking festival in Switzerland packed with inspiring talks, hands-on workshops, a vibrant expo, social rides, outdoor movies, live music, lake swims, and more. Leoni Kolberg was one of more than 1,000 participants, and she wrote a detailed reflection on what made the weekend special. Find her recap and photos from the event here…

Words by Leoni Kolberg, photos by Pedaleo.cc and David Rojas

It was getting dark on Thursday evening. The only sounds were tires rolling over gravel and the breathing of two excited, exhausted, and very hungry cyclists. My friend Raul and I were on a mission. We’d already logged 180 kilometers and 3,000 meters of climbing. There were only 20 kilometers downhill left to go. Our destination: Neuchâtel and Pedaleo, the European bikepacking festival.

We were following the German Route, one of four Gravel Pilgrim routes leading to the festival.

“Leading straight to the festival” might be a slight exaggeration. More or less straight, perhaps. But one thing is guaranteed: beauty and adventure.

Powered by the desire to reach our little slice of Swiss paradise, we pushed through the last hour. Neuchâtel was waiting for us, beautifully located on the shore of the lake and surrounded by stunning mountain views. And, hopefully, a falafel shop. As night fell, we rolled into town. The promenade was alive with people eating, drinking, and enjoying the evening. Surely, food had to be somewhere around here. While Raul and I were wandering around looking slightly lost and a little disheveled, a man suddenly shouted from nearby:

“Are you looking for Pedaleo? It’s that way!”

I couldn’t have been more excited to follow his directions. But first, the giant falafel wrap was calling.

The next morning, sunlight hit my tent. I could hear people speaking different languages, laughing, and exchanging stories about how they had arrived in Neuchâtel by bike. Sleepily, I opened my tent and immediately felt as if I had been transported into bikepacking paradise.

Tents everywhere. Bikes everywhere. Dirty, sunburnt, and slightly wild-looking travellers with huge smiles. And the lake just five metres from my tent. Welcome to Pedaleo.

I had a quick look at the weekend timetable and realised more things were happening than I could possibly attend. Yoga in the mornings. Talks from a variety of inspiring speakers. Workshops and open mics. An expo where you could discover new gear, test bikes, and find your next handmade bikepacking bag. Social rides, both short and long. Outdoor cinema. Live music. DJ sets—basically, everything a bikepacker could want.

I hadn’t been to a festival for a while. For the past few years, I had been living more or less outside conventional society: in a tent, on a bicycle, and mostly in remote, less-populated places. This year, however, I had consciously decided to focus more on cycling through Europe and reconnecting with the bikepacking community. Ultra races were one way of doing that. They are guaranteed hotspots for finding a bunch of intrepid people who share the same passion. But I also wanted to find events outside racing. Places where people could come together simply because they love travelling by bike. Pedaleo seemed to embody exactly that. And I was bubbling with excitement.

Friday was the official opening day. People arrived from all over Europe, many of them riding one of the Gravel Pilgrim routes to get there. Big tents, tiny tents, bivouacs, and a few hardcore minimalists who had decided that a sleeping mat and sleeping bag were enough. Brands set up their pavilions, while groups of cyclists wandered around the festival grounds. Together with a few new friends, I walked across the dry grass while the sun was burning down on us and Afrobeat music floated over from the stage.

Among the bigger names such as Schwalbe, Pedaled, Ortlieb and EVOC, there were also plenty of smaller manufacturers and local projects. One of them was La Rebletzerie, a workshop from Neuchâtel whose mission is to reuse, recreate, and repair textile bikepacking gear. They make bags from leftover and retired materials, giving old fabrics a second life. I could see the love in every product.

I would have happily spent hours talking to everyone and checking out all the beautifully equipped bikes brought along for testing. But unfortunately, there was one urgent problem. I really had to pee. Luckily, Pedaleo had installed six beautiful dry toilets slightly away from the main festival area. While doing what needed to be done, I noticed a sign on the wooden door explaining why they had chosen dry toilets.

The idea was simple: instead of flushing human waste down the drain with drinking water, the waste is collected with wood shavings and eventually turned into compost that can return to the natural cycle. I already felt much better than after using one of those horrible portable toilets you usually find at festivals. Pedaleo was clearly taking sustainability seriously.

Time flew, just like a good ride with a strong tailwind. Soon, the first talks began.

One of the first people on stage was Lotti Power, an absolute energy ball and professional spreader of positive vibes. I had already listened to several podcasts featuring her, so I was excited to see her in person. Her story is ridiculous in the best possible way. She completed her first ultra at just 19, riding the Paris-Brest-Paris. The following year, she wanted a bigger challenge and signed up for all three mountain races organised by Nelson Trees. Because apparently riding three brutal ultra races wasn’t enough, she decided cycling to all of them would be much cooler—and more sustainable—than flying. The first race, the Atlas Mountain Race, takes place in Morocco. Then came the Hellenic Mountain Race in Greece, followed by the Silk Road Mountain Race in Kyrgyzstan. And she did all of this without a tent. Afterwards, she continued travelling by bike, eventually visiting a friend’s parents in Hong Kong. Her secret? High spirits, lots of sweets, and good music. I was sold.

After Lotti came two more fascinating talks. I sat under the tent and listened to Robin Gemperle talk about his victory at the Transcontinental Race. Although, to be fair, I had already followed the entire race in detail while it was happening. Then Adrien Liechti took us on a completely different adventure. The Swiss bikepacking nomad had just completed a world-record attempt to cycle across Africa in 96 days. His story included challenging border crossings and an unplanned 15-day stay in jail.

