Video & Event Report: Floda MTB-Festival - Gothenburg's First Mountain Bike Festival

In the small community of Floda, approximately 25 kilometers east of Gothenburg, Sweden's second-largest city, a hidden mountain biking treasure has been rediscovered. For a long time, it remained concealed among inaccessible cliff edges, overgrown with thick moss, shimmering green algae, and heavy ferns. A place long forgotten by those who once rode their bikes there.

Mr. Matthias Göransson, also known as Mr. Bikemaestro, born and raised in Floda, had a recollection one night from bygone times. He remembered the childhood trails and occasionally encountering a man who, armed with a shovel, rake, hammer, and saw, was out there building among the cliffs. The man spoke a different language, had a volatile temperament, and was almost intimidating. What he was building was beyond comprehension, at least for a 5-year-old who had recently learned to ride a bike. It was high, large, and exposed.

Summoned by this vision, Matthias returned to his childhood forests and began searching for traces of this vague memory, or was it a dream? He rediscovered the lines, remnants of once proud ramps and jumps, and had a vision. Here, we shall have a festival for all who love mountain biking!


In this small community of Floda, there happened to be an established MTB community, mostly composed of guys in lycra focused on XC cycling. Strong, skilled cyclists with strong legs, good technique, and some of them with a background in downhill/freeride cycling. Through his work in guiding and MTB courses over the years, Matthias had come into contact with them, more of a job-related necessity. Besides that, he had also connected with some teenagers from Floda aiming for a more adventurous future.

Matthias began researching the origins of the lines and trails, but nothing was certain. There were rumors of a man from Canada who had lived in the area, a lumberjack and freerider, who clashed with everyone, got into conflicts with the municipality, landowners, and had ideas about a freeride paradise that did not resonate with people at the time. He was considered a bad seed.

"Okay, there are lines and endless possibilities here: we can create something amazing here." Matthias thought.


Dig where you are

And so began the transformation. In Floda, Pathfinder Travels, a travel and event organizing company, was based at The Tannery club—a premium fitness establishment known for its picturesque location and impressive facilities. Pathfinder Travels, with a track record of organizing adventure trips all over the world, had also been hosting the Banff Mountain Film Festival in Scandinavia for two decades—a premier outdoor event in Northern Europe.
Following a partnership forged through the Banff Mountain Film Festival, Matthias arranged a meeting with Pathfinder Travels, hoping they could help breathe life into his vision. They didn't disappoint. Pelle Aronsson and Nicke Sundström, the founders of Pathfinder Travels, had themselves contemplated a Mountainbike festival in Floda. They had reached out to the local municipality, MTB enthusiasts, restaurants, and others.

Time is never on your side

While the vision seemed clear, the first meeting didn't take place until mid-July. The festival, christened "Floda MTB-festival," was scheduled for September 2nd. In the interim, there was the summer break that halted all work in Sweden until mid-August. They were left with just one month for planning. Could they pull it off? Did they have the determination and resourcefulness to make it happen?
They wasted no time and dove headfirst into the preparations.

Pelle, the events guru, immediately began securing permits from the police and the municipality—knowing well that bureaucratic processes could be time-consuming. Nicke focused on logistics and staffing, while Matthias took charge of the website and social media presence. They pushed forward as best as they could, rallying guides for various cycling experiences.

The offerings included a big diversity of entry-level cross country trails, challenging all-mountain trails, enduro trail and some of Sweden's most gnarly downhill trails and freeride trails.

But there was a pressing matter—the tracks, particularly the enigmatic Oddrides, the ramps, and the vague memories of childhood jumps. How could they be managed and integrated into the festival?


Driven by his unwavering vision to revive the mountain, specifically Oddride Mountain, Matthias took it upon himself to dig, build, and toil. After putting in a full day's work, he would venture out alone or with occasional assistance, working well into the night. His only source of illumination—a headlamp.

