Cycling through the polder

avatar
(Edited)

Today I made a nice cycling trip with one of my friends through the Dutch polders. At the end of the winter, after the worst rain and cold is gone we always get back on our road bikes for a trip in the weekend.

Today we went for a nice 60 kilometer ride through the polder. A polder is low-lying land that has been reclaimed from a body of water, such as a river, lake or sea. The word polder means "land reclaimed from water".

The complete route you see in the image below is below sea level. The dunes along rhe coast provide a natural barrier between the sea and the land, protecting the low-lying areas of the country from flooding. About 50% of The Netherlands is below sea level.

Screenshot_20230225_111746_Strava.jpg

image.png

There was quite a strong wind today; about 25 km/h and coming from the North.
In the polders there isn't a lot of protection against the wind. The polders consist of extensive meadows with cows and sheep surrounded by ditches and channels. There was no hiding and we had quite some kilometers full against the wind.


(Image from Pixabay)

I always check the wind before I make my route with Komoot . I use the weather forecast and the website Windfinder.com which gives a nice overview of the wind.
When making a route I always try to start with a headwind so you have a tailwind when your heading back home. That way there is less chance to come across "the man with the hammer".

We're already planning a 100+ and even 200+ kilometer cycling trip later this year, so it is a matter of making more kilometers every week.

Did you also make any a cycling trip?
Share your story in the Cycling Community.

chain.png

image.png

The Cycling Community

The Cycling Community is for everyone who rides a bicycle or is interested in cycling in any form.
You can post anything as long as it has to do with cycling; your bicycle, a ride you made, bike maintenance or cycling news.

You can support the Cycling Community by delegating some Hive power below. It will be used to support cyclists on Hive. Thanks for your support!

DelegationDelegationDelegationDelegationDelegation
25 HP50 HP100 HP250 HP500 HP# Header 1

hive cycling bike sports activity outdoors pob photography gems sportstalk
0
0
0.000
10 comments
avatar

Sounds like a decent start after the winter, good job guys! Btw the polders look like a very interesting place with a very important function. I new that the Netherlands is very flat but I didn´t know that a half your country is actually below the sea level! That sounds pretty disturbing!

@tipu curate

0
0
0.000
Reply
avatar

Thanks for the tipu!

The Dutch have a long history with fighting against the water. The current protection against the sea aexusts of dunes, dikes and ingenious weirs.

The quality of those are frequently checked and maintained.

I feel very safe despite living below sea level.

0
0
0.000
Reply
avatar

Cool :) I´m sure your engineers do a great job. The Holland quality is famous all over the world ;)

0
0
0.000
Reply
avatar

Lovely shot @friendlymoose friend!!!

!VSC

0
0
0.000
Reply
avatar

@jlinaresp has sent VSC to @friendlymoose

This post was rewarded with 0.1 VSC to support your work.
Join our photography communityVisual Shots
Check here to view or trade VSC Tokens
Be part of our Curation Trail

@jlinaresp ha enviado VSC a @friendlymoose

Éste post fue recompensado con 0.1 VSC para apoyar tu trabajo.
Únete a nuestra comunidad de fotografía Visual Shots
Consulte aquí para ver o intercambiar VSC Tokens
Se parte de nuestro Trail de Curación

Uses: 4/25

0
0
0.000
Reply
avatar

It is very important to be informed and take wind forecasts before going out on a bicycle route, it has happened to me that sometimes the wind not only does not allow me to move forward but it also knocks me to the ground and it is very unpleasant.

I've always been very curious about the Netherlands being below sea level, it's a very interesting phenomenon so the explanation you have given has been very informative.

Those longer trips you are preparing sound like an interesting challenge, I think I've never done so many kilometers, but it sounds super fun, I hope you get it, as you say, adding a little more each week.

0
0
0.000
Reply
avatar

Hey @friendlymoose hope you are having a great day and love your post. I am just letting you know that I have a small service that I run on Hive that posts athletes Strava activities to Hive. The service also has a weekly leader board that rewards users for their posts. We currently have a seperate community set up on Hive, but I have just made a change that allows users to post to the cycling community you have set up if they wish to, and hopefully this might encourage more people to be active in this community.
I have just put out the following post and hope you also see this as a positive step and of course, please let me know if you have any questions.
https://hive.blog/hive-176853/@strava2hive/strava2hive-can-now-post-to-a-new-community

0
0
0.000
Reply