Pedaling the Pieterpad

Barneveld - Vorden

After a ride of about 17 km from Barneveld early Saturday morning, I met Herman and Karen Scholthoff at Hotel de Sterrenberg in Otterlo. Herman and Karen have traveled with Tripsite several times. I sort of invited myself to ride the second half of the Pieterpad with them (they had started all the way in Northern Groningen in Pieterburen!).

On Saturday we biked from Otterlo back to Vorden - a very pleasant ride and perfect biking weather. You won’t catch every village along the Pieterpad - it’s a route that stays close to the original Pad and keeps you out in nature, through forests and beautiful agricultural areas. There are lots of grass pastures and many, many cows grazing along the way - something you don’t see much of anymore in Holland. It also happened to be the day that Holland was celebrating King’s Day (the King’s birthday was Sunday 27th April). We ran into all kinds of celebrations and a huge flea market in every town center - apparently that’s now a King’s Day tradition.

Crossing the IJessel River in Zutphen, where Tripsite had been on a team outing, we ended up in Vorden again. We spent the night there.

Vorden - Ooij

We left Vorden after biking around the castle and planted our feet at the sign marking the middle point of the Pieterpad route. I thought that the Pieterpad was a sort of pilgrimage but that’s not true at all! It turns out that it was created by two friends who wanted the shortest route to reach each other. It’s not as old as I thought!

We biked for quite a while through a forest, passed the area of the towns Berg en Dal and Groesbeek (a hilly but beautiful area), and ended up close to the Rhine River where we biked on the dike. We crossed the river twice on a ferry, then visited Europe’s oldest windmill in Zeddam. During the spring the farmland just looks so healthy - everything is starting to grow and there are lots of grass pastures.

Our accommodation, Hotel Oortjeshekken, was located just on the other sider of the river's dike. The name comes from ‘oor’ (‘coin’) and ‘hek’ (‘gate’). It makes sense that this was the site of a former toll post!

Ooij - Venlo

We were now in the Province of Limburg, where the River Maas runs north to south (Holland has many rivers!). We crossed the Maas twice - once in Afferden and once in Grubbenvorst. There is a lot of swampland along the Maas, meaning you can see lots of different kinds of birds. We passed a couple of stork nests, lots of healthy farmland, and more and more greenhouses and fields of asparagus, potatoes and other vegetables.

There are lots of little towns to stop in for coffee or lunch. It was a long ride in gorgeous weather, almost always on very smooth bike paths or narrow country roads (never on busy roads and the bridges are only for bicycles).

Venlo is a very lively city.

Venlo - Sittard

Leaving Venlo, we biked for quite a while through a forest before we came around a corner. I thought we had a lake in front of us but it was actually a huge asparagus field! It’s asparagus season and we eat it every day. Asparagus soup is so delicious! After that, we saw many greenhouses growing hydroculture strawberries. The Dutch are the best in that department!

We ended up on an old Roman road that was once along the border with Germany. Every 500 meters we’d see a bunker (the border was not in use during WWII). We biked all day in and out of Germany. Very often, our roads or bike paths were as straight as an arrow - you couldn’t see the end of them!

We passed the point where Holland is at its most narrow - between Belgium and Germany. We always take time for coffee and a pastry - Limburg is known for its ‘Limburgse Vlaai’, a doughy filled pastry.

Today was the nicest day of all.

Province of Limburg

I never knew that the southern part of the Province of Limburg is so beautiful! Going up and down the hills, I realized it’s probably the most hilly part of the Netherlands. We have been very thankful that we had e-bikes, especially today - this would have been very tough with a regular bike!

The scenery here is constantly changing. It’s spring, and the beautiful warm weather is a bonus. Everything is starting to grow and all the farmland has been neatly prepared for the next crops.

We passed the most beautiful castle in Holland (as it was called) - Kasteel Hoensbroek - and a few other castles as well. At one, we stopped and had coffee with a Limburgse Vlaai. We’ve bought this local delicacy several times but one piece is way too big for one person, so we bought a piece with three little forks and shared. That worked way better! Otherwise, you could definitely skip lunch or dinner depending on what time you ate.

I didn’t want to go to St. Pietersburg - the original end of the Pad - because I couldn’t afford to get home too late. So today was 45 miles for me. I’m going to suggest that my friends bike this one day. Herman and Karen (who will be my friends for the rest of our lives) told me that the second half of the approx. 250 km is much nicer than the northern part, which doesn’t surprise me.

I truly enjoyed every minute of it.

Follow Hennie on Strava!