Why this ride
From Utrecht it runs 259 km to Utrecht; allow about 3 h 45 of riding. It goes by way of Fort near Heemstede, Van Nellefabriek and back through Fort near Heemstede. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Group shelter type P and Van Nellefabriek · 259 km from Utrecht
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 259 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 45
- 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
Dutch Flower Route
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 66 km this is Dutch Flower Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 66 km
- Named road
- Dutch Flower Route
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Group shelter type P
Concrete is not usually romantic, but a Dutch group shelter manages it. Type P was a standard design of bunker built in the 1930s along the New Dutch Water Line, the old defensive belt that ran in an arc around Utrecht, Amsterdam and the middle of the country. Each shelter was a small, low, rectangular box of reinforced concrete with a flat roof and a narrow door, designed to protect a squad of soldiers from artillery and aircraft while they waited for the real fighting to start. Hundreds were built, and when you find one, usually half hidden in grass or trees, it looks like a stout, silent animal.
Read the complete Group shelter type P write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Group shelter type P is where the day begins. Next is Fort near Heemstede.
2. Fort near Heemstede
Between Haarlem and the bulb fields of the Dutch coast, near the town of Heemstede and the hamlet of De Glip, lies a squat, grassy fort surrounded by a moat. This is the Fort near Heemstede, built around the turn of the twentieth century as part of the Defence Line of Amsterdam, a ring of forts, dykes and flooding zones around the city, and now part of the UNESCO-listed Dutch Water Defence Lines.
Read the complete Fort near Heemstede write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Fort near Heemstede comes up about 63 km into the recorded legs. Next is Van Nellefabriek.
3. Van Nellefabriek
The Van Nelle factory, on the edge of Rotterdam, is one of the most beautiful industrial buildings ever made. Built between 1925 and 1931 for a company that processed coffee, tea and tobacco, it is a long, light building of glass and steel, with curtain walls that let daylight flood into the workspaces. The designers, Johannes Brinkman and Leendert van der Vlugt, created what became an icon of modernist architecture, a factory of light and air for its workers. It was added to the UNESCO list in 2014.
Read the complete Van Nellefabriek write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 129 km into the recorded legs you reach Van Nellefabriek. Next is back through Fort near Heemstede.
4. back through Fort near Heemstede
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fort near Heemstede write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Fort near Heemstede, late in the day. Next is Group shelter type P.
5. Group shelter type P
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Group shelter type P write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Group shelter type P. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Group shelter type P to Fort near Heemstede
Group shelter type P → Fort near Heemstede is 63 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort near Heemstede to Van Nellefabriek
Fort near Heemstede → Van Nellefabriek is 66 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Van Nellefabriek to back through Fort near Heemstede
Van Nellefabriek → back through Fort near Heemstede is 64 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fort near Heemstede to Group shelter type P
back through Fort near Heemstede → Group shelter type P is 65 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.