gpx tracks: circular trips from amsterdam
On these pages you find a list of GPS-tracks of trips I have made. I have had a Garmin 705 since the fall of 2009 and use it on both my road bike as well as my mountain bike. On this page you will find interesting tours around Amsterdam, where I used to live, and leaving from Amsterdam in one way. These are all one day tours.
Tracks that leave Amsterdam start from where I live. It should not be too difficult to pick up the tracks from other points in Amsterdam. I edit the tracks if necessary: sometimes the road is not completely clear and I have to look for signs, or I miss where I have to turn off. Both cause redundant points in the track. Instead of editing the track, I might also just do the ride again. Any points to watch out for, such as road works at time of riding, are mentioned in the notes. Have fun!
Do this tour in spring, when the bulbs are blooming, because the area around De Zilk is in the midst of the flower bulb region. If you are allergic to smells, do it later (and miss the colours)! You also will have a taste of the Dutch dunes, just like the polder a typical phenomenon of Holland.
Trip: 83km
This 140km trip needs the right wind when you do it on your own. Very impressive, because you go along very old polders (the Beemster), and very new (Flevoland). The leg between Hoorn and Amsterdam is always nice, and the dike from Lelystad to Muiden is great — just pick the right wind!
Trip: 138km
This is a must do: bike around the Haarlemmermeer polder, on the Ring Dike. The circumference itself is about 60km, point zero is in the southwestern point. Always a bit of a doubt: clockwise or counterclockwise? With prevailing winds from the SW, counterclockwise works the best. You can do it as an afternoon ride out of Amsterdam. The total trip will be around 85 km. When you have more more touristic intentions: visit Cruquius, the biggest steam pump in the world; along with three other steam pumps, it emptied the lake in the mid 19th century.
Trip: 86km
A tour around the Beemster, home of the Beemster Cheese and the New York grid, as Beemster Cheese wants to have it. The New York connection is not true. It still is enough of a wonder to be listed as a World Heritage: one of the first lakes to be emptied, with a systematic square grid of about 100 yards. Realized mid 17th century (the New York grid dates from 1811, much later,
see this article in my ‘Naar de stad’). The polder as good as you can get.
Trip: 82km