nederlands biking info?

Where can I get English information about biking in the Nederlands? I mean maps and such. I am
mainly biking for transportation and pleasure, not distance oriented touring (necessarily) and not
as part of a tour. I want the info before I go. Thanks!

David W. Dunkle wrote:
>
> Where can I get English information about biking in the Nederlands? I mean maps and such. I am
> mainly biking for transportation and pleasure, not distance oriented touring (necessarily) and not
> as part of a tour. I want the info before I go. Thanks!

There is information, a tour report and links at :
http://www.hsa.lr.tudelft.nl/~bvo/fiets/fietsvak.htm

--
Michiel Erens

Iceland pages at : http://home.wanadoo.nl/erens/iceland.htm Email address at :
http://home.wanadoo.nl/erens/icecontact.htm Posted by news://news.nb.nu

A good place to start is the official Dutch Tourism people.

I got a wonderful package deal some years ago Bike/Hotels/Meals/Maps from VVV Gelderland. Guy

David W. Dunkle <ddunkle@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
: Where can I get English information about biking in the Nederlands? I

Try Google.

: mean maps and such. I am mainly biking for transportation and pleasure, not distance oriented
: touring (necessarily) and not as part of a tour. I want the info before I go. Thanks!

Unfortunately best VVV offices and bookstores that sell their stuff are located in the
Netherlands :-/

There's also the excellent route planner: http://www2.holland.com/nl/index.htm...ttp://planner-
.holland.com/fietsroutes/RouteTypeChoice.jsp

--
Risto Varanka | http://www.helsinki.fi/~rvaranka/ risto.varanka@helsinki.fi

The original poster asked:

Where can I get English information about biking in the Nederlands? I mean maps and such. I am
mainly biking for transportation and pleasure, not distance oriented touring (necessarily) and not
as part of a tour. I want the info before I go. Thanks!

My reply:

Unless you're in the Netherlands, you likely won't be able to obtain the truly excellent 1:50 000
scale maps that show all bike trails (fietspads), foot trails, and local roads. Having cycled all
over that wonderful country, however, I can tell you that if you're riding for transportation and
pleasure and aren't concerned about traveling great distances, you won't need a map, or at least
anything more elaborate than a plain ol' road map. If you're riding from town to town, just head
into the center and look for the red and white signs which indicate bike routes. You'll find those
signs between towns as well, along with the characteristic concrete "mushrooms" that provide biking
information in rural areas. In town, just remember to keep right on the roads, unless there's
fietspad available, in which case you must use it. If you want / need maps, they're available from
both the ANWB (the Dutch equivalent of the American Auto Association) and the VVV (tourist bureau).
You'll find one of those organizations in any Dutch town larger than a village, and even in some of
those as well.

Enjoy your trip!

Trent

On Sun, 5 Jan 2004 risto.varanka@secure.from.spam.helsinki.fi wrote:

> David W. Dunkle <ddunkle@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
> : Where can I get English information about biking in the Nederlands? I
>
> Try Google.
>
> : mean maps and such. I am mainly biking for transportation and pleasure, not distance oriented
> : touring (necessarily) and not as part of a tour. I want the info before I go. Thanks!
>
> Unfortunately best VVV offices and bookstores that sell their stuff are located in the
> Netherlands :-/

When I rode into Holland from Northern Germany in the summer of 2002, it was raining and windy. I
knew I had to follow bike paths and I found the some paths just over the border, but the signs on
the paths gave the names of the next village which, without a detailed knowledge of the area, wasn't
useful. I choose to follow a path that paralleled a road that went to Emmen. Here is part of my ride
report from that day:

"After my initial frustration with the bike paths, I set out to make my way as best I could to
Emmen, the big city in these parts which is only 10 miles or so, by direct road, from where I
crossed the border. Of course I could not use the road. Instead I rode twice as far in moderate rain
and wind on mostly brick bike paths and still didn't get to Emmen. This despite the fact that I
stopped at a very good bike shop after about ten miles and confirmed that I was indeed headed for
Emmen. Yeah, right, but only if I knew the way to go at each of several unmarked places where I had
to make a choice! This, to be impolite, stinks.

