It looks like I’m going to be moving to Gothenburg in Sweden later this year. Wondering if anyone’s been or lives there currently and can advise what the biking’s like and where to go?

I know there’s lots of forests around Gothenburg, so hoping there should be some good singletrack to keep me going. Also Åre and some other ski resorts for summer uplifts, but these are a fair drive away.

Any tips would be appreciated.

Cheers,

Andy

Go to : happymtb
probaly, the best swedish mtb site, always very helpfull there 😀

I’ve a mate who lives out there, down south in Lund near Malmo, if you email me I’ll send you his details. He can give you some pointers I’m sure

Mat

It’s pretty flat in Skane, especially in the south of the province around malmo and ystad but from memory Gothenburg does have a little more potential. Never ridden there but I have been quite a few times.

There’s plenty of good riding and nice MTB people in GTB, I live in Skåne and it’s pretty flat apart from 2 ridges.

1.5 hours south of GTB is Vallåsen, Skåne’s largest ski hill which opens from the summer although this year it won’t open till August due to lift works: Vallåsen

Only a small hill but good fun to ride with hand cut natural lines (most by my hands 😉 ).

Slightly further away is Vånga hill, runs a button lift and built by a good group of locals. Again its small but perfectly formed.

There’s great riding all over the place, can’t go wrong 8)

I’ve been to Gothenburg a few times. Never biked there though.
There are quite a few wooded parks in the city itself, with loads of bike paths everywhere. You could easily commute by bike 100% of the time, except when it gets really cold in winter.
Last time I was there, I went for a run in the park just to the north of Västra Frölunda. Ruddalen, I think it’s called. Pretty hilly, completely covered in trees and big enough for me to get lost in for about an hour.

I’m quite envious actually, Sweden is one of my fave places. I met the current Mrs B in Malmo where she was working. We still visit every summer. The beaches in the south, around ystad, are amazing and Gothenburg is a very pretty city. As Franciscobegbie says, the whole country is very much geared towards an outdoor lifestyle and cycle commuting is very catered for in all the Swedish towns and cities I’ve visited. Enjoy.

I live in Lund in Southern Sweden. The best thing is that you can ride just about anywhere and it has so low population you can do interesting things in the woods. There is not much get off my land attitude. Fantestic single track as well. Get used to proper winters though. So no biking but skiing and skating on lakes. We having had great fun this year skating outside on huge lakes. I actually like cross country skiing and skating on lakes better than Alpine skiing now.

I like popping up to Breams place at Vallåsen for some gravity assist stuff. Only been twice though. Around Göteburg is nice. Bohusland just north is really pretty.

Thanks for the replies everyone.

I’ve had a look at the happymtb site so will register and get some more info. Hopefully get in touch with a local club and get them to show me around. I’m also over in May so will go into bike shops for a chat.

I’ve done some running and walking in the forests aroung GTB and looks to be loads of opportunities for singletrack. If they’re more liberal towards access rights than the UK then it should be promising.

Geda, Bream and Amos: I’ll be in touch further if you don’t mind?

Bonus points if you ride your bike down the Skansen Kronan steps!
http://www.ipernity.com/doc/supercargo/9966050

No worries, like I said before, there’s a very active MTB scene in and around GTB so you can’t go wrong 8)

I’m in Gothenburg. Plenty of riding here even smack bang in the city centre! There is singletrack everywhere and there is a fair few DH tracks too if that’s your thing. There’ll be tons of riding wherever you choose to live in the city as its a very green city. Be prepared for a lot of rain though! The city is very much geared towards cycling, bike paths everywhere. On my 20 km commute to work I don’t ride a single bit of road!

Personally, I’ve found the biking in Sweden to be very disappointing (I’m based in Stockholm).

The country, on the whole is flat. Very flat. So expect loads and loads and loads of forest single track, all looking and riding the exact same for 100’s of KM in either direction.

For the first few years it was different, so I enjoyed it. Now, it is just dull. I bought a road bike 2 years ago and spend more time on that now. There is only so much time you can spend in a flat pine forest with zero elevation.

In my opinion, the best bike for Sweden is a cyclocross bike. Forget about a Downhill bike.

