After the conference in Groningen, I grabbed one of the hotel’s bikes (they had many) and headed off into the country – which at any point is no more than five kilometres away. The cycling routes are, to say the least, extensive:
And the topography, as you might have heard, is cycling friendly for all ages and abilities:
What surprised me were the many types of road surfaces. Asphalt, as above. And concrete, as below.
Even the narrow routes just for walking and cycling have been done in concrete:
Why, I wonder?
Along the canal, however, good ol’ dirt:
For a country said to be one of the densest in the world, there’s a lot of greenspace with very few buildings (all adorably kept). Fortunately, it’s not hard to plan a cycling route where, halfway through, there will be beer.
Great post. What I love about places like this is that when you ask the question “where’s a good place to walk or ride” the answer is “everywhere”. And so it should be.
Looks like the Fraser Valley or Delta.
Navigation solution: The network looks way too confusing to find your way. The cool solution is that each intersection is given a number or letter and maps are frequent. You get a strip of paper that dangles from your handlebar and you plot intersections to your destination as a series of symbols: 8 4 L 9 X etc. It took a couple of days to figure this out but it works really well. It might take up to a couple of hours to ride what fits on the handle bar strip – then just take five minutes at a map and start another one. You can criss-cross the entire country at fine grain this way.
Don’t forget: you can cycle it in a loop….
One advantage of concrete is its ability to last a long time, especially where there is light weight traffic. The concrete paving on my neighbouring street is over 50 years old.