Events/Birkebeinerrittet

Birkebeinerrittet

MTB

Date

Sat, 28 Aug 2027

Venue

Rena → Lillehammer, Innlandet, Norway

Countdown

August

Distance

84km

Total climb

1,250m

Norway's most famous mountain bike race, and the only one where you carry the weight of history on your back. Every rider carries a pack of at least 2kg the whole way, echoing the Birkebeiner tradition of carrying a child to safety.

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The course

The route

84km point to point from Rena to Lillehammer with around 1,250m of climbing, front-loaded into one big early ascent onto the Sjusjoen plateau. Mostly fast forest doubletrack and gravel, with a short hike-a-bike section at Djuposet.

Weather

Late-August, Rena → Lillehammer

16°CTypical high

8°CTypical low

0°CColdest in 20 years

52%Days with rain

Highs around 16°C and lows around 8°C, but it has dropped to 0°C. Rain on 52% of days. Pack for the cold end, not the average.

NASA POWER data, 2006-2025, the week either side of race day

Training

Training for the Birkebeinerrittet

We don't do generic plans. We combine deep knowledge of this race's demands with your recent training, then build a plan with you that progresses as you do.

Beina integrates directly with your existing tools to understand your current fitness, and synchronise your planned sessions.

Intervals.icu

What the day throws at you

Typical sessions

A big sustained climb straight off the start, before you are warm, up onto the Sjusjoen plateau

Around 1,250m of climbing over 84km, front-loaded early then rolling across exposed high country

A mandatory pack of at least 2kg carried the full distance

An exposed plateau where late-August weather can turn cold, wet and windy in minutes

What your weeks look like

Typical sessions

Cold-start climbs: a short warmup straight into a 25-35min climb at 85-90% FTP to rehearse the early Sjusjoen effort

Long climb intervals: 2-3x 15-20min at 88-95% FTP for sustained climbing capacity

Pack-loaded long rides of 3-4.5hr carrying the mandatory 2kg so it feels invisible on race day

Race-pace long rides up to 4-5hr on fast doubletrack, with a hard climb in the first hour

Not a generic schedule

Typical sessions

Built from your current fitness and the time you actually have

Adapts every week as Beina learns how you respond

Syncs your sessions straight to Garmin and Wahoo

One clear next session, never a wall of spreadsheet

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