MTB Trip in Norway

Hello,

We come from Canada and we are coming to visit Norway in the month of August. We are two confirmed mountain bikers who are looking to live the best trip in Norway. We will land in Oslo and stay 10 days. We are planning to do Al, Hafjel,Geiranger,Sogndal, etc. If you have something to propose, we are interested to know what we have to ride and seen. Also, note that we are interested for shuttle rides if you have that.

Best regards,

Mike

For shuttle rides It sounds like Nesbyen will be right up your alley. Send them an email.
http://www.trailhead.no

When it comes to mountain biking i think you can skip Geiranger. I would recommend the woods around Oslo (some of the best trail riding in the country), Hafjell, Skeikampen, Nesbyen, Ål, Sogndal.

One thing you need to know when planning your trip, is that driving in Norway is slow. For the most part you can estimate 60 km/hr (38 mph) average speed, the area around Oslo being the main exception (outside rush hours, that is). Then looking at the map you will realize that perhaps too much time will be spent in a car if you set your amibtions too high.

Oslo has great riding, so that's a no brainer when you are arriving in Oslo. Hafjell is close, but if you have easy access to lift served riding where you live then I would rather recommend searching for a more uniquely Norwegian experience.

Vestlandet has great riding, try to connect with locals first to make the most of your time. There is bike a camp in Fjørå every summer, if August 25 - 28 is suitable for you I would highly recommend joining the camp. You can ask questions about it here and join here (translated version). The camp is a down-to-earth camp of happy riders with steep and challenging riding in breathtaking surroundings. You will need to arrange your own sleeping (in very basic cabins or a tent) and your own food, but it only costs 200NOK and is a really great experience. It takes about 7-8 hours to get there from Oslo, however, but you may find other biking locations on the way there.

See PM for a few contact points.

If you are not too restricted on bugdet, then you could check out Romsdal Adventure, I know a lot of riders have been very happy with them.

If you are riding in Oslo I highly recommend riding with some locals. We don't signpost biking trails here in Norway so riding for a day alone is going to be a lot of map reading during the ride...
Just post under "Stier og turer" ("Trails and rides") section in this forum and I'm sure some locals will show up.

You can also use https://trailguide.net/ as a resource for finding great trails in Norway. Hallingdal (Ål and Nesbyen) is very well covered.

Through trailguide, you can also find out who is particular active bikers and contributors in each area.

Regards,
Bjorn J. Kvande
Gol, Hallingdal

Oslo has a fantastic natural trail network, by far the most varied riding in Norway. The scenery however basically is trees and some lakes. Landing in Oslo I will reccomend spending a few days here and then check out one more district, or maybe a trip from Oslo to Sogndal with a couple of stops on the way.
Be advised: MTB in Norway is best with local knowledge, the signing is poor or nonexistant.

Trailguide.net, mentioned above, together with MTBmap.no are good tools when planning your trip.

Wan`t Mountains and some tecnical tracks and surfing down? come to Nordfjord. (enduro bikes recomand).

Hello,

Thank you very much for your recommandation. Here is our destinations:

Oslo -
Hafjell - Plan is to ride the bike park
Geiranger - Fjora
Sogndal - Krossen trail
Nesbyen and Al -

If you have the best trails to ride in each area (EPIC AND MUST DO TRAIL), feel free to let us know. We are rinding all mountain bike. We are good ryders loving trails with good flow, technical feature, views...

Here is an update of the places that I have found that seems to be nice:

Oslo - Frognerseteren
Hafjell - Plan is to ride the bike park
Geiranger - Fjora
Sogndal - Krossen trail
Nesbyen and Al - Torpo, Veslekamben, Sangefjell

For Oslo I would recommend the "natural tracks" if you don't just wanna do downhilll.

It is true that it's nice to ride with a local, but for instance from the Sognsvann metro it's not that difficult to follow the the tracks you will find on mtbmap.no, if you also have a local map or gps.

Nordfjord (Sandane,Stryn) example is about 1-2 hour With car North from sogndal..

check out the link for more info.

http://en.nordfjord.no/things-to-do/cycling/mountain-biking

Hi Mike,

About Sogndal, Krossen trail is great but also attracts tons of hikers so you might tend to get caught in traffic a bit.
Check out Vorfjellet (flowy with insane views) or Nipa (a bit more technical but also with insane views) instead. Both can easily be done in one day as well.
If you are in Sogndal on a dry day, Hesteggi is also a neat trail, although with some very tech bits.

Hello OlaA,

I'm not able to localise the trail on Trailguide or MTBmap.no. Can you help me please?

