Why this ride
112 km from Diemen to Diemen, about 1 h 50 of riding. It goes by way of Fort Werk IV, Dutch Water Defence Lines and back through Fort Werk IV. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Works along the IJ before Durgerdam and Dutch Water Defence Lines
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 112 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 50
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. 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. Works along the IJ before Durgerdam
East of Amsterdam, where the IJ widens into the IJmeer and the city gives way to water and sky, the old dike village of Durgerdam sits on a strip of land between the sea wall and the polders. Its wooden houses, painted in strong colours and leaning on each other along the dike, look out over a lake that was once the Zuiderzee, open to the North Sea until the Afsluitdijk closed it in 1932. The works along the IJ here belong to the Defence Line of Amsterdam, now part of the Dutch Water Defence Lines World Heritage Site.
Read the complete Works along the IJ before Durgerdam write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Works along the IJ before Durgerdam 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 20 km in. Next is Dutch Water Defence Lines.
3. Dutch Water Defence Lines
The Dutch had a clever idea for defending their heartland: instead of building walls, they would drown the approaches. The Dutch Water Defence Lines, a World Heritage site, consist of a long belt of land around Amsterdam and Utrecht that could be flooded deliberately in wartime, with water deep enough to stop soldiers on foot and wagons, but too shallow for boats. Forts, dikes, sluices and pumping stations controlled the water. The New Dutch Waterline, built in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, ran south-east of Amsterdam through the area around Maarssen and the Loosdrecht lakes, and it was mobilised during the First and Second World Wars, though aircraft and modern artillery had made it largely obsolete by then.
Read the complete Dutch Water Defence Lines write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
40 km in you reach Dutch Water Defence Lines. 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 Works along the IJ before Durgerdam.
5. Works along the IJ before Durgerdam
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Works along the IJ before Durgerdam write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Works along the IJ before Durgerdam. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Works along the IJ before Durgerdam to Fort Werk IV
Works along the IJ before Durgerdam → Fort Werk IV is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort Werk IV to Dutch Water Defence Lines
Fort Werk IV → Dutch Water Defence Lines is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Dutch Water Defence Lines to back through Fort Werk IV
Dutch Water Defence Lines → back through Fort Werk IV is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fort Werk IV to Works along the IJ before Durgerdam
back through Fort Werk IV → Works along the IJ before Durgerdam is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.