Why this ride
From Vleuten it runs 278 km to Vleuten; allow about 5 h of riding. On the way it passes Van Nellefabriek, Coastal Fort near Ijmuiden and back through Van Nellefabriek. The coast is the point of it.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Utrecht-Groot Zandveld and Coastal Fort near Ijmuiden
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 278 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 01
- 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
This part of the ride is 83 km of Dutch Flower Route.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 83 km
- Named road
- Dutch Flower Route
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. 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
Utrecht-Groot Zandveld is where the day begins. Next is Van Nellefabriek.
2. 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
Van Nellefabriek comes up about 56 km into the recorded legs. Next is Coastal Fort near Ijmuiden.
3. Coastal Fort near Ijmuiden
At the mouth of the North Sea Canal, where giant locks let ocean-going ships into the waterway that leads to Amsterdam, a round island fort sits in the middle of the harbour. This is Fort IJmuiden, also called Forteiland, built in the 1880s as the westernmost stronghold of the Defence Line of Amsterdam, a ring of forts, dikes and flood fields designed to protect the capital by inundating the land around it. The Defence Line, now part of the UNESCO-listed Dutch Water Defence Lines, is one of the more ingenious military systems ever devised: rather than walls, it relied on water a few decimetres deep, too shallow for boats and too deep for marching.
Read the complete Coastal Fort near Ijmuiden write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 139 km into the recorded legs you reach Coastal Fort near Ijmuiden. Next is back through Van Nellefabriek.
4. back through Van Nellefabriek
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
back through Van Nellefabriek, late in the day. Next is Utrecht-Groot Zandveld.
5. 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
Back at Utrecht-Groot Zandveld. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Utrecht-Groot Zandveld to Van Nellefabriek
Utrecht-Groot Zandveld → Van Nellefabriek is 56 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Van Nellefabriek to Coastal Fort near Ijmuiden
Van Nellefabriek → Coastal Fort near Ijmuiden is 83 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Coastal Fort near Ijmuiden to back through Van Nellefabriek
Coastal Fort near Ijmuiden → back through Van Nellefabriek is 84 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Van Nellefabriek to Utrecht-Groot Zandveld
back through Van Nellefabriek → Utrecht-Groot Zandveld is 55 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.