Norway – Mountain Biking with Cafe Rallaren
Imagine this: You’re on a bike and lightly pedaling along a smooth dirt road through a picturesque valley that features waterfalls coming off the steep valley walls. Each waterfall is more beautiful than the last. There are sections of trees full of orange and yellow leaves next to the stream you are following. This is what you can expect on the 22 km downhill mountain bike ride from Cafe Rallaren in Myrdal to Flam in Norway. Although we had already been driving around the Norwegian countryside, it was a completely different and refreshing experience to the scenery and nature so closely.
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Get the Gear – Mountain Biking with Cafe Rallaren
There are primarily two companies that offer mountain bikes in flam to do this route: Visit Flam and Cafe Rallaren. I’ve already talked briefly about how the Visit Flam website was frustratingly expensive in my Flam Fjord Cruise post, so I was excited to see a mountain biking company alternative to Visit Flam. But by far the best reason to book with Cafe Rallaren is that the bikes are already at Myrdal and you do not have to worry about paying extra to take a bike on the train or worry about loading it onto the train before you ride. Yes, there is an extra charge to take a bike on board the train… so avoid it by utilizing Cafe Rallaren.
Cafe Rallaren is right next to the train station and is what seemed like a fast-casual restaurant. It also has a TON of bikes out front, so you cannot miss it. We had reserved online ahead along with a takeaway lunch (did I mention they have pack lunch that you can purchase in addition to the bikes for you to enjoy en route to flam?! So great) so we went to pick them up as well as a slip of paper to take to the bike handler. Outside with the bike handler, we chose and first adjusted helmets. Then, the bike handler gave us and demonstrated how they worked. I got a full-suspension bike that had a dropper post. A dropper post allows you to adjust the height of the seat with the push of a thumb button! We rode our bikes around in a little circle to make sure we were comfortable.
At a Glance:
- Rating: 4 (out of 4) stars – would do it again in a heartbeat!
- Intensity: Athletic clothes, Warm Layers, Tennis Shoes
- Location: Flåm, Norway
- Cost: 495 Nok for the Bike
- Restrooms: At the Flåm visitor center, at the Cafe Rallaren
- Timing: 1 hour on the Train, 2 hours minimum for the bike ride
Highlights:
- The ride is 90% downhill!
- Move through the valley at your own pace
- Waterfalls everywhere
- The fall foliage was stunning
Lowlights:
- 22 km’s is long to be on a bike when you’re not used to it
Ready to Go
After we got the gear, the bike handler gave us an overview of the entire ride. In retrospect, everything he said was 100% accurate. There were two spots he recommended that we walk the bikes – on a steep switchback section and through a tunnel. He seemed fully confident that we would be able to do the ride, which gave me confidence. We layered up with lightweight gloves, sunglasses for eye protection, zipped up our jackets, and tucked in our scarves. We were finally ready.
Oh, before I forget, the takeaway lunch included a sandwich, apple, water bottle, dessert, and hand sanitizing wipe. I had the vegetarian option, which had great flavor. To check out more information on their take away lunches, see the Cafe Rallaren website.
The Ride Down
Not knowing what to expect, I was a bit nervous at first. The first part starts on a rocky downhill. It then gets a flat for a short period of time before going immediately into a series of switchbacks that our bike handler had mentioned that we walk. We did a little mix of walking and “riding” down the switchbacks. They were very steep, so riding was more like clenching both the brakes and slowly letting up on the front brake. There were a couple of other people hiking this section. These hikers were just slightly slower than us “riding” so do not be afraid to walk the bike!
These switchbacks are rocky, but once you get to the valley floor, you will mostly be riding on smooth dirt roads for the majority of the ride until you get to the paved road. The ride is almost entirely downhill, which was perfect for my mother and me, who are both novice mountain bikers. It was particularly fun to see the train that we just took snake up its track, while we followed a different road that meandered next to a stream and crossed the track a couple of times. There was exactly one car that passed us on the road until we got to the town of Flam. Other than people hiking, you should watch out for goats, which are not fenced in anywhere.
Fun things you will see
What I forgot to mention about those scary switchbacks was the fact that on one side of the switchback is a beautiful waterfall. With each right turn, you get a slightly different view of the waterfall and the valley. When we rode this in late September, the fall foliage was turning and especially gorgeous through this section.
Other notable items en-route:
- Many gorgeous waterfalls
- A couple bridges over the stream
- Only two or three major hills
- Picnic benches at scenic locations for you to enjoy your packed lunch
- GOATS! There was a heard that we had to pass on the road. They seemed unbothered by our presence.
- The town of Flam
- The darkest tunnel I’ve ever experienced
A note about the tunnel – I highly recommend walking through this tunnel. The bike handler had recommended walking the bike because there are no lights in the tunnel it is dark. The funny thing is that it looks so short!
