Bikepacking for first time with my new Trek checkpoint ALR 4, 25L luggage, I average 18-19 km/h normal conditions with 5L of luggage, but I live in Norway so its pretty hilly here, I have never had the pleasure to bike a totally flat country so itll be exciting, but I want to know a good estimate so I can plan my days propperly, budget is looking sharp
by boeing727-100
22 Comments
Depending on the wind I would say 22-25 average should be doable depending on the road surface. Are you planning to ride solely on tarmac or also on gravel? There are some nice gravel roads in the parts of NL you’re traversing. Especially on the Veluwe.
I usually do 80-100km a day in the Netherlands, the only “Mountains” are in the South, the rest is pretty even.
Please bare in mind that wild camping is strictly prohibited there.
150km is my estimate. I live 30km from Maastricht (NL) in Germany. You better consider passing through Valkenburg and Maastricht. In this area you will find the “mountains” of NL with the highest at 323m.
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We need your age, how long have you been cycling, how frequent you ride and what do you consider to be a long ride…
Seriously what kind of answers do you expect with this ?
Netherlands is both really easy and really tough to bike through. It’s easy because it’s all flat nice bikepaths. It’s hard, because it’s open terrain and the weather is merciless most of the year + the monotony gets you after a few hours.
I’ve done a few bikepacking trips there. I have a slightly higher tempo than you (25km/h no luggage, 20 with 15kg load) and was able to do 150 with good weather and headspace, so I’d expect you to clear 100km /day easily. But then, if you’re dealing with headwind, rain, and are mentally done with looking at the flat horizon, 60km might already be a struggle.
Last August I did 100-120 per day while taking it very easy at 20-23 kph average moving speed. I could have pushed up to 150-160 given the long summer days.
You can do a lot in the Netherlands, but the wind can be killer in the north, which is good or bad depending on the direction
If I were to estimate my own daily distance, it would be x if with tail wind and x/2 in case of headwind, let alone all the other factors.
The prevailing wind is from the south west. Are you planning on cycling into a headwind the whole trip? Could be challenging.
I have a route of around Groningen to Arnhem, about 170km. I’ll take a full day for it, but it’s less than 8 hours of actual riding.
You will have the following obstacles:
– wind
– meandering older couples with 7 grandchildren dawdling at 10km/hr going to a pannekoekhuis taking up the whole path
– irritating 13 year olds on “fat bikes” riding uncontrolled at 45/hr while vaping and insta
– getting lost. Every road is a bike path and there are many roads and many intersections
You will have no problems with cars. The road surface is almost always perfect.
Wave when you pass by my place!
Luggage weight doesn’t really make a huge difference when it’s mostly flat.
How many kilometers do you normally do in Norway/day?
The worst part is gonna be the wind if it’s not one your tail or side. I would make sure I have sections inside forests.
There are plenty of beautiful paths so I recommend you fine tune your route using the highlights from Komoot for example.
I’m unsure the reason of doing this section, but as mentioned above. The terrain is easy, as is flat. But the monotony makes it really difficult psychologically. It’s just boring after a couple of hours. Mostly agricultural land and grass.
I’ve been cycling in different parts of Europe and I would say this section (Netherlands, north Germany and Denmark) are boooooring af
I don’t know how fit you are, but I could do 200 a day.
I did the Pieterpad (scenic route) by bike following mostly the official bike route: https://www.pieterpad.nl/pieterfietspad . I did around 125km/day, but as a recreational rider I would choose 100km/day next time.
The Pieterpad route is famous in NL and passes through very nice areas and it hardly ever follows the boring main roads.
120-130km per day
First day of cycling: 100 km. Second day of cycling: 150 km. Third day of cycling: 200 km.
The Netherlands is very flat and a lot of tarmac, basically the easiest you can find.
Last summer I went from Hamburg through Bremen into Enschede and then crossed Belgium. Around Oslo I typically do 25-27km/h and on the trip I did 23-25 with several bags but no tent. Send me a dm if you want my strava files for routes
5km
If you want the best route planning tool available in the Netherland use https://routeplanner.fietsersbond.nl/en it will give you point to point info and is very flexible in what kind of routes get suggested (more or less nature, tarmac, not sharing the road with cars etc.). Good luck and enjoy your trip through our bicycle friendly country!
I recently did 120-130km/day. It took me 5.5 hours ridding only and 8 altogether with breaks etc.
How can you choose the most boring route? Do you want to see only grassland? This route is from Germany to Belgium only grassland and avoided all the great areas.