Contending with the wind on a century ride around the Zuiderzee - Amsterdam, Netherlands
The Zuiderzee is a large body of water in the northwest of the Netherlands, with Amsterdam in the southwest corner. The area started out as a single large bay, but has now been broken up by two dams. Multiple islands were also created by reclaiming the land from the sea. The more southern of the two dams, the Houtribdijk, creates the freshwater lake Markermeer. The paths, including one across the dam, that circle the Markermeer make for a nearly perfect 100 mile (160k) bike ride starting and ending in central Amsterdam.
I got an opportunity to ride this route while on a weekend trip visiting a friend in Amsterdam. Planning for a ride is natural here given that Amsterdam is exceptionally well known for its bikes, and as such there are hundreds of miles of bike-only paths that go far out of the city. I especially enjoy riding a bike in the Netherlands because I don’t have to worry about car traffic at all.
I had never ridden a bike on such a flat course, so had very high expectations for how quickly we’d cover ground. Much later in the day, I realized I’d missed an important fact about bike riding in the Netherlands.
We took our time in the morning so didn’t get started until just after noon. The day was perfect with clear, blue skies, and not too hot. We started out the ride, going to the northeast, deciding that we’d ride the loop in a clockwise direction. The bike path meanders through many coastal towns with green fields or water visible most of the route.
After a few hours in, we stopped for a snack at a small cafe. My snack turned out to be the most amazingly delicious waffle I’ve ever had. It was full of sugar and came with cherries and ice cream. Perfect nutrition to replace the calories we’d be burning.
The fact I missed about riding bikes in the Netherlands is that instead of elevation change from mountains or hills, around the Netherlands you need to contend with the wind. The paths very often have no wind break, neither buildings, trees or hedges. The impact on our speed and effort is extremely apparent in my GPS track. For the first 60 miles (96km) we averaged over 18mph (29 km/h), and then for the final 40 miles (64km) we averaged 12 mph (19 km/h). What made the wind even more of an impact, and the riding an incredible grind, is that the path in this section is nearly perfectly straight, at the top of the dike, with no protection from the wind at all. Simply put, we had to put our heads down and grind out the ride for a few hours to finish it.
While not an ultrarunning destination trip, this trip was still a great endurance challenge. The ride gave me an appreciation for how relentless the wind can be on a bike rider in the Netherlands. Amsterdam does also make a great ultrarunning destination, read about my previous experience here covering 31 miles (50km) of nearly continuous beach. I highly recommend a trip to Amsterdam for your own ultrarunning destination, an intense 100 mile ride, or just to enjoy some waffles. Enjoy.
