hi! we are two swiss single trail maniacs visiting norway from 9.6.2012 to 23.6.2012. we'll traveling around southwest norway, looking for some nice trails, we'd also go to fjora. is there somebody who could give us some advices? would be great to get in contact with some locals, who could offer some guided tours ...
Probably not much help in this if you literally mean the southwest, but if you end up passing Oslo at some point, Norefjell is not too far away and worth the trip. Described in one of my articles here: http://simenberg.wordpress.com/category/action-summer/mountainbike/
Skeikampen in Gausdal close to Lillehammer probably offers the best area for flowy singletrack, in addition to Oslo. Hopefully people can add links to their gps-tracks here.
Are you looking for "pedal up" trails only, or are you into downhill(ish) stuff as well (with or without lifts)?
we will start in Oslo and we have a car for two weeks, we planned a trip over Bergen to Trondheim and then back over Lillehammer to Oslo. We like to pedal up, but are also interested in the downhillish stuff. We ride bikes with 160mm travel and are quit good riders. So, if you have more cool recommendations, we would be very thankful the two descriptions in your blog are very cool
If you give me or anyone else in Bergen a sound when you are here and ready to ride, I am sure someone will take you along and show you the trails if you like company
I'm not a pro rider, but there are some nice trails in Orkanger as well. Thats just outside Trondheim. We also got a nice mountain called Vassfjellet near Trondheim. I haven't been there much, but its nice
Just give the Forum a note when your traveling schedule gets more detailed. Its possible to drive from Oslo to Bergen in one day and from Bergen to Trondheim in one. Its a long trip on those roads, but its full of fantastic sights.
There are many nice and challenging trails in Trondheim. Like nyzeta wrote, just post up when you know your schedule and you will most likely get some local guiding.
Hafjell close to Lillehammer offers the best downhill inn Scandinavia. A lot og Nice trails on the top and exelent for your bikes. They also rent out downhill equipment.
U have already got some god tip about where to go plus Uve found out of fjørå bu Ureselves. If Ure going west there is a true FR trip to a mountain called Molden in the Sognefjord, spectacular view, easy to climb/push and a nice ride/dive into the fjord. If i was coming up here Ive would definetly have tested the tip Uve got about southern Trøndelag. A very special mountain landscape very different from the much younger Alpine mountains U are used to and if U are lucky U will get to see the Mosks too. Some important things to rember/have in mind when travelling in Norway. 1. Its often/usually cold, specially in the mountains bring the winter gear
2. Do as we do when we go to the alps for pow, rent a car and dont have to strickt plans of where to go and let the wheater forecast be Ure guide.
PS: If U need cheap accomondation in Oslo let me know. I know about a nice place in the woods just outside the centre, and if Ure lucky the owner takes U on a guided trip on the very technical singletracks of "Nordmarka" over to the famous Holmenkol and a hell of a DH/FR ride down to the famous "Vigelandspark" for some cultural amusement
thanks everybody for this very helpful tips. i hope, the weather will be good and allows us a lot of biking. as sanouka said, we don't have strict plans, we can follow the weather and our abilities. We will post in the forum, when we are in Norway and it would be great, to meet some of you guys. Cheers!
to sanouka: i'd be very interested in the accommodation in Oslo, you mentioned. thanks in advance.
PS: If U need cheap accomondation in Oslo let me know. I know about a nice place in the woods just outside the centre, and if Ure lucky the owner takes U on a guided trip on the very technical singletracks of "Nordmarka" over to the famous Holmenkol and a hell of a DH/FR ride down to the famous "Vigelandspark" for some cultural amusement
I'm not very impressed by the mountains at Skeikampen. The riding is good, but there are so many mountain areas in Norway with just as good riding and a lot nicer views. This is especially true on the West Coast and the north of Norway.
As someone said earlier the best is if you can check the weather and go where the weather seems to be good. And make sure the ride you want to do is free of snow already.
I will spend the first half of the summer in Geiranger. A beautiful place, but I don't know if the riding around there is good. Not to far away is Lom, where you have the ride in the video. I just have to find out if there's not too much snow anymore.
Maybe we could do it as a shuttle, since I also have a car? I'm not a very fast mountainbiker, but I have fun .
This also seems like a nice ride, and would be on your way if you decide to go from Lom to Trondheim.
A lot of nice riding in the inner part of the Sognefjord. The Sogndal-area has tons of epic views and descents, I might be there a couple of days from 16.06. Also possible that I could join you for some riding in Bergen when you get here.
Oslo-Bergen-Sogndal-Sunnmøre(Fjørå)-Trondheim, and a day or two of downhilling at Hafjell bike park just outside of Lillehammer to finish it all off sounds like a pretty decent trip.
thanks everybody for this very helpful tips. i hope, the weather will be good and allows us a lot of biking. as sanouka said, we don't have strict plans, we can follow the weather and our abilities. We will post in the forum, when we are in Norway and it would be great, to meet some of you guys. Cheers!