After three hours of sitting still and listening to these heroes of the bikepacking world, however, everyone was ready to move. Luckily, Freaky Audio Machine was there. Groovy tunes from the ‘90s and 2000s filled the festival grounds. Arms and legs were flying to the rhythm of Freestyler by Bomfunk MC. Finally, cyclists were moving their bodies in a completely different way than the monotonous rhythm of pedalling. For those less interested in showing off their creative dance moves, there were two other options.

A night ride with Knog, who provided lights for everyone wanting to test them. Or, once again, sitting on a bike. This time, a stationary one. The bikes were connected to a system that generated the power needed for the outdoor cinema. Tonight’s movie was Mountains and Trees, an ultra-cycling documentary by Albion and Pertex exploring the Silk Road Mountain Race and its founder. As the cherry on top of a perfect first day, electronic music blasted from the main stage. Those of us who wanted to give our cycling legs a completely different workout could dance until midnight.

Then the music stopped. A clear signal that it was time to crawl into our tents and get some sleep.

Saturday was the main day.

The temperature climbed rapidly towards 30 degrees. People jumped into the lake first thing in the morning, cooling themselves down and taking the famous bikepacking shower. Then it was time to move like water. At 8 a.m., yoga teacher Felix worked to loosen our joints and spines, helping us get in tune with the universe and let go of stress and tension. Almost the entire festival seemed to gather around him. We stretched, breathed, and even joined in a collective Om. Beautiful.

With a huge smile on my face, I felt ready for the day. And by “the day,” I mean basically every talk on the programme. From morning until my own presentation at 7 p.m., I spent most of my time underneath the presentation tent. I listened to Ilaria Fiorillo tell the story of how her daily commute eventually led her to the start line of the iconic NorthCape4000. I learned how to improve my outdoor cooking in a workshop—something my repertoire could definitely use. Max Schnell talked about his life on the bike, which has been going on for around 10 years, while working as a guide and creating personalised cycling routes for others.

Between the talks were open mics on cycling across different continents and on being a woman in cycling. I loved these little stories. People talked about dog encounters, elephant shit, break-ups, empowerment, and all the weird and wonderful things that happen when you choose to live on two wheels.

Sofian Sehili shared his story of a world-record attempt from Europe to Russia that ended with three months of imprisonment in Russia. Not exactly the ending he had planned. Pascal and Patrick took us even further back in time, sharing stories from their world cycling journey in 1990—without phones, GPS navigation, or any of the comforts we have become so used to today.

And then it was my turn. My talk, titled “Bachelor of Arts in Bikepacking,” was about what I had learned from four years of living on a bicycle. I was shitting my pants a little before walking onto the stage. But only for a few seconds. Once I was standing there, looking at the crowd, I felt safe. These were my people. And seeing so many women in the audience—almost half the festival guests—made the connection even stronger. I was happy to share what four years on the road had taught me.

As darkness fell over Switzerland, the temperature became much more comfortable. The festival grounds transformed once again.

Benches were filled with groups of people who had met only hours earlier. Conversations continued late into the evening. People jumped into the lake, laughing and playing in the darkness. There was another night ride with Knog, another outdoor cinema showing Ride the Line, a film about two friends cycling along the frontline of Ukraine and meeting people whose stories reveal the human cost of war. The movie was emotional and sparked plenty of conversation.

And, of course, there was another party. Playful techno blasted from the main stage, and the festival’s party animals danced their souls out. I was already lying in my tent. Exhausted. But also full of love and connection, especially after talking to so many women following my presentation. Even from inside my sleeping bag, I could feel my big toe moving to the bass in the background. Time to sleep.

Sunday is funday, right? Well, it wasn’t particularly fun to realise that Pedaleo was coming to an end. Every good thing has an ending, though. During the final yoga session, Felix reminded us of the importance of letting go of attachment to both the good and the bad. So I tried to take that philosophy into the final day.

I listened to Simon Hiltli talk about his spectacularly cold, but apparently also surprisingly fun, journey to Kyrgyzstan by bike and skis.

Weronika shared her story of travelling slowly through Mongolia with her boyfriend, connecting with local people rather than simply racing from one destination to the next. And then came Felix’s story. Yes, our yoga teacher.

We had actually spent eight months travelling together on the road, cycling from Greece all the way to India as part of a group of five. We had basically become brother and sister. After we went our separate ways, Felix continued travelling for several more years and so did I. It was beautiful to hear his perspective on that time and to realise how many different paths our lives had taken since then.

Eventually, it was time to leave. Over 1,000 guests who had gathered at Pedaleo were packing up their tents, ready to carry the inspiration they had gathered over the past few days back into their everyday lives. A year earlier, I had cycled through South America longing for connection and dreaming of finding a place where I could meet like-minded people. A real bikepacking gathering. Now, I was sitting beside the lake, surrounded by old and new friends, with a completely full heart. Pedaleo had given me exactly what I had been looking for.

Not just a festival. Not just talks, workshops, brands, bikes and parties. A community. A collection. People who understand the strange desire to leave everything behind, put your life into a few bags and see where the road takes you.

I have a feeling Pedaleo will keep growing. The news of this bikepacking community will spread like wildfire. Next year, there will be even more inspiring, colourful, and wonderfully weird humans dancing across the grass beside Lake Neuchâtel. And I definitely want to be one of them again.

Learn more about Pedaleo at Pedaleo.cc.

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