Why this ride
72 km from Amsterdam to Amsterdam, about 1 h 30 of riding. The stops in between: Fort along the Pampus, Fort Werk IV and back through Fort along the Pampus. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Seventeenth-Century Canal Ring Area of Ams and Fort Werk IV
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 72 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 30
- 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. Seventeenth-Century Canal Ring Area of Ams
Nobody rides a motorbike into the Amsterdam canal ring for the curves. You come because in the early seventeenth century, the city at the height of its Golden Age planned an extension of startling ambition: three main canals, the Herengracht, Keizersgracht and Prinsengracht, laid out in concentric arcs around the medieval core, lined with tall, narrow merchants' houses with gabled roofs and hoisting beams. Work began in 1613, and the result, a UNESCO site since 2010, is still one of the most admired examples of urban planning in the world.
Read the complete Seventeenth-Century Canal Ring Area of Ams write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Seventeenth-Century Canal Ring Area of Ams is where the day begins. Next is Fort along the Pampus.
2. Fort along the Pampus
Out in the open water of the IJmeer, a few kilometres off the old fortified town of Muiden, a low circular fortress sits on an artificial island. This is Pampus, one of more than forty forts that make up the Defence Line of Amsterdam, a ring of fortifications built around the city in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The idea was simple and very Dutch: in case of attack, large areas of land around the city would be flooded to a depth that was too shallow for boats and too deep for soldiers to wade, and the forts would guard the roads, railways and dykes that crossed the flooded zone. Pampus guarded the approach to Amsterdam by water. The line was listed by UNESCO in 1996.
Read the complete Fort along the Pampus write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Fort along the Pampus comes up about 15 km into the recorded legs. Next is Fort Werk IV.
3. Fort Werk IV
The Gooi, the area east of Amsterdam around Bussum, Naarden and Hilversum, is one of the few places in the western Netherlands with hills, if you can call low sandy ridges hills. It is a region of heathland, woods and wealthy villages. On the edge of Bussum, close to the fortified town of Naarden, stands Fort Werk IV, a small fortification that was part of the New Dutch Waterline and the Defence Line of Amsterdam, and is now part of the UNESCO-listed Dutch Water Defence Lines.
Read the complete Fort Werk IV 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 Fort Werk IV. Next is back through Fort along the Pampus.
4. back through Fort along the Pampus
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fort along the Pampus write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Fort along the Pampus, late in the day. Next is Seventeenth-Century Canal Ring Area of Ams.
5. Seventeenth-Century Canal Ring Area of Ams
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Seventeenth-Century Canal Ring Area of Ams write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Seventeenth-Century Canal Ring Area of Ams. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Seventeenth-Century Canal Ring Area of Ams to Fort along the Pampus
Seventeenth-Century Canal Ring Area of Ams → Fort along the Pampus is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort along the Pampus to Fort Werk IV
Fort along the Pampus → Fort Werk IV is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort Werk IV to back through Fort along the Pampus
Fort Werk IV → back through Fort along the Pampus is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fort along the Pampus to Seventeenth-Century Canal Ring Area of Ams
back through Fort along the Pampus → Seventeenth-Century Canal Ring Area of Ams is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.