For XC-ish style trailriding go to the big cities on the southeast - east coast, and lower-lying mountaineous areas of telemark and oppland (Bø, Kongsberg, etc). For alpine style riding the westernmost interior of eastern norway has high mountain plateau riding, and the western coast has steep trailriding (where som hike-a-bike is compulsory).
When travelling in Norway it is essential not to plan the route in advance, but follow the weather. In western norway, good weather is not abound, but you might get lucky and have a 2-3week sunny window and get some truly epic scenery and riding. Be prepared to travel along an east-west axis, as opposed to travel N-S along the coast. The bad weather comes in from W-NW, and stops in the western mountains, usually giving good weather in the interiors of the eastern parts when the rain seeps in the west
If you are proficient map readers you`ll be able to follow tips from the forum quite easily, GPS-tracks are not plentiful outside TRondheim and Oslo.
As for now, as it snowed down to 100m yesterday and there is skiing from 6/700m in W-NW coast, if weather does not get considerably warmer/drier in the coming two weeks, I would avoid NW Norway (and fjørå) and go further south to the Bergen - Voss/Hardanger/Sogndal - Geilo/Ål/Nesbyen axis where it is warmer and you`ll be able to find some epic riding equal to Fjørå (except not so many journos and sponsored riders have been there so few want to go there). Or, consider bringing your skis along for some combined pleasures. Tony
For now, I suppose the weather keeps you from going to the west coast. If you didn't already get there.
It turns out that the snow didn't melt like it should yet, at least at 1300 meters at Norefjell. However, riding conditions are fine at Nesbyen Bike Park, Rotneim, Ål (further up Hallingdal).
This weekend Terrengsykkel organizes Utflukt at Kongsberg, with guided tours. http://utflukt.terrengsykkel.no/ Beg the organizers for a Euro-friendly deal.
Tomorrow, like all Wednesdays, the lift is running in Drammen Skisenter Bike Park from 18-21. Finish off with a two hour singletrack ride from the top of the lift when it closes. You know, it hardly gets dark nowadays.
The "subway" in Oslo runs all day every day, and offers access to excellent trails. Either you go on for hours on singletrack in "Oslomarka", or you run laps between "Frognerseteren" and "Midtstuen/Skådalen" stops on the Frognerseteren line. The latter has numerous hand built features, like banked curves, gaps, drops and jumps.
On Tuesdays, the Terrengsykkel.no crowd organizes guided rides, normally in Østmarka, Oslo, at 7 pm. "Tirsdagsklubben" is the term if you want to search here.
When it comes to Skeikampen (in Gausdal by Lillehammer/Hafjell), I don't agree that it is overrated. It is out of the box plug and play easy access singletrack bliss. Especially for Swiss people who are used to scenic and impressive mountains with lift served trails everywhere. Anyhow, I can't think of easily accessible full day riding by the fjords on flowy trails. But push/carry up and bomb back down: Absolutely.
hi everybody! It's our fourth day in Norway and we can say, that we are very lucky guys. We started Saturday in Oslo, riding some nice single trails around Solvang and Holmenkollen. We traveled than to the Telemark area where we found a paradise of slick rocks an trails as long you can ride, with camping and swimming. Wow!!! Today, we arrived in Bergen and we'd like to stay the next two days here, before we continue direction Trondheim. We will check out the suggestions of "Simenberg" on our way back to Oslo, in about two weeks.
If you are here in Bergen on thursday, I might be able to take you on a guided trip to Toro. It's a beautiful trip when the weather is good, and I would really recommend to take a trip up there. The top is at 733 metres, and you finish almost at around 70 metres aboce sealevel.
Here is a link to a guide, but it's in norwegian, and google translate misses some points, but you might be able to get some information out of it. http://terrengsykkel.no/index.php?stid=347
Hi Mr. Jacobsen Thank you for your post. Unfortunately, i had a little accident yesterday evening on a so called flowy trail (just for local addicts ;), and i had to stay the night in Legevakten, but it is not so big deal. But we decided to use today and tomorrow for traveling further up north.
Hello everybody who followed this thread On the last evening of our trip, I'm sitting at a rich table in the beautiful Nordmarka at a forum-users house in the woods. I let pass the last 14 days through my mind and i'd like to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart. No kidding, no flattering! With all your tips, suggestions and your engagement, we spent some of the best holidays we ever had. We were very lucky with the weather and get a really good experience, what mountain biking in Norway is meant: Tons of very demanding and technical trails in the Nordmarka, flowy trails in Bergen, that we would call hard downhill-courses, trails around Trondheim, that we would call Mountain Bike Mekka! And of course: Fjora! We have ridden the Mefjellet in super conditions and we really found, what we expected. Not to be forgotten, the slick rocks in the Telemark area, where we found our little paradise with small technical trails on kilometers of slickrocks, little lakes, wild camping, fishing and grilling. All over the trip we met super people and we learned, what is meant, if people share a passion! Hope to see all of you again, on our Swisstrails or here in Norway!
the two descriptions in your blog are very cool 
