08.03.25 East of Amsterdam

 Naarden - Muiden - Durgerdam - Ransdorp and back, 67km

Cycling in the Netherlands certainly sounds less exciting than cycling to Nordkapp, especially when you live in the Netherlands. But it is certainly rewarding, especially in spring with weather like today, 17-18 degrees, sunshine and just a little wind.

I know the first part pretty well, but coming further from Naarden, there are many new experiences for me. The lovely spring, the sunshine and the flowers remain the same though.

Approaching Weesp, I turn right on a narrow, picturesque road along the river Vecht. Many houseboats here, and the view on the road if often restricted. So I understand people don't want racer bikes passing in high speed. But why may cars drive faster than bicycles?

Funny distinction between bicycle and car maximum speed

In any case, I don't have a racer bike, so it doesn't count for me 😀.

After passing Muiden I cross the Amsterdam-Rijnkanaal, connecting Amsterdam with the river Rhine.

Less shipping on the Amsterdam-Rijnkanaal on a Saturday

Following the channel in Northwestern direction, I end up crossing the stretch of water called IJ, connecting Amsterdam with the IJsselmeer. There is a bridge here, passable by bike. After that, you come to a rural area, really close to Amsterdam, but quiet (apart from all the cyclists 😆).. Several nice, small villages.

Durgerdam

The church in Durgerdam

Ransdorp

Still being the engineer (bear over with me), I also see other interesting stuff.

Now here you do have some kWs of solar power

Turning back to the IJ, I take a look at the "Oranje sluizen" (locks), that make it possible to regulate the water levels. Opened first in 1872. Annually 120000 ships pass here, both recreational and professional.

Finally, riding home again (in a pretty strong headwind), I pass the Diemen power plant, owned by Vattenfall.

Diemen gas-fired power plant, 684MW. Also supplies Diemen and Almere with district heat

I guess this was my last Dutch ride for now, returning to Trondheim on Monday.

Statistics:

67 km, total time 4:00, active time 3:41 which gives a moving average of 18.4km/h.

06.03.25 Another great cycling day in the Netherlands

Naarden - Baarn - Amersfoort - Leusden - Soesterberg - Bilthoven - Nieuw Loosdrecht - Kortenhoef - Naarden, 93km

Still great weather, even getting warmer, no job obligations, so why not take another ride? Eager to find out if 100km is still doable, I'm not getting younger after all.

Due to the warmer weather, I could start well before eleven. After about an hour I approached Baarn, and suddenly realized that there was a Pannekoekenboerderij, and lunch time was approaching anyway (never mind I also brought quite some food myself). A "pannekoek" (pancake) is highly recommended for everybody visiting the Netherlands. Great for lunch or a simple dinner.

Great pancake in the sunshine, Pannekoekenboerderij De Wildenburg
https://www.dewildenburg.nl/

They have an interesting bike rack - drinking cup from a cowshed

In Leusden, I paid a short visit to my former TSO and University colleague, Mart vd Meijden. They have a beautiful garden, check out their web site: https://www.tuinhubertushof.nl/

While my previous trip mainly was through the "polders", this time a lot of forest.

A lot of moles around, you see this frequently

Quite some active forestry around here. Note the shorts! Not bad early in March

Moving further west, leaving the forests. And getting late in the afternoon.

Close to Naarden. The water level on the right is a lot higher than on the right. Dutch water management.

In the end, the trip was slightly shorter than 100km. But it felt good, a few more km are no problem!

Statistics:

93 km, total time 7:00, active time 5:16 which gives a moving average of 17.7km/h.

04.03.25 Early spring ride in the Netherlands

Naarden - Vinkeveen - Breukelen - Naarden, 73km

Time to revive my cycling - and my cycling blog.

Due to circumstances we ended up in the Netherlands unplanned for a while. And the weather was so beautiful that it became tempting to start the cycling season. I have some ambitious plans for the summer, and starting to build up some basis seems like a good idea.

The mornings are still quite chilly (with night frost), so I started after lunch. While there are no leaves on the trees yet, the meadows are green and flowers are coming.

I wonder about the extreme concerns about safety. When there are road works, to guys are directing traffic, even on quiet roads. I saw this in Japan some years ago, now it is the same here. Is that really necessary?

Moving on through the beautiful Dutch landscape. The Netherlands are really beautiful, maybe easier to see when you don't live there. And on a wonderful day like this. And on a quiet mid-week day. Some advantage of being (somewhat) retired.

In the vicinity of Niewer Ter Aa

In this area I also had a nice rest on a bench in the sunshine. Thinking of the snow at home.

Also close to Nieuwer Ter Aa

Typical Dutch way to keep the willow trees along the canals

Crossing the A2 - this is also the Netherlands. The motorways are never far off

And then crossing the Amsterdam-Rhine channel by bike ferry. I've crossed this channel numerous times, there are quite a few bridges. But the ferry was a first time. Even free! 

More flowers along the road (in a park, in fact)

Almost home after a great bike ride in early spring

Coming home, my new Ortlieb frontrunners have arrived.
Now I really start to be prepared!

Statistics:

73 km, total time 4:45, active time 3:58 which gives a moving average of 18.1km/h. No ascent to mention.