Race ahead

Right from day one, the entire team worked relentlessly to build the necessary infrastructure and promote the event. Crucially, they had to bring the Oddride tracks up to par, breathing life into Oddride Mountain. Countless volunteers got involved, their unwavering dedication being the cornerstone of the festival's success. The community came together in an extraordinary way.
But they were met with a hurdle—an unexpected need to postpone the event until September 16th. Reality had thrown them a curveball.
Despite this setback, in just a month of tireless work, they had crafted a program featuring 20 guided tours, the capacity to host 200 mountain biking enthusiasts amidst the forest, and the ability to accommodate 500 at the Freeride jam. They had even arranged for an entire island for overnight stays, complete with facilities like showers, toilets, saunas, restaurants, DJs, and space for dancing.
Initially estimating that a maximum of 150 people would attend, they believed they had ample room to spare. They had undertaken the entire endeavor themselves, devoid of sponsors or major media partners to help spread the word. However, the outcome would surpass their expectations.

Event day

On the day of the event, September 16th, the organizers were in for a delightful shock. Instead of the expected 150 or even 200 attendees, they were greeted by a turnout of over 500 participants and more. All the guided tours were fully booked within a mere 30 minutes, and Floda's parking spaces overflowed. Yet, an air of contentment prevailed. One simple reason underpinned this euphoria—everything was free. The guided tours, bike rentals, saunas, and changing facilities were all provided without cost. This commitment to accessibility embodied the vision of Bikemaestro and Pathfinder Travels









The freeride show

The participants reveled in cycling and merriment until lunchtime. Then, the moment everyone had eagerly awaited finally arrived—the Freeride jam on the Oddride tracks.
Matthias had assembled a group of riders who possessed the skills and audacity required to tackle these challenging tracks. The star of the show was Alvin, a local prodigy at a mere 15 years of age. He left older riders in awe and inspired thunderous cheers that reverberated through the mountains. The forest of the Oddride mountain had never witnessed such a throng of people ever before.

The freeride jam started on the trail called "The Joker" which offers some really gnarly stuff, for example a really big hip jump (to the left) and an even bigger step-up (to the right). Tigo Schoutissen and Alvin Bramstång, the youngsters of the jam, was totally killing it!




After "The Joker" the jam continued on the trail "Kingpin" which also offers some pretty gnarly sends. Here you see Alvin Bramstång on one of the big step-downs.



The Death Drop

The jam then continued to the absolut gnarliest trail of the mountain, and probably even the gnarliest trail of Sweden - "The Beast". The most distinguished part of the trail is the so called Dropzone, which consists of two huge drops after another. The first drop is a high speed step-down of 12 meters, followed by a drop from a 9-10 meter vertically high cliff, where you then have to execute a sharp right turn along the cliff's edge, with the best-case scenario involving safely landing in a recently erected safety net. If the net failed, the alternative was a harrowing 15-meter free fall down the slope.




Only one person had summoned the courage to take on the death-defying challenge of the "Death Drop" —Matthias himself. Despite the immense pressure and sleep deprivation from all the work leading up to the event, coupled with injuries that had limited his riding throughout the year, he steeled himself for the leap.


After some time Matthias decided to send it. With a little bit to much speed the landing was brutal, the braking distance insufficient and he was forced to lay his bike down. Fortunately, a vigilant spectator and a quick-thinking photographer managed to slow his descent before he crashed into a ladder serving as reinforcement for the safety net. The ladder held, and Matthias emerged unscathed, greeted by cheers from the ecstatic crowd.




The Afterburn

Following this thrilling display of courage, the participants retreated to the event area. They relaxed in saunas, swam in the river that flowed past The Tannery club, socialized, and enjoyed beers on the spacious outdoor terrace of the restaurant. The atmosphere was electric. The only hiccup was the unexpected shortage of food when dinner time arrived. Even the restaurant staff, overwhelmed by the unexpected influx, had served the planned dinner menu during lunch.
However, the resourceful attendees took matters into their own hands, rolling into town to grab takeout. There were no sour faces to be found. After a premiere showing of a film starring the young prodigy Alvin, the DJ fired up the music, and a local apple cider company opened an Äpperol bar, launching the party. Yet, truth be told, the party never quite reached its zenith. It had been a long day, and many who had lingered into the evening left prematurely due to the food shortage.
Nonetheless, Bikemaestro and Pathfinder Travels' dedicated crew persevered, closing out the event. They retired to their tents, thoroughly satisfied with the day's accomplishments and already beginning to plan the next year's festival—an event set to be nothing short of spectacular!

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