Tomorrow I will, hopefully - I can't be sure since I don't know where the bike route go! - make it
to Emmen which is "only" five miles from where I ended up after riding for several hours in the rain
and the wind. I will ask where the ANWB is - I don't know what it means, but the bike shop told me
that is where I must go to get bike route maps. Note: this was a very large - bigger than any I've
been in in the US - and very nice bike shop, but they don't have the maps! You have to go to the big
city to get the maps."

And here is my experience the next day:

"When I rode into Emmen this morning, I stopped at the first bike store I saw that was open. A
small, but high class place called Bicycles 4 You. It had a Colnago in the front window. The fellow
working there - the owner, I'm sure - told me how to get to the place where I could buy bike route
maps. Then he said "They are inside a big building and you'll have to lock your bike and leave it
outside." I asked if that was safe he pointed to the nice bike he was working on and said two nice
bikes were stolen there yesterday. No, it wasn't safe. He then said I didn't need that maps to get
to Amsterdam, just a list of towns to go between on bike paths. Then another fellow came in who
spoke better English and wrote the list for me to get to Zwolle, about 80 km down the bike paths. He
said I could ask in Zwolle for routing to Amsterdam and recommended that I route through Utrecht. He
also told me how to get to the first bike path I needed, one going south out of Emmen to Erica."

I did get there, with only minor problems along the way, but I found it very frustrating not to be
able to get the maps! I also didn't make it to Utrecht on my way to Amsterdam because of "bike
route hell":

"I left Nunspeet about 9 AM and retraced my route from the end of yesterday before continuing on
towards Ermelo. I figured that the bike path which I had been following would continue along the
major route which is towards Utrecht. It did, at least as far as Amersfoort, the biggest city north
of Utrecht. I wasn't able, after several tries, to find the bike route from Amersfoort to Utrecht,
so I gave up and headed east on a route I could find. One more example of bike route hell: it is
only ten miles from Amersfoort to Utrecht, but even with a lot of help from the folks at a bicycle
shop in Amersfoort. I couldn't get there. Sheesh!"

>There's also the excellent route planner:
>http://www2.holland.com/nl/index.htm...outes/RouteTyp
>eChoice.jsp

In Dutch. Did I miss seeing an English version?

Mark <http://www.cs.unca.edu/~boyd/bicycling.html

You can order maps from http://www2.holland.com/uk/


A good detailed cycle map can make all the difference when planning a cycling holiday. Cycle maps of
every province at a scale of 1:100.000 are available from local tourist offices (VVV), ANWB shops or
the Netherlands Board of Tourism. More.....

Good luck.

Frank van Z

"Mark Boyd" <mboyd@unity.ncsu.edu> schreef in bericht
news:<Pine.GSO.4.58.0401050959130.12841@engr06ras.eos.ncsu.edu>...

> On Sun, 5 Jan 2004 risto.varanka@secure.from.spam.helsinki.fi wrote:

>

> > David W. Dunkle <ddunkle@ix.netcom.com> wrote:

> > : Where can I get English information about biking in the Nederlands? I

> >

> > Try Google.

> >

> > : mean maps and such. I am mainly biking for transportation and
pleasure,

> > : not distance oriented touring (necessarily) and not as part of a tour.
I

> > : want the info before I go. Thanks!