We were already at a good pace, so I didn’t fully think through it and rode straight into the tunnel. About halfway (I mean who could tell), I lost sight of literally everything. I couldn’t see the ground, I couldn’t see my bike, and I couldn’t see the tunnel walls. All that I could see was the round tunnel exit. I kept opening my eyes wider and hoped I didn’t hit a wall as I steered for the exit. Kind of hilarious, but I’ve never experienced that kind of darkness, while also being on a moving bike. It was wild. With my mom behind me, I don’t want to even imagine the wreckage that would have happened if I fell. Long story short, stop, get a flashlight on your phone going, and walk your bike through the tunnel. Phew!
A better way to experience the “Norway in a Nutshell”
If you have not yet discovered it during your research, the “Norway in a Nutshell” is a route of trains, a couple of buses, and a boat from Oslo to Bergen. You can book the segments individually or as a trademarked tour package. After reading through the segments of the “Norway in a Nutshell”, we decided we wanted to experience parts of it, while not committing to taking trains and lugging our luggage everywhere. One segment we thought sounded amazing was the train ride from Flam to Myrdal, which winds itself through the Flam Valley. But instead of taking the train into the valley and then straight out again, we decided to mountain bike back down to Flam.
After experiencing it, I thought the train was pricey but fun. I wrote about the experience in my Flam Railway blog post. The bikes are roughly the same price as the train going back down, but I found it significantly more fun to be able to stop when I wanted and be amongst the beauty. It was a highlight of my Norway trip. The only issue is that you will need to take the train up in order to take the mountain bikes down. So soak up the views while relaxing on the way up, so you can get a closer view on your way down.
WHAT TO PACK FOR Mountain Biking in Norway
The weather in Norway is variable, especially so in autumn. I ended up bringing many light layers so I could adjust to the various weather conditions and wind while mountain biking. Here are a few items that came in handy:
- Puffy mid-layer that packs up small like the Patagonia nano-puff jacket.
- Wool layering long sleeve, like this one from Smartwool.
- Leggings – athletic ones are always great to have.
- Lightweight fleece gloves were handy (pun intended)! I wore these at first, but ended up taking them off because I got warm. These ones from REI are supposed to allow you to touch the screen through the gloves – that would have been amazing because I kept having to take one glove off to take photos.
- For shoes, I wore regular puma or nike sneakers and they worked fine.
- My ears got a little chilled while on the bike ride. A lightweight earband that would fit under the helment would have been perfect, like this one.
- Extra large scarf or scarves! H&M typically has some cute chunky scarves each fall.
- Packable backpack, so you can carry your waterbottle and lunch with you while biking.
- A handy dandy refillable water bottle is ALWAYS a good thing to bring with you.
Full Transparency
My mother and I received a significant discount (more than 50% I believe) on our bikes and lunches from Cafe Rallaren, so I wanted to talk for a second about how that would affect my experience. My mom and I were already planning to do this activity, so receiving the discount was phenomenal. Our deal included the lunches, which I don’t know we would have purchased on our own – but I am SO glad we had them. The ride took us a full 2 hours and a lot of physical energy, so knowing I had so much food with me was key.
The kind people at Cafe Rallaren also chose our bikes for us, which ended up being their more expensive full suspension bikes. If you are thinking of doing this, reach out to them to see what they think is best. Because it is not single-track technical mountain biking, maybe you do not need the full suspension – I am too novice to know!
Other than the bikes and the lunches, I don’t think the experience that you book would be any different than what I experienced. You’ll still get equal attention from the bike handler with safety briefing and helmet. Another thing that I love about this experience is that you can decide how long you want it to be. You could foreseeably pick up the bikes early and spend the ENTIRE day stopping at each waterfall and hiking around. Just be sure to pack enough snacks!
Overall Thoughts: Mountain Biking with Cafe Rallaren
Normally a hiker, this downhill ride through some of the most scenic valleys in the world was a fantastic way to dip my toe in the water of mountain biking. Being able to be in nature and moving quickly, but also being able to stop whenever we wished, was an excellent way to experience Norway.
Cafe Rallaren also made everything extremely easy – get right off the train, pick up our lunches and bikes, and then get on our way. At the bottom, we simply add our bikes to the others at the train station. This experience was one of my favorites in Norway.
Other things to do in the Flam Area:
- Take the iconic Flam-Gudvagen fjord cruise
- Taking a ride on the Flam Train
- Mountain Biking the Flam Valley Downhill
- Visit the Stegastein Viewpoint
- Go to a Historic Stave Church
- Day trip to Fjaerland
- Cider Tasting in Balestrand
Where else are there novice mountain biking with phenomenal views? My boyfriend is dying for me to get more into mountain biking, but I need some easy (and scenic) places to learn. Add suggestions to the comments below!
Happy Travels,
Hanna
