Why this ride
From Uitgeest it runs 321 km to Uitgeest; allow about 4 h 57 of riding. It goes by way of Works along the IJ before Durgerdam, Utrecht-Groot Zandveld, Tiel Inundation Canal and Elst-Grote Kerk. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Dutch Water Defence Lines and Elst-Grote Kerk
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 321 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 57
- 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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Dutch Water Defence Lines
Forget mountains and passes: the Dutch defended Amsterdam with water. Between the 1880s and the 1920s, the army built a ring of forts around the capital at a distance of roughly fifteen to twenty kilometres, the Stelling van Amsterdam, designed to flood the surrounding polders to a depth too shallow for boats but too deep to wade through. Forty-odd forts, along with dykes, sluices and batteries, formed the ring, and the area north of the city near De Rijp and the Beemster was part of it. The Defence Line of Amsterdam gained World Heritage status in 1996, and in 2021 it was extended to include the older New Dutch Waterline further south, the whole now known as the Dutch Water Defence Lines.
Read the complete Dutch Water Defence Lines write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Dutch Water Defence Lines is where the day begins. Next is Works along the IJ before Durgerdam.
2. Works along the IJ before Durgerdam
East of Amsterdam, where the IJ widens into the IJmeer and the city gives way to water and sky, the old dike village of Durgerdam sits on a strip of land between the sea wall and the polders. Its wooden houses, painted in strong colours and leaning on each other along the dike, look out over a lake that was once the Zuiderzee, open to the North Sea until the Afsluitdijk closed it in 1932. The works along the IJ here belong to the Defence Line of Amsterdam, now part of the Dutch Water Defence Lines World Heritage Site.
Read the complete Works along the IJ before Durgerdam write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Works along the IJ before Durgerdam comes up about 32 km into the recorded legs. Next is Utrecht-Groot Zandveld.
3. Utrecht-Groot Zandveld
West of Utrecht, where the old city fades into meadows and a newly built suburb called Leidsche Rijn, a flat green belt of polder and ditches runs between the villages of Vleuten, Veldhuizen and De Meern. The low land here was part of a defence system that worked by water, the Dutch Waterline, and the Groot Zandveld label refers to this country.
Read the complete Utrecht-Groot Zandveld write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 75 km into the recorded legs you reach Utrecht-Groot Zandveld. Next is Tiel Inundation Canal.
4. Tiel Inundation Canal
Tiel is a river town on the Waal, the main branch of the Rhine in the Netherlands, in the middle of the Betuwe, a region of orchards, dykes and meadows between the Waal and the Lower Rhine. Just outside the town, a wide, straight channel runs through the fields, crossed by bridges and lined by dykes. This is the Tiel inundation canal, built in the late nineteenth century as part of the New Dutch Waterline, the defensive system of controlled flooding that protected the heart of Holland, and it is now part of the UNESCO-listed Dutch Water Defence Lines.
Read the complete Tiel Inundation Canal write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Tiel Inundation Canal, about halfway. Next is Elst-Grote Kerk.
5. Elst-Grote Kerk
Elst is a commuter town in the Betuwe, the flat river island between the Rhine and the Waal, halfway between Arnhem and Nijmegen. At first glance there is nothing remarkable about its big brick church on the market square. The surprise lies underneath it. Excavations in the twentieth century found the remains of two Roman temples beneath the floor, built one after another on the same spot, dedicated to a local god adopted into the Roman world. The site belongs to the Frontiers of the Roman Empire, Lower German Limes, inscribed by UNESCO in 2021, and the foundations can be seen in the church cellar when it is open.
Read the complete Elst-Grote Kerk write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Elst-Grote Kerk sits at 164 km, about halfway. Next is back through Tiel Inundation Canal.
6. back through Tiel Inundation Canal
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Tiel Inundation Canal write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Tiel Inundation Canal comes up about 198 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Utrecht-Groot Zandveld.
7. back through Utrecht-Groot Zandveld
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Utrecht-Groot Zandveld write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 245 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Utrecht-Groot Zandveld. Next is back through Works along the IJ before Durgerdam.
8. back through Works along the IJ before Durgerdam
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Works along the IJ before Durgerdam write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Works along the IJ before Durgerdam, late in the day. Next is Dutch Water Defence Lines.
9. Dutch Water Defence Lines
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Dutch Water Defence Lines write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 321 km.
Leg by leg
Dutch Water Defence Lines to Works along the IJ before Durgerdam
Dutch Water Defence Lines → Works along the IJ before Durgerdam is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Works along the IJ before Durgerdam to Utrecht-Groot Zandveld
Works along the IJ before Durgerdam → Utrecht-Groot Zandveld is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Utrecht-Groot Zandveld to Tiel Inundation Canal
Utrecht-Groot Zandveld → Tiel Inundation Canal is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Tiel Inundation Canal to Elst-Grote Kerk
Tiel Inundation Canal → Elst-Grote Kerk is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Elst-Grote Kerk to back through Tiel Inundation Canal
Elst-Grote Kerk → back through Tiel Inundation Canal is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Tiel Inundation Canal to back through Utrecht-Groot Zandveld
back through Tiel Inundation Canal → back through Utrecht-Groot Zandveld is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Utrecht-Groot Zandveld to back through Works along the IJ before Durgerdam
back through Utrecht-Groot Zandveld → back through Works along the IJ before Durgerdam is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Works along the IJ before Durgerdam to Dutch Water Defence Lines
back through Works along the IJ before Durgerdam → Dutch Water Defence Lines is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.