Cycling between cities in the Netherlands - Part Seven: Breda to Eindhoven via Tilburg

Following a couple of hours of cycling aimlessly around Breda on a Monday morning, just heading in random directions to see what it was like, I began my journey east out of the city on one of the main roads, which had bi-directional cycle tracks along both sides of it. As I approached the river which circles the city I turned left onto a filtered road, which was busy with lots of people cycling and allowed me to avoid the main road on the other side of the water, which just had painted cycle lanes on it. As this route reached a main road the crossing over it was also filtered and this crossing was being used by plenty of young people heading to school / college. 

I travelled east along this main road through a residential area along nice smooth cycle tracks, which continued past side roads, set back from the carriageway. This is very ordinary in the Netherlands but I thought I would stop at a random side road and post it on twitter

Standard continuous cycle track & pavement past a residential street. I've passed hundreds like this pic.twitter.com/acY00vFiRx

— Hackney Cyclist (@Hackneycyclist) June 27, 2016

Designing streets is this way allows anyone to cycle, even if they have both their dog and child with them. The residential properties suddenly gave way as the road turned into the N282, passing under the A27 motorway with my own set of traffic lights as I reached the slip road leading to and from the motorway. I was now on a bi-directional cycle track (with another on the other side of the road) which passed through an industrial area 

Followed by  countryside as I exited Breda, a very nice city that I hope to revisit one day. Entering the small town of Dorst using a combination of service roads for local residents and tiled cycle tracks it became clear the road alongside was freshly resurfaced, with landscaping work also taking place and I wondered if the cycle track was due to be replaced by red asphalt next. There was no traffic congestion at all and so I was surprised to find the road closed and a diversion in place, even for bikes. I was able to bypass the closure by using minor roads through farmland alongside to quickly return to the closed main road, so eerily silent was it that I briefly filmed it. As I cycled along this main road it was bizarre to not see another human being; no cars or cyclists at all, just me and the sound of birds singing. I even passed a few businesses; a car showroom and some retail places selling caravans and travel equipment, all open but completely devoid of customers. I began to think how this situation probably wouldn't be tolerated in the UK, cars unable to access "outraged" local businesses would make local news. Maybe it does here too. A large fence and defence pillboxes to my right made it clear I was passing a large military base and, as the traffic returned I could see a runway, a lot of military vehicles and even army personnel carrying out training exercises in the large field alongside. I continued along a cycle track that would occasionally become a filtered service road, turning back to a cycle track at the traffic lights where a lorry definitely did not go through a red light as we all know only cyclists do that. I had to cross over a huge crossroads where two main roads, the N282 and N260, met but thankfully I had my own cycle crossing which took me onto a cycle track through a residential area, with a large green wall muffling the sounds of the heavy traffic on the main road on the other side for both myself and the local residents living here

I travelled through the car park between the apartments and the railway line before descending under the railway line through a walking and cycling only underpass. For anyone driving to this housing area they can only get in and out via one entrance onto the main road I'd just left but this underpass meant it was a through route for people walking and cycling. People on bikes get the shorter and more direct route into Tilburg, cars have to go the long way round. After the underpass I cycled along a road that was an access road for cars to local properties but was filtered in several places so could only be used as a through route by bike or on foot. Even when sharing with cars there were still dedicated cycle lanes, along with speed reduction measures for cars. This route was being used by dozens of school children, all of whom were wearing sports equipment, mostly the familiar orange shirts of the Dutch National football team. 

From looking at a map it seems they were all cycling to football pitches nearby from school for football practice. Not all children had a bike and so some were having a backie on the back of their mates bike (you'll hopefully appreciate it did not seem appropriate to take pictures of teenage children in their PE kit at this moment). I thought of the UK and the amount of times I see children on school visits decked out in high viz, even when walking. I don't think a school in the UK would let children cycle independently to their PE lesson, and certainly not sat on the back of someone else's bike, an activity which is very normal in the Netherlands; it is perfectly safe to do this when the roads are designed in this way. I continued on through Reehofspark where they really needed to empty the cycling bin and then onto a nice service road between houses and woods. 

As it was filtered in places it was being heavily used by people cycling but I did not come across one single car using it. I also noticed that it had streetlights all along it so a route that can be used at any time all year round. Despite the lack of motor vehicles a cycle track did then reappear alongside the road, which continued as I carried on into the woods, a very nice route to cycle along indeed.

The cycle track split away from the road at this point, separated from a walkway by a hedge (and still with streetlights!) before emerging next to Tilburg Universiteit railway station above the main road below, giving me an opportunity to photograph the cycle track and bus stop bypass from above. 

