Why this ride
276 km from Lemmer to Lemmer, about 4 h 42 of riding. On the way it passes Veenhuizen, Key Planning Decision and back through Veenhuizen. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ir.D.F. Woudagemaal and Key Planning Decision
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 276 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 42
- 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. Ir.D.F. Woudagemaal
The Netherlands has always had to fight water, and Friesland's battle was won in part by a single building on the shore of the IJsselmeer near Lemmer. The Ir. D.F. Woudagemaal, a steam pumping station opened in 1920, is the largest steam-driven pumping station ever built that is still in working order, and it was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998. When the water in Friesland's canals and lakes rises too high, the old steam engines can still be fired up to pump it out.
Read the complete Ir.D.F. Woudagemaal write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Ir.D.F. Woudagemaal is where the day begins. Next is Veenhuizen.
2. Veenhuizen
Veenhuizen does not look like a prison town at first. It looks like an orderly village in the flat green countryside of Drenthe, with long avenues of trees, neat brick buildings, canals and fields. But read the inscriptions on the gables, with mottos like "Werken is zalig", work is blessed, and the history starts to show. In 1818, a philanthropic organisation called the Society of Benevolence, founded by General Johannes van den Bosch, began establishing colonies in the poor, empty peatlands of the northern Netherlands, where poor families from the cities could be resettled and taught to farm. Veenhuizen became a colony for orphans, beggars and vagrants, and over time it turned into a state institution, and then into a prison village.
Read the complete Veenhuizen write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Veenhuizen comes up about 72 km into the recorded legs. Next is Key Planning Decision.
3. Key Planning Decision
The name on the map is bureaucratic, but the place is anything but. Key Planning Decision is a translation of the Dutch legal designation used to protect the Wadden Sea, and the spot here sits on the coast near Delfzijl, at the eastern edge of the province of Groningen, where the Dutch Wadden meets the estuary of the Ems. The Wadden Sea is the largest unbroken system of tidal flats in the world, stretching along the coasts of the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark, and it was listed by UNESCO in 2009.
Read the complete Key Planning Decision write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 141 km into the recorded legs you reach Key Planning Decision. Next is back through Veenhuizen.
4. back through Veenhuizen
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Veenhuizen write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Veenhuizen, late in the day. Next is Ir.D.F. Woudagemaal, 69 km on.
5. Ir.D.F. Woudagemaal
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Ir.D.F. Woudagemaal write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Ir.D.F. Woudagemaal. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Ir.D.F. Woudagemaal to Veenhuizen
Ir.D.F. Woudagemaal → Veenhuizen is 72 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Veenhuizen to Key Planning Decision
Veenhuizen → Key Planning Decision is 69 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Key Planning Decision to back through Veenhuizen
Key Planning Decision → back through Veenhuizen is 62 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Veenhuizen to Ir.D.F. Woudagemaal
back through Veenhuizen → Ir.D.F. Woudagemaal is 72 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.