Mike

Hi Mike
For Oslo, I would recommend Pioneren in Østmarka. Shold be clearly signed and easy to find, singletrack build for cycling.
http://terrengsykkel.no/Telex/AApningen-av-Pioneren-i-bilder -in Norwegian, but google can translate
https://www.strava.com/activities/389746893

The area around the Pioneren trail is really cool, and does contain several really cool trails that are not very well marked (yet?). The area is also very well laid out for doing different loops with nice descents and peddling/pushing back up. But I think this requires local knowledge to do easily. When are you in Oslo?

Hello OlaA,

I'm not able to localise the trail on Trailguide or MTBmap.no. Can you help me please?

Mike

This is a hike to Vorfjellet, Link. On the page you will find GPX and a map. I don't think a bike trip would differ in any way from the hike described there.

oops wrong link, my suggestion follows:

I would have ridden the Ridge up and down. Connected thru Navarsete (Cabin) and further to one of the trails from Flatingane Link.

This is probably not your first stop in Norway and you will have plenty of time to find a decent descent in the West, before you get there ...

(I haven't been there, but realized you needed some help ...)

Hi!

Check out Sogn Sykkelfører, where Nipa is mentioned as Joranger Nipa and Vorfjellet is also included.
http://sykkelforer.rocketfarm.no/test.html#/turer

Out of curiousity: on the Vorfjellet descent, is it possible to cut the descent short after Jargolnipa and link through Navarsete and all the way down to the fjord over Flatingane?

Between Oslo and Hafjell you will find a great place to go ride that includes shuttling. This is one of the places that are included in the Norwegian Enduro series. Great riding and amazing hospitality.

Call Peter at Traktor Bikepark at +47 930 28 076

teaser: https://vimeo.com/172408433

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Traktor-Bike-Park-217418634945446/

@Garpen : I have tried that one, but it is pretty much a sheep track down to Navarsete that is 80% unrideable. From navarsete up to Flatningane the trail is an uphill marsh that needs lots of work.
So basicly, not really worth it.

Du tuller nå, ikke sant?!!
Trulsrunden og Pionéren med venner er sikkert greie ettermiddagsturer for travle småbarnsfedre, men neppe det helt store for noen som har reist langt. Stiene er jo direkte uspennende og etter å ha bli lemlestet for nesten en million penger blitt like spennende som Birken. Ja, jeg tenker at det sikkert vil være fint å teste ut norsk furuskog og svaberg, men da ville jeg siktet på noen lokasjoner som virkelig flyter litt mer enn 50 meter av gangen!

Hva er det du surmuler for nå, da?

Bronx, du må huske å legge deg klokka 20. Du blir så grinete og negativ ellers.

Hvis du synes forslaget om Pioneeren med omegn er så dårlig ide, så kan du kanskje foreslå noe annet? Du er jo kjent som den opprinnelige stifinneren, så du burde kunne komme opp med et godt forslag til tur uten å rakke så voldsomt ned på andres forslag(og gedigen arbeidsinnsats).

Avfei gjerne synspunktet mitt med at jeg er gretten eller surmuler.
Pionéren er grei den, til sitt formål med å avlaste et pressområde i randsonen.
Men husk perspektivet: For en langveisfarende er den å regne som en middelmådig bikepark-lignende sti. Det kan sikkert være en opplevelse å se hvilke stiperler og skog som finnes så nær sentrum av en hovedstad, noe jeg forstår utlendinger er fascinert av med Oslo.

De som følger mitt arbeid med å finne bærekraftige singletracks vet godt hvilke områder jeg liker godt. Alt er delt og beskrevet på OpenStreetMap/mtbmap.no.

Jeg var vel ikke den første som nevnte Pioneren, men det jeg faktisk foreslo var "området rundt Pioneren" og anbefalte at de fikk med seg en kjentmann.
Selve Pioneren er jo det den er, men det jeg er mest fascinert av med Skullerudåsen er alle kombinasjonene/loopene man kan sykle utenom akkurat det som er selve Pioneren-stien. Det finnes et utall nedkjøringer og grusveien opptil/forbi Fjellstadbakken gir effektiv klatring opp igjen.
På en kveld fikser man lett 4-5 fine nedkjøringer med mer enn 50 meter flyt av gangen Om man tråkker litt er det nesten like effektivt som Frognerseteren.
Det finnes så klart mange andre, flotte turer i Oslomarka og at du er en viktig bidragsyter til å publisere de på OpenStreetMap/mtbmap.no er uten tvil. Men det hjelper vel ikke trådstarter så veldig mye?

@Mikethebike: Sorry for discussing trails in Norwegian. The topic is if the trails around Skullerud/Pioneren would be interesting for you or not. Some people love them, others not so much. I see you considered doing Frognerseteren in Oslo, and I would recommend it. Shuttling by metro is pretty unique
But if you don't mind a day of peddling technical trails up and Down, Oslo has endless possibilites. But again, a local who can guide you is essential.