For urban riding, the cyclist is well catered for; dedicated bike lanes everywhere, respect from motorists and bike parking facilities (covered) everywhere.

Unfortunately, for me the killer blow is the short season. You will be pretty much off your bike from November until April. Yes, you may get the odd, cold ride in but you are better off hitting the Turbo Trainer for 5 months (which again is very dull).

Sweden, is a nice country and has many benefits but, strangely enough, it is not a good biking country.

Caveat, if you like Snow, Ice and minus temperatures for 5 months of the year – come over and fill yer boots – You’ll love it!

Or move to Skåne, less snow down here 😉

I disagree, it’s a very good cycling country, on and off road. Riding the road reminds me of riding in the 80s in the UK, low volume road traffic and miles and miles of quite, well looked after tarmac country roads 8)

how long is the biking Season in Skåne? Thats what gets me. Cycling is seasonal.

Depends how cold/long the winter is.

This winter season has been a long one, snow stopped play at Xmas and was rideable again end of Feb, so it was a ~2 month downtime.

back in 2007/2008 is was a short winter, so we had less than a month that was non rideable.

For me the downtime is just the excuse to get the skis out 😀

The roads were rideable up until Xmas and clear again at the end of Feb? Really? Without spiked tyres? Lucky so and so!

To the OP, looks like GBG area should be fine then. Just don’t expect any hills 🙂

OK- I’m kind of between the mtb hell described by baldSpot and the utopia described by some others on here (exaggerating slightly, but never mind). There are some parts of Sweden that would make East Anglia feel alpine, and endless managed forest can be monotonous. I’d agree that for me, if I had to have just one bike for Sweden would probably be a CX bike, or at the very least an XC race bike. Despite the relatively good access potential, a lack of population density in some regions means that there are areas where the number of tracks to ride is very low even compared with ‘remote’ areas in the UK.

I’d disagree with baldSpot on a couple of things though. Firstly, the winters are great if you’re in a cold part of Sweden (ie not the south – which is more or less like the north of the UK and can be a bit hit and miss from one year to the next) and outside of the snowy areas you can ride as much of the year as you would in much of the UK. If you get fed up with frozen trails then chances are the skating will be good, and if there is too much snow, get some skis. In the south (ie for you) though this isn’t an issue. Secondly, the Göteborg/Bohuslän area is amongst the best areas for riding in the country. Good, undulating rocky geography, great coastline, forests, transport links, fairly large riding community and a warm (if wet – compared to south east UK) climate. You should find something to entertain you, and as others have said, happymtb is a decent place to start. Lycka till!

I stopped riding in the forest in November and started in Feb. There was still plenty of snow and ice around but on the whole the biking from March to now has been fantastically mud free. I was really worried when I moved here about how flat it was as the land around Lund is ubber flat but just up the road 15mins drive or 1hours off road/Cycle way ride is an ace forest where the height ranges from 175m to 60m. It has some great descents and climbs, loads of different terrain from smooth forest tracks, slabs to rocks. There is even quite a few DH tracks with some drops and jumps I don’t dare do

Breem. You are welcome to come down sometime if you fancy a change.

Yep, of course it’s been cold, but the roads and forest have been fine and I never use spiked tyres, just Nobby Nics. I know Stockholm has been bad as I have family and friends living there, you have my sympathy!

GTB has more snow than Skåne, but is better than Stockholm, really you need to be south of Hallandsåsen (Halland) to have the short season in Sweden.

That said, there are no proper hills in Southern Sweden, max is 224m, but if you ride up and down 224 lots it all add up 😉 Our trails over Hallandsåsen are so that a good loop is about 40km and 1000m elevation.

Here, in Stockholm, the forests are still unrideable. Did my first road ride of the year last weekend.

Sorry it was January when I went for my first ride. It was still really cold though so we went skating afterwards on a huge lake and skiing the next day where Breem has the DH track. That was a fantastic weekend.

Oh – and other than happy mtb, the small guidebook Mountainbike i Sverige (published by Calazo) has straightforward guides to areas across a lot of the country, which seeing as you were asking about Åre might be of interest. It’s in Swedish, but is only a guidebook so will be pretty easy to understand, even for English speakers. Like most guidebooks, it’s a bit limited, but will show you some of the potential of the riding ‘upp i fjällen’ (in the hills) and outside of ski resorts.