The cycle track continued through the railway station car park and alongside access roads, even though they were filtered. I soon turned right under the railway bridge and then onto the main road alongside the main railway station. I could have completely bypassed Tilburg altogether but as it was roughly half way between Breda and Eindhoven I thought I may as well cycle through it to check it out and see if I could find a spot for lunch. I cycled into the centre of the city and came across the entrance to an underground bicycle parking garage. Unsure what the deal was I wheeled my bicycle down before asking the attendant if I had to pay. "Yes, it'll be ten euros, sir" she said before laughing and assuring me that no, I could park for free. The parking lot was half empty but as it is in the main shopping area I assume it is much busier on a Saturday afternoon than lunchtime on a Monday! 

Roughly a quarter of the underground cycle parking facility under the main shopping area of Tilburg

Following lunch I headed out of the city on a cycle track which reminded me of CS2 with its high kerbs, although I wish CS2 had the separation from roadway and side road treatment this one had. I then wished for high kerbs again as I briefly had to use painted cycle lanes before the kerbs returned, along with heavy rain and so I took shelter in a bike parking shelter at the side of the road. I noticed most people simply carried on cycling and was intrigued to see that elderly people cycling appeared to have come prepared and began to unpack their waterproofs whereas younger people just cycled through the rain and got wet. As the rain eased I continued out of the city and alongside the Wilhelmina canal on a tiled cycle track with a road for service vehicles alongside, although it was only being used by joggers. The tiles soon thankfully became asphalt and a much more pleasant ride as I enjoyed watching the geese swim alongside in perfect formation and a local rowing club practising whilst their coach cycled alongside shouting encouragement from his bike through a megaphone.

I crossed over the canal and cycled along the other side, the route was nice, good enough for roadies to use, but it was continually raining along this section of the journey. Not particularly heavy rain but enough to get me wet and I made a promise that as soon as I returned to the UK I would take a leaf from the elderly dutch population and invest in some rain wear. The cycle track suddenly became very smooth as I came across workmen installing new posts alongside the track. It was clear that this section had been freshly resurfaced and further on a tractor was dumping loads of soil alongside the track, presumably for landscaping works alongside. This was a lovely section to cycle along I just wish it had been a sunny day to do so!

The route along the canal came to an end as I reached the town of Oirschot and it was time to turn South towards Eindhoven alongside a road called Eindhovensedijk for a couple of miles

a pleasant enough but unremarkable journey (for the Dutch) before I was back onto another beautifully smooth cycle track alongside the Beatrix canal. I could have stayed on the canal all along as these two canals do meet and it really is remarkable to see how the Dutch not only spend money on ensuring their "leisure" routes alongside canals are well maintained to a very high standard but also provide safe route alongside busy roads nearby so people don't have to go out of the way to find a decent route to ride on. You really can ride almost anywhere from A to B no matter what your age in safe and comfortable conditions.

I very much enjoyed cycling along this lovely track hearing the planes overhead as they landed and took off from Eindhoven airport alongside. I was tempted to carry on but eventually turned off and cycled over the canal and through a residential area as there was a certain local landmark in the suburbs I wanted to see. To get from the area  to the Hovenring I cycled along what seemed like a main road until I noticed that the main road alongside was for buses only and the minor roads on the other side of the cycle track were access roads for local residents. 

The route on a map - a direct route for buses from Eindhoven Airport into the city and for people cycling but despite the width cars cannot use this route. Local residents driving to properties alongside have to go the long way round. However the streets they live on have low volumes of traffic as through traffic is sent elsewhere. Safe, quiet streets for children to cycle and play on

Following ten minutes of just cycling around one of the most remarkable examples of cycling infrastructure I have ever seen it was a short ride into the centre of Eindhoven, firstly along some nice residential roads before a series of really awful roads where painted cycle lanes didn't help much when the traffic volume seemed so high. A reminder that whilst Hovenring is spectacular not everywhere in the Netherlands is perfect for cycling.