> >

> > Unfortunately best VVV offices and bookstores that sell their

> > stuff are located in the Netherlands :-/

>

> When I rode into Holland from Northern Germany in the summer of 2002, it

> was raining and windy. I knew I had to follow bike paths and I found the

> some paths just over the border, but the signs on the paths gave the names

> of the next village which, without a detailed knowledge of the area,

> wasn't

> useful. I choose to follow a path that paralleled a road that went to

> Emmen. Here is part of my ride report from that day:

>

> "After my initial frustration with the bike paths, I set out to make my

> way as best I could to Emmen, the big city in these parts which is only 10

> miles or so, by direct road, from where I crossed the border. Of course I

> could not use the road. Instead I rode twice as far in moderate rain and

> wind on mostly brick bike paths and still didn't get to Emmen. This

> despite the fact that I stopped at a very good bike shop after about ten

> miles and confirmed that I was indeed headed for Emmen. Yeah, right, but

> only if I knew the way to go at each of several unmarked places where I

> had to make a choice! This, to be impolite, stinks.

>

> Tomorrow I will, hopefully - I can't be sure since I don't know where the

> bike route go! - make it to Emmen which is "only" five miles from where I

> ended up after riding for several hours in the rain and the wind. I will

> ask where the ANWB is - I don't know what it means, but the bike shop told

> me that is where I must go to get bike route maps. Note: this was a very

> large - bigger than any I've been in in the US - and very nice bike shop,

> but they don't have the maps! You have to go to the big city to get the

> maps."

>

> And here is my experience the next day:

>

> "When I rode into Emmen this morning, I stopped at the first bike store I

> saw that was open. A small, but high class place called Bicycles 4 You. It

> had a Colnago in the front window. The fellow working there - the owner,

> I'm sure - told me how to get to the place where I could buy bike route

> maps. Then he said "They are inside a big building and you'll have to lock

> your bike and leave it outside." I asked if that was safe he pointed to

> the nice bike he was working on and said two nice bikes were stolen there

> yesterday. No, it wasn't safe. He then said I didn't need that maps to get

> to Amsterdam, just a list of towns to go between on bike paths. Then

> another fellow came in who spoke better English and wrote the list for me

> to get to Zwolle, about 80 km down the bike paths. He said I could ask in

> Zwolle for routing to Amsterdam and recommended that I route through

> Utrecht. He also told me how to get to the first bike path I needed, one

> going south out of Emmen to Erica."

>

> I did get there, with only minor problems along the way, but I found it

> very frustrating not to be able to get the maps! I also didn't make it to

> Utrecht on my way to Amsterdam because of "bike route hell":

>

> "I left Nunspeet about 9 AM and retraced my route from the end of

> yesterday before continuing on towards Ermelo. I figured that the bike

> path which I had been following would continue along the major route which

> is towards Utrecht. It did, at least as far as Amersfoort, the biggest

> city north of Utrecht. I wasn't able, after several tries, to find the

> bike route from Amersfoort to Utrecht, so I gave up and headed east on a

> route I could find. One more example of bike route hell: it is only ten

> miles from Amersfoort to Utrecht, but even with a lot of help from the

> folks at a bicycle shop in Amersfoort. I couldn't get there. Sheesh!"

>

> >There's also the excellent route planner:

>
>http://www2.holland.com/nl/index.htm...land.com/fiets
routes/RouteTyp

> >eChoice.jsp

>

> In Dutch. Did I miss seeing an English version?

>

> Mark <http://www.cs.unca.edu/~boyd/bicycling.html

In article <Pine.GSO.4.58.0401050959130.12841@engr06ras.eos.ncsu.edu>,
Mark Boyd wrote:

> "bike route hell"

I do not remember feeling particularly lost in Nederlands or in any of those neighboring countries.

I am pretty sure that you have not fully comprehended how the system works. Because the network of
routes is so extensive, you do not need detailed map, you just choose the best-looking route by
using a compass. Eventually you'll end up in a place big enuff to show up in a regular touring map
and then you can make course correction accordingly. Also GPS is a big help nowadays.

One thing worth mentioning is that in an old European country the bike routes follow the ancient
roads. Road-signs are removed to direct all cars to the autobahn, but the roads are still there.
These old roads are wider and go directly from city to city. It might be useful to have an old pre-
1900 map when planning best routes.