Thanks for the invite George, I’d love to come down soon, been meaning to for years!

BTW, it’s been a while since you came up to Ängelholm for the ride 😉

I have a car now so can come up. My wife wanted to take my children to the Railway museum there so maybe we can come then. I have not got a “fast” bike at the moment so you will be a bit faster than me around the sandskog. Would love to do some XC stuff on Hallandsåsen.

Also, the XC crowd take their racing pretty serious, if that floats your boat.

Southern Sweden has a good series called Syd MTB Cup.

In fact there’s a race in Ängelholm this Sunday, great little course, my local.

Sounds good George, maybe at the end of April? I can invite some other friends out too for a group ride.

The railway museum is great for the kids, they have a proper steam loco as well, beautiful to see/hear/smell it out running in the summer 8)

I will see if I can come at the end of April. Going to the UK in the middle of April then only one weekend left.

I love Sweden – but if you go there in mid-late Summer find the biggest tub of the strongest mosquitto repellant you can find – and then buy another, maybe two

No mosquito’s where I am by the SW coast 😀

But going to the inlaws in Småland and its carnage, couldn’t live there, they love my blood 🙁

Another living in Gothenburg here.

The usual spots to ride are:

– Änggårdsbergen
It’s not huge or all that challenging but drains well and is close to the centre so good for quick rides.

– Delsjön
Probably the most popular spot. Weekly happymtb rides on pretty varied terrain. Mostly woody singletrack with a few rocky bits.

-Sandsjöbacka
Lots of varied trails. Certain bits should be avoided as it’s a military firing range (there are usually schedules posted up so you know when not to go).

There are a lot more spots than this but it’s just a matter of getting out and exploring or joining the local rides.

If you’re more into DH there are a few spots but the only one with a lift is Ale Bike Park about 30mins north of town. For DJ there’s a spot in Kallebäck that’s usually well maintained (a tiny pump track there too).

Email in profile if you want some maps or gps tracks.

Welcome to Sweden!

(not so many mosquitoes here – it’s the ticks you want to watch out for)

baldSpot

Personally, I’ve found the biking in Sweden to be very disappointing (I’m based in Stockholm).

The country, on the whole is flat. Very flat. So expect loads and loads and loads of forest single track, all looking and riding the exact same for 100’s of KM in either direction.

Erm, have you actually ever ridden anywhere outside of Stockholm?

You know there is a ton of bike parks with lift assisted riding?

On the whole, some of the country is flat, but not all of it.

Whilst Gothenburg certainly ain’t the Peaks, Lakes or Yorkshire Dales it certainly has its fair share of hills.

supinerider mentions some good places, and outside of those places there is so much riding, hills too.

Bream – yes I was generalising too much no problems when I’ve been to Malmo/Skane and that lovely S Coast with beautiful White beaches

But Stockholm archipelago or forest N of Uppsala – they make UK mozzies look like butterflies

Just like supinerider, I live (and bike) in Gothenburg, and I think there are lots and lots of great options just outside the city centre!

Apart from the ones supinerider recommends, here are some more:

Vättlefjäll – one of my favourites, 25 km of great riding.

Horsickan slick rocks – fun and a bit tricky

Paradiset – a combination of trails and slick rocks

I live only a few minutes away from Änggårdsbergen and it’s great for a ride after work. I’m going running there tomorrow. =)

Welcome to Sweden/Gothenburg, good look with riding and drop me a line if you need company.

/Maria

Thanks again for all the info,

I’ll be over for a week in late May getting married. I won’t have my bike with me, but will certainly do a bit of walking and investigation around the area’s you’ve all highlighted. I’ll contact people separately for maps/routes etc.

The big move will be end of September, so will hopefully get a month or two riding in before picking up the skis! It’ll also give me a chance to improve my Swedish enough to communicate on happymtb.

Everyone’s comments kind of confirm with my view that there’ll be lots of technical singletrack close by, not too much altitude to play with, but some uplifts not too far a drive outside the city.

Cheers,

Andy