Why this ride
220 km from Voorburg to Voorburg, about 4 h 04 of riding. On the way it passes Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout, Woerden-Centrum, Rietveld Schröderhuis and back through Woerden-Centrum.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Corbulo's canal | Romeinsepad and Rietveld Schröderhuis
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 220 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 04
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Zeeland Delta Works Route
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 43 km this is Zeeland Delta Works Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 43 km
- Named road
- Zeeland Delta Works Route
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Corbulo's canal | Romeinsepad
Some two thousand years ago, in the year 47, the Roman general Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo had a canal dug between the Old Rhine and the Maas to give his ships a safe route behind the dunes and avoid the dangerous coastal sea. Tacitus mentions it, and later sources say that Corbulo, recalled by the emperor Claudius from further conquests in Germania, kept his soldiers busy with the digging rather than let them grow idle. The channel is known as the Fossa Corbulonis, and in today's landscape it is usually identified with the Vliet, the old waterway that runs between Leiden and Delft through Voorburg.
Read the complete Corbulo's canal | Romeinsepad write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Corbulo's canal | Romeinsepad is where the day begins. Next is Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout.
2. Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout
Nineteen windmills stand in two rows along the canals at Kinderdijk, their sails turning slowly against the wide Dutch sky, and it is one of the most iconic sights in the Netherlands. They were built in the eighteenth century to pump water out of the Alblasserwaard, a low-lying polder between the rivers Lek and Noord, which would otherwise be flooded. Each mill lifted water from a lower canal to a higher one, and from there it was let out into the river. Over time steam, diesel and electric pumping stations took over the job, and the most recent ones still keep the polder dry today. The mill network was listed by UNESCO in 1997.
Read the complete Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout comes up about 43 km into the recorded legs. Next is Woerden-Centrum.
3. Woerden-Centrum
Woerden is a small Dutch town on the Oude Rijn, the old Rhine, halfway between Utrecht and Leiden, in the middle of the Green Heart of Holland, a landscape of polders, meadows, ditches and cows. Its centre is a compact old town ringed by canals, with a castle, a big church and a windmill on the old ramparts. The Romans were here too: Woerden lies on the line of the Lower German Limes, and the remains of a Roman fort lie beneath the town centre.
Read the complete Woerden-Centrum write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 86 km into the recorded legs you reach Woerden-Centrum. Next is Rietveld Schröderhuis.
4. Rietveld Schröderhuis
On a quiet residential street in Utrecht, a few minutes from the centre by bicycle, stands a small box-shaped house made of white and grey planes, with black frames and touches of red, yellow and blue, which looks as though it had been made from a Mondrian painting. This is the Rietveld Schroder House, built in 1924 and inscribed by UNESCO in 2000 as a masterpiece of the De Stijl movement and of modern architecture. The old centre of Utrecht, with its cathedral tower and its canals, is under two kilometres away.
Read the complete Rietveld Schröderhuis write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Rietveld Schröderhuis, about halfway. Next is back through Woerden-Centrum.
5. back through Woerden-Centrum
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Woerden-Centrum write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Woerden-Centrum sits at 133 km, about halfway. Next is back through Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout.
6. back through Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout comes up about 177 km into the recorded legs. Next is Corbulo's canal | Romeinsepad.
7. Corbulo's canal | Romeinsepad
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Corbulo's canal | Romeinsepad write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Corbulo's canal | Romeinsepad closes the day.
Leg by leg
Corbulo's canal | Romeinsepad to Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout
Corbulo's canal | Romeinsepad → Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout to Woerden-Centrum
Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout → Woerden-Centrum is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Woerden-Centrum to Rietveld Schröderhuis
Woerden-Centrum → Rietveld Schröderhuis is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Rietveld Schröderhuis to back through Woerden-Centrum
Rietveld Schröderhuis → back through Woerden-Centrum is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Woerden-Centrum to back through Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout
back through Woerden-Centrum → back through Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout to Corbulo's canal | Romeinsepad
back through Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout → Corbulo's canal | Romeinsepad is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.