Smaertin

Tromsø

Throwback to some surprise bikinism on Middagsaksla

Yes, I just made that word up. It has absolutely nothing to do with bikinis mind you, there is more than enough internet space dedicated to those already. Instead, it's like alpinism but with a bike. Sort of get up and get down something big and steep with

Autumn

Fugletind, when the leaves were still on the trees

As I write this, we just had a week of freezing temperatures and snowline at around 300 masl or below, and now the rain is hammering down. And still, our ride on Fugletind was barely a couple of weeks ago. Things change fast up here. The day after LyngenExp I,

Istinden

Bridging seasons

It's way too early in the morning, pretty much pitch black, and I'm parked at a shady gas station waiting for Marius [http://mariuslund.com]. Thank all things holy (mostly my own good planning in this case) for the coffee I'm sipping. Snowline has

Kvaløja

Riders of the storm

Around noon today two morons clad in gore-tex could be seen slowly making their way up Smørstabben. One of them was me, the other was Gustav. The reason for this project not being the most intelligent was the less than encouraging weather. Several kinds of precipitation, frozen and otherwise, strong

Photography

Winter is coming!

After yesterdays' storm we woke up to a fresh dusting of snow on Tromsdalstinden. Snow line seems to be approximately 700masl. Time to start waxing!

Photography

Lyngen landscapes, working with what is given

The leisurely pace on the ups at the LyngenExp gave me a few opportunities to do my best at grabbing some landscape shots. This is truly a beautiful part of the year! On a clear day there would be grand views of huge mountains shooting up almost 2000m from the

Lyngen

Lovely lovely Lyngen

A lovely woman gave me a pass to the LyngenExp bike festival last weekend for birthday, how lucky am I? Very, as it turns out. We rolled into Lyngseidet on friday night to heavy clouds and a general feeling of dampness, but a hearty portion of Bacalao kept us warm

Sørtinden

Sørtinden, steep trails and sunsets.

I already had a good day out in my legs when Andrea said she wanted to ride after work. I wasn't sure I could muster another proper ride so I pulled a cunning trick and lured with a sunset to get away with something shorter. Sørtinden is just

OR

Fløja to Gammelgården, kick out the wheels

Surprisingly, the grey skies were littered with very promising brighter patches in the morning, and plans for a lap on Fløya were quickly forged, before the weather had a chance to change its mind. After making our way to the top station of the now closed gondola a stiff breeze

Outdoor Research

Reminders of autumn on Rundfjellet.

Just another day with rain in the air, and plenty on the ground. Being this far north and close to the ocean and the weather it brings, it is hard to find more than a couple of hundred meters of below treeline riding. We aimed for a short and mostly

Am

Almost breaking through

When I woke up this morning the rain had stopped, and the clouds were showing some signs of weakness where they previously had been solid and grey. No excuses not to ride a bike, and I think Gustav agreed, because next thing I know we are in a car and

Am

Wet blanket on Buren, one more on the list.

The foot of Buren was wet after a day and some of solid rain, but I and Gustav still made good progress through puddles, slippery grass and mud. The heather that had been warm, dry and comforting for so long was now soaked and cold, reminding us that summer might

Photography

Shapes and landscapes in monochrome

This is another one of those wierd posts where I actually don't have much of a story, but I do have a few pictures that I think fit nicely together. It is not that I haven't done any nice things to write about lately, I just

Photography

Good afternoon on Bønntuva

Me and Gustav went for a quick spin up Tromsdalen to Fjellheisen and on up to Bönntuva this afternoon. This might be one of the most popular rides in Tromsø, so it was about time that I got it under my belt. We were treated with great views as always,

Norway

Inversion in the golden hour

I just think it looks awesome, that's all. And while I'm at it, here is another one, an hour or so later.

Fillariosa

Motion pictures with sound'n all, the fresh Little Finale edit is out

This weekend we were out filming again behind the house. This time we shot what is my favourite trail to get some good practice done, Little Finale. A couple of minutes worth of awkward corners interconnected by lumpy straight sections, there is no time to relax. Easy enough to roll

Enduro

Time, occasionally an important thing.

Most readers should know by now that I am not really a racer. It's not that I don't like measuring myself against other people...or maybe yea, a little bit. It is nice to not shatter the belief that I am decently fast. Racing has a

Am

In the movies!

Yea, we filmed a bit on one of the trails behind the house the other day. Andrea did the editing, and here are the results: Good fun to work with video, a completely different feel both to shoot and to be the actor compared to stills. I think we need

Am

Kattfjord, both kinds of riding.

I guess most of my readers are familiar with the "fun scale" (otherwise, Google is!), type 1 and type 2 fun and so on. I love the concept, and think it is applicable to trails as well. As I see it, type 1 riding is flattering, it makes

Am

Ten new trails

At least. Probably more, but I happen to really like Leonard Cohen. I also like yellow cars. Anyway, there has been some summer going on up here as well. Maybe not on the south European style, but good enough for me. The "occasional riding in shorts and t-shirt, not

Changing backyards

As happy as I have been with my local backyard and the riding in Umeå, change was due. We started by spending a week selling off a bunch of redundant things, cramming an impressive amount of more or less indispensable things in the car and stuffing the rest in boxes

Hunddalen

When the objective is just an excuse

I started thinking the other day about objectives. I have always thought that the objective is the goal and motivation of any endeavor, and reaching it is the difference between success and failure. However, since my job these days give time for plenty of introspection, I have come to reevaluate

Vinter

Northbound!

First trip up north is just about to happen, and I am getting well excited. Hopefully there will be good weather, a stable snowpack and a bunch of messing about pretending to be a real alpinist. [https://smaertin.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/dsc02410.jpg] Pretending to be a real

Sommar

Open your x-mas presents late, a couple of days on Gran Canaria in images

I got the best x-mas present ever this year, a trip to visit Andreas' sister with family on Gran Canaria. Yea, I know, I'm a lucky sod. Off course we took the bikes with us, hanging out on the beach for a week is not our idea

Sommar

Sorted!

Here I am getting excited again. I will tell you all about Gran Canaria and how buttery the new suspension was in just a little while, when I get all the pictures straightened and processed. Right now, I just wanted to say give Outdoor Research two big thumbs up for