The
IJsselmeer is the large lake in The Netherlands that was created when the
Zuiderzee was dammed in the 1930s. In the process, the
Afsluitdijk was created, providing a way of crossing this stretch of water by land and thereby a way to cycle all the way around the IJsselmeer I first heard about the
Zuiderzee route about a year ago and I started talking about doing this ride with some friends. We thought it would be possible in a day, resulting in some serious thought about doing it, but busy diaries and not having a decent bike meant it didn’t happen. Ever since then the idea was still in the back of my mind. Now, having a Dutch girlfriend means that chances to visit The Netherlands crop up relatively frequently. Also, I’ve now got a Ribble Audax bike, which was used when Nienke and I cycled from London to the Netherlands (via Harwich) last week. Being in The Netherlands, with my bike and some time on my hands got me thinking about the Zuiderzee Route once more. The longest ride I’d done before was the infamous Blue Moon Ride to Dunwich, which was about 200 km in horrible conditions. But that route has hills, a lot of rain and I was riding a fixed gear bike. And while my other rides weren’t as long, I grew up doing lots of cycling in the Lake District, where a 150 km ride will see you doing a fair bit of up and down. In contrast, the Zuiderzee Route is flat. Really really flat. Nienke encouraged me (not that I needed much!) and so I decided to give it a go yesterday. If it all went wrong I could cut short the route or jump on a train.
Fortunately Nienke’s parents live pretty much on the route. Unfortunately the bridge to cross a canal from their house to the start of the route is currently closed to bikes and the replacement ferry only starts at 06h00, so there was no point starting earlier than 05h30. So at 05h30, while some people were heading towards Brighton with Simon L., I set off from
Almere towards Amsterdam. The route avoids the centre of Amsterdam and instead cuts through the suburbs. Sticking to parkland and canals it is actually pretty pleasant. After Amsterdam the route follows the coast of the IJsselmeer all the way to
Den Oever. As the IJsselmeer was once connected to the open sea, a number of the towns are old ports, which are beautiful, tho I quickly got annoyed by all the town centres being cobbled. Between the towns the route followed the dykes. In parts I was cycling on top of the dykes, giving views across the IJsselmeer and the surrounding countryside. In other parts I rode on the landward side of the dyke, blocking the view of the IJsselmeer, which was a shame. After
Medemblik (another old port with lovely centre, complete with swing bridges, canals, boats etc) I entered the polder (drained land). From here it was about 20 km to Den Oever along a road with one bend in it. Even the one car driving along this road must have found it dull because they kept pace with me for a few hundred meters (and remember this is The Netherlands where bikes aren’t exactly uncommon). Cycling towards the vanishing point for nearly an hour saps your moral, especially when you are on your own. However, I arrived in Den Oever at noon, which is what I’d counted on so on the whole things were going well.
From Den Oever the route crosses the 30 km Afsluitdijk, which means more cycling in a straight line, but this time with a motorway, other cylisits and mopeds for company. Fortunately the wind was kind to me. Facing a strong head wind across the Afsluitdijk would be hell. The dyke is a sight to see and an impressive feat of engineering and shows how man can have such a big impact on the environment. Once across the Afsluitdijk I discovered that the map for the next section had blown out of my jesery - d’oh. Got talking to a Belgian guy on a recumbent, who was concerned about my lack of map. I managed to convince him that I would be OK with my regional map and following the signposts. From the eastern side of the dyke the route sticks to the coast until
Lemmer. A head wind and lots of cycling beside a dyke meant that this section was fairly dull, but I knew that after Lemmer things would improve.
I cut inland to follow the old coastline of the Zuiderzee and went through the wetlands around
Kalenberg, called the Weerribben. This region is full of canals, with cycle paths running along the canal, houses with thatched roofs and people sitting in their gardens, from whom I was able to obtain water . It felt like cars didn’t exist and instead transport was either by boat or bike, or on foot. I really enjoyed this part of the ride and thought it was over much too quickly. My next concern was a boat ride. It was around 18h00 and I knew that I needed to get the river ferry to enter
Genemuiden, but I didn’t know what time it ran until. I need not have worried tho, because it was still running when I got there .
I had now done 300 km and from my knowledge of Dutch geography I realised I would be doing more than 400 km. I guessed it would be about 420 km in total. The next town was
Kampen, where I managed to lose the signposts and ended up cycling around in what I hoped was the right direction until I found another sign. Getting lost didn’t please me too much. The town centre was getting busy as people were heading to bars to watch the quarter-final of Euro2008 against Russia. My cycling top with oranges on it seemed to win me a few fans! After Kampen the route followed the coast of the Drontermeer through lots of fields. I realised I was running out of energy but also didn’t have any appetite, so I ended up forcing myself to eat. At the time this wasn’t pleasant but the extra food did the trick and my energy levels rose once again. I carried on pushing my pace as I realised I would be riding in the dark for the last part of the ride. After
Harderwijk the route follows the motorway, which is horrible if you want to enjoy your cycling. For me it was great because I could sit low on the bike and roll along at about 28 - 30 kmh, tho this didn’t prevent nighttime cycling. After the motorway section I was only on small roads and cyclepaths. They were alive with rabbits, which I had to keep an eye out for to avoid squashing them. By 23h00 I was in
Eemnes, 400 km down and had given up with the Zuiderzee route as I needed to get back to Almere. Knowing that I had 25 km still to go to Almere didn’t fill me with joy, but I headed out of Eemnes along another cobbled road when I heard that horrible noise of air escaping from a tyre. Damn. I walked the 1 km back into Eemnes to get some street light and then realised I’d had enough. I had done the Zuiderzee Route and was just trying to get back to Almere. I was tired and the idea of replacing the inner tube wasn’t pleasant. Using the last remaining credit on my phone I sent Nienke a text as to my location and a request for a pick up. At midnight I was in the shower, removing the 1,000’s of flies stuck to my legs, before collapsing with warm food on the sofa.
Conclusion: I am glad I did the route. Looking at a map of The Netherlands and knowing I have cycled around the IJsselmeer gives some statisfaction. And I know now I can do a 400 km ride. Seeing a variety of Dutch scenery in such a short space of time was impressive. However, I know that there are much better routes that you can do in the Netherlands, with more variety and more enjoyable scenery.