Distance: Approx 60km / 37 miles
Time: Approx 6 hours
Photos taken: 680
Map of the route
Gallery:  66 photos here

An an analysis of this trip by Jitensha Oni:

Previous posts:

Part One - Hook of Holland to Rotterdam / Photo gallery of this journey
Part Two - Rotterdam to Gouda via Delft / Photo gallery of this journey
Part Three - Gouda to Utrecht / Photo gallery of this journey
Part Four - Utrecht to Amsterdam / Photo Gallery of this journey
Part Five - Amsterdam to Hook of Holland via The Hague / Photo gallery of this journey
Part Six - Hook of Holland to Breda / Photo gallery of this journey

Cycling between cities in the Netherlands - Part Six: Hook of Holland to Breda

Last year I took a trip to the Netherlands to cycle between, and visit, various towns and cities and enjoy some Dutch cycling infrastructure. I wrote five posts about the cycle trips I took between those places: Hook of Holland to Rotterdam, Rotterdam to Gouda via Delft, Gouda to Utrecht, Utrecht to Amsterdam and Amsterdam to Hook of Holland via The Hague. This year I decided to return to the country and so will continue a series of posts on my experience of cycling between the different cities I stayed at. Just like last year every mile of this journey was cycled on my Dutch bike, the same bike I use to get around London. I wore ordinary clothes, usually shorts or T shirt (although sometimes jeans if it was a bit chilly) and did not wear a cycling helmet, just as I don't in London. My holiday just happened to take place a few days after the UK voted to leave the EU and so I was still in shock and very annoyed about the result. I decided to keep news notifications on my phone active and as I was using my phone as a sat nav it seemed that every couple of hours I was  picking my phone out of the holder to read about the various fast paced developments that were occurring back home.

I arrived in the Netherlands very early on a Sunday morning having taken the overnight ferry from Harwich. The first 11km of my journey from Hook of Holland to Maasluis was exactly the same journey as the last time I was in the country so feel free to go back and read my experience of that section from last year. It was all very familiar until I approached Maassluis train station where instead of continuing onto Rotterdam, as I'd previously done, I turned off onto a short road which lead me to another ferry port. As I had planned this ride using the Fietserbond routeplanner it gave me several options and all of these involved taking at least one ferry. I was unsure of what kind of ferry to expect and what I discovered was similar to the Woolwich Ferry, except smaller. Nearly a dozen of us were on bikes (more than were using the ferry in motor vehicles) and so we quickly set off from the port for a short ride over to the other side of the water and into the town of Rozenburg where I posted my first tweet from the country

Good morning from the Netherlands pic.twitter.com/BlETneW4lN

— Hackney Cyclist (@Hackneycyclist) June 26, 2016

I continued East along a bidirectional cycle track, with a decent buffer zone from the road, watching the various sized ships making their way to and from the North Sea alongside. I then travelled south through a rather bland and ugly industrial area although I saw people of all ages also getting around by bike here. The cycle track crossed over the road a couple of times and had a couple of sets of railway level crossings and was, at some points, a long distance away from the road. I thought back to all the times I had cycled through Industrial areas in the UK, often some of the worst places to cycle, mixing it up with lorries, here I enjoyed a relaxing cycle ride with a smile on my face, barely an hour into my trip knowing I had many, many more hours of this to come. 

I turned off this cycle track and climbed up and over half a dozen railway lines, through a motorway junction, and over a wide body of water, all on dedicated cycling infrastructure without having to share space with any motor vehicles at all. It was a wonderful view from the top of this bridge and I could see cycling routes I would never get to ride on, as well as ones I would be riding on about a minute later. My journey continued along a  nice path through parkland and then an elevated route, where I nosily looked down into the back gardens of houses alongside. The houses all had direct access to the path by bicycle or on foot, of course. I travelled on a road for a short distance on an old tiled cycle track, which was being used not just by cyclists, before a brief food stop at a petrol filling station and another tiled cycle track down to the Oude Mass river. I cycled along the river watching the ships alongside and families cycling past, before turning inland and onto a bike path where dogs were restricted, the first time I'd seen a sign like this. This was a narrow cycle path, and very quiet with the only sound being cows munching on grass close by. I soon returned to a wider path, sharing with dogs and joggers again, before a brief section of cycle track alongside a road, even though the road seemed a very quiet one. I was then back onto another cycle track through some really lovely farmland which then took me onto my second ferry of the day. 

Again I had no idea of what kind of ferry to expect but as only a cycle track lead down to a very small jetty it was clear I would not be sharing this ferry journey with motor vehicles. Very soon a small boat appeared with only the captain on board with (presumably) his son anchoring it to the jetty. and after pointing on my phone to where I wanted to travel to and paying a euro and ten cents, I was off for my own private ten minute boat trip to Oud-Beijerland. The captain's son was actually steering the boat for most of the journey and a fine job he did too.

