The Weekender Oberland Edition ‘26: Gravel, good company and a little bit of magic

We met in Bavaria for three days of gravel riding, camping, swimming, eating, laughing and discovering just how much adventure you can fit into one weekend.

Our route was created by IRIS ambassador Sara Hallbauer, taking us through the beautiful Bavarian Oberland and a landscape that seemed to get better around every corner.

And the weather? We couldn't have asked for more.

The group makes the weekend

The route may be what gets us on our bikes, but it is always the people who make The Weekender.

Fifty women arrived with different levels of experience, different bikes and different reasons for signing up. Some had been bikepacking before, while for others, this was their very first adventure carrying everything they needed on their bikes.

The beautiful thing was that it didn't seem to matter.

There was no racing and no pressure to prove yourself. Instead, there was encouragement on the climbs, help when something went wrong, advice when someone needed it and plenty of stopping to take in the views.

As Chelsea put it:

That is exactly the kind of atmosphere we want The Weekender to create.

A little yoga, a lot of gravel

Our second morning started slowly at the campsite, with a yoga session led by our organiser Marit.

It was the perfect way to wake up before getting back on the bikes and heading out into what we like to call Little Canada.

And it really did feel a little bit magical.

Gravel roads, forests, mountains, lakes and long stretches where there was nothing to do but pedal, chat and enjoy the scenery. There were climbs that made us work, descents that put big smiles on our faces and plenty of reasons to stop along the way.

There were also the important things.

Lake swims in bib shorts.

Ice creams from farmers’ vending machines.

And more Spezi than you can shake a stick at.

For anyone unfamiliar with it, Spezi is a wonderfully strange German combination of cola and orange soda. It shouldn't really work. Somehow, after a long day on the bike, it is exactly what you want.

Lisa summed up the feeling perfectly:

And then came the ferry

One of the most memorable parts of the weekend came at the end of our Saturday ride.

To reach our overnight camping spot, we needed to cross the lake by ferry.

Nothing too unusual about that, except that the person driving the ferry was one of our very own participants: Jules.

Who knew what skills we had in the group?

With the bikes loaded and everyone safely aboard, we crossed the water towards our campsite. It was one of those moments that could never really have been planned and somehow made the whole adventure feel even more special.

Stories around the campfire

That evening, after another day of riding, we gathered around the campfire.

Sara shared stories from her recent trip to Patagonia, giving us plenty of inspiration for adventures still to come.

Then Valy from Schwalbe gave us a very practical lesson: how to change a tyre.

Because of course, with 50 people riding gravel for three days, there were going to be punctures and mechanical issues.

There were.

But just as importantly, there were always people ready to help.

A pump appeared. A tool was passed around. Someone stopped to take a look. Someone else shared what they knew.

And suddenly, a mechanical that might have felt intimidating became a shared learning experience.

Katja, who had never been bikepacking before, told us that one of the things she valued most was exactly this feeling of support. She arrived unsure whether bikepacking was something she could really do and left feeling inspired to plan adventures of her own.

We couldn't ask for a better description of what The Weekender is about.

The little moments

Of course, it wasn't just the big moments that made the weekend.

It was the conversations while riding. The unexpected friendships. The person you had never met on Friday who you were laughing with by Saturday afternoon.

It was comparing bikepacking setups, picking up ideas from everyone around you and discovering just how much you can learn from a group of 50 women.

It was the lake swims, the ice creams, the Spezi, the campfire and the tired legs at the end of the day.

And it was those moments when you look around and realise that you are surrounded by 49 other women who, just a few hours earlier, were strangers.

Rachel described the experience as leaving her “massively uplifted”, with new cycling buddies and a feeling of gratitude for the weekend.

For Marina, who arrived alone with no bikepacking experience, the experience was even more emotional:

The final kilometres

On Sunday, we packed up camp for the final time and headed back towards Munich.

By now, the group had found its rhythm. The legs were a little tired, the bikes were a little dirtier and everyone had a few more stories to tell.

Nearly everyone made it back in time for pizza before the heavens opened and the rain finally arrived.

Perfect timing.

We finished the weekend with food, drinks and a little competition from Schwalbe before saying our goodbyes.

Three days earlier, 50 women had arrived. Many didn't know each other. Some had never been bikepacking. Some weren't sure what they were capable of.

By the time we left, there were new friendships, new confidence and, we're pretty sure, quite a few people already thinking about their next adventure.

Emily summed it up beautifully:

And maybe that's the magic of The Weekender.

It isn't really about riding a particular route or ticking off a particular distance.

It's about giving yourself the opportunity to try something new, surrounded by people who will encourage you when it gets hard and celebrate with you when you make it to the other side.

The Oberland Edition gave us glorious weather, incredible scenery and more than a few memorable moments.

But most of all, it gave us each other.

Want to ride the The Weekender route yourself? Check out the full route on komoot:

Thanks to everyone who joined and made it so magical. Thanks to Sabine van der Korput for all the video- and photography. And our brilliant partners!