Along the IJssel between Deventer and Zwolle, the road runs on top of the dike, with the river on one side and the low green polder on the other, and the whole of the Dutch relationship with water is laid out in a few kilometres. The IJssel is a branch of the Rhine that splits off near Arnhem and carries a good share of its water north to the old Zuiderzee, now the IJsselmeer. Along it lie wide floodplains, called uiterwaarden, where cattle graze in summer and where the river spreads out when it rises.
Riding on the dike is an easy business. The road is narrow, usually with a low speed limit, and it follows the river in long gentle curves, with the occasional sharp bend at a farm or a ferry landing. The surface can be uneven, and farm traffic, cyclists and walkers share the space, so take it calmly. From the top of the dike, you see over the floodplain to the river, with barges slowly passing, and on the other side to farms and red-roofed houses sheltering behind the embankment. On a clear day, the sky seems to take up three quarters of the view. Wind can be strong along the open stretches, and it is worth remembering that a headwind in the Netherlands feels like a personal insult.
The villages nearby, Olst and Epe among them, are small, and they have what you need. Olst has a ferry crossing, and Epe, in the woods on the edge of the Veluwe, is a larger town with fuel and supermarkets about six kilometres away. The river towns of Hattem and Zwolle, further north, are old fortified places, with city gates and canals, and Zwolle has the Hanseatic charm of its neighbour Deventer.
The history is the history of defence. For centuries, the people living along the river have fought the water, and the dikes are the result, each one higher than the last. In the winter of 1995, high water in the Rhine led to the evacuation of a quarter of a million people in the Netherlands, and the dikes held. Since then, the government has widened parts of the floodplain to give the river more room.
Spring and autumn are the best times to ride here, with mist on the water in the early morning and flocks of geese overhead. In summer, the dike gets crowded with cyclists, so choose a weekday.