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 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...TypeChoice.jsp

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

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 wrote:

David W. Dunkle 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

In article csu.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.

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" schreef in bericht
news:Pine.GSO.4.58.0401050959130.12841@engr06ras. eos.ncsu.edu...

On Sun, 5 Jan 2004 wrote:



David W. Dunkle 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