Why this ride
A 102 km round trip from Vleuten - roughly 1 h 47 in the saddle. The stops in between: Fort Werk IV, Fort along the Pampus and back through Fort Werk IV.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Utrecht-Groot Zandveld and Fort along the Pampus
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 102 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 47
- 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. 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 Fort Werk IV.
2. 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
Fort Werk IV comes up about 32 km into the recorded legs. Next is Fort along the Pampus.
3. 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
about 52 km into the recorded legs you reach Fort along the Pampus. Next is back through Fort Werk IV.
4. back through Fort Werk IV
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
back through Fort Werk IV, 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 Fort Werk IV
Utrecht-Groot Zandveld → Fort Werk IV is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort Werk IV to Fort along the Pampus
Fort Werk IV → Fort along the Pampus is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort along the Pampus to back through Fort Werk IV
Fort along the Pampus → back through Fort Werk IV is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fort Werk IV to Utrecht-Groot Zandveld
back through Fort Werk IV → Utrecht-Groot Zandveld is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.