Why this ride
A 72 km round trip from Gendt - roughly 1 h 39 in the saddle. On the way it passes Elst-Grote Kerk, Berg en Dal-aqueduct | Kerstendal and back through Elst-Grote Kerk.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Fort Pannerden and Berg en Dal-aqueduct | Kerstendal
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 72 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 39
- 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. Fort Pannerden
Right where the Rhine enters the Netherlands and splits in two, the Dutch put a fort. Fort Pannerden was built around 1870 at the point where the river divides into the Waal, flowing west toward Nijmegen and Rotterdam, and the Pannerdens Kanaal, which feeds the Nederrijn and the IJssel. Control the split, and you control how much water goes where, which in a country defended by deliberate flooding mattered enormously. The fort, a low, heavy brick and earth structure surrounded by a moat, guarded the dykes and sluices that could send water into the defensive lines further west. It is counted among the Dutch Water Defence Lines listed by UNESCO.
Read the complete Fort Pannerden write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Fort Pannerden is where the day begins. Next is Elst-Grote Kerk.
2. 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 comes up about 19 km into the recorded legs. Next is Berg en Dal-aqueduct | Kerstendal.
3. Berg en Dal-aqueduct | Kerstendal
Berg en Dal sits on the side of the Nijmegen ridge, a rare bump of ground in a country built mostly of rivers and polders. The ridge is a push moraine, a pile of gravel and sand shoved up by ice during the last glaciation, and it rises above the Waal and the German border forest of the Reichswald. In Dutch terms it is mountainous, with beech woods, steep lanes and villas set among trees, and the road through Kerstendal winds along the foot of the slope with real if modest bends.
Read the complete Berg en Dal-aqueduct | Kerstendal write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 36 km into the recorded legs you reach Berg en Dal-aqueduct | Kerstendal. Next is back through Elst-Grote Kerk.
4. back through Elst-Grote Kerk
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
back through Elst-Grote Kerk, late in the day. Next is Fort Pannerden.
5. Fort Pannerden
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fort Pannerden write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Fort Pannerden. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Fort Pannerden to Elst-Grote Kerk
Fort Pannerden → Elst-Grote Kerk is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Elst-Grote Kerk to Berg en Dal-aqueduct | Kerstendal
Elst-Grote Kerk → Berg en Dal-aqueduct | Kerstendal is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Berg en Dal-aqueduct | Kerstendal to back through Elst-Grote Kerk
Berg en Dal-aqueduct | Kerstendal → back through Elst-Grote Kerk is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Elst-Grote Kerk to Fort Pannerden
back through Elst-Grote Kerk → Fort Pannerden is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.