Once back on land I continued for the next 3km along a path through countryside and alongside the river. It was here that for the first time ever in the Netherlands I came across a Sustrans style barrier, which must be inconvenient for some, although just as as I would in the UK I used the well marked out and more convenient bypass to the right of the barrier rather than negotiate the barriers themselves. I needed to head away from this path to get to the service road along the N217 road and so travelled along the main road through the village of Goidschalxoord, although this was a stark reminder that as someone who grew up in a rural village in North Wales, that main roads through villages in the Netherlands are designed very differently to how they are in the UK. 

Once I reached the N217 I cycled along the service road alongside, but was joined by no other vehicles on it. The service road soon ended and turned into a cycle track as it passed over the A29 motorway, just as the rain started. I took shelter from the rain in a cycle shelter of a very large bus station; it seemed odd to have a large bus station in such a rural area next to a motorway with park and ride only being available for those parking their bicycles. Once the rain had eased I continued along the deserted service road for another 5km to the town of Maasdam where I briefly stopped to admire some tree fiets before my journey continued on a bidirectional cycle track to the village of 's-Gravendeel a few kilometres further on. At one point of this journey I passed under a railway bridge and was intrigued to see that the space allocated to the cycle track was exactly the same as the space allocated to the road alongside; I suspect that this was once a dual carriageway and half of the road space has, at some point, been reallocated to a cycle track but I could be completely wrong and the railway bridge was designed exactly like this.

I purposely diverted away from the main road at this point to cycle through the town of 's-Gravendeel to see what it was like. As with many towns the main road into it had cycle tracks but once into the town itself I was sharing the road, although with 30kph (18mph) speed limit and roads designed to slow cars down with pinch points for drivers, not cyclists. It was a very pretty town but it was so quiet with virtually no motor vehicles at all that at times it felt like I was cycling through a film set. I soon exited the town to rejoin the N217 and almost immediately descended into the Kiltunnel under the river Dordtsche Kil. 

Previous Tunnels I had cycled through in the Netherlands included two in Rotterdam, Maastunnel and Benelux, whilst both of these were major road links bicycles were treated to their own tunnel bore and so could pass under the water in silence. Here I did have my own protected lane but it was very noisy with cars speeding through alongside. After a long steep descent out of the tunnel I turned off to head South along a country road with painted cycle lanes on it. These cycle lanes soon ended though and the road just turned into a very British style country lane; I wasn't keen. Hopefully one day soon this road is given painted lanes, or even better, some space is taken from the fields alongside for a cycle track away from the road. I turned off this road and crossed over the wide A16 motorway to then cycle on a path alongside which eventually took me over the Moerdijk Bridge, satisfying me that I had used boats, tunnels and bridges to cross rivers so far today.

I continued on a cycle path alongside the motorway for a short while until I turned off to travel along various cycle tracks on roads very close to the motorway (although as is often the case in the Netherlands it has huge noise barriers so I couldn't really hear it). For the last hour or so I had gradually been getting more and more hungry, having not eaten since the petrol station stop several hours earlier. I had passed close to some motorway service stations but had annoyingly been unable to access them via bicycle. I was absolutely starving as I entered the small village of Zevenbergschen Hoek and was desperately hoping to find a shop selling food when, completely unexpectedly, in the middle of the village was a small hut selling burgers and chips. The owner kindly cooked me a large burger with almost every possible combination on it and I sat outside on the little table eating it when suddenly the heavens opened and torrential, heavy rain pounded the streets forcing me inside where I engaged in conversations on Brexit with the owner and a local who popped by. From here it was a few miles cycle to the edge of Breda along roads with cycle tracks, roads with painted lanes and minor roads right alongside the motorway noise barriers.  It had been raining lightly for most of this section of the journey and started heavily raining again as I made my way over a wide, long bridge which carried me over the motorway and train tracks by Breda Prisenbeek station. I was now on the outskirts of the city and my journey to the centre was a damp one alongside the railway line and onto a bi-directional cycle track past NAC Breda football stadium to the centre of the City. 

It was great to be back in the Netherlands and truly remarkable to be able to cycle such a long distance along using a combination of cycle tracks, bicycle roads and roads filtered to carry only a small amount of motor traffic; a route so safe a child could cycle it.

Distance: Approx 80km / 50 miles
Time: Approx 7 hours
Photos taken: 650
Map of the route
Gallery:  63 photos here

An an analysis of this trip by Jitensha Oni:

Previous posts:

Part One - Hook of Holland to Rotterdam / Photo gallery of this journey
Part Two - Rotterdam to Gouda via Delft / Photo gallery of this journey
Part Three - Gouda to Utrecht / Photo gallery of this journey
Part Four - Utrecht to Amsterdam / Photo Gallery of this journey
Part Five - Amsterdam to Hook of Holland via The Hague / Photo gallery of this journey