Rondje IJsselmeer, the Ini version

February 4, 2008 -

The "Rondje IJsselmeer" is a classic Dutch route and everyone who did it, has his own version of it.

Here is mine:
- I start in Amsterdam, as I live there, but the real start is in Schellingwoude, at the exit of the A10
- I proceed along the coast to Monnickendam, where I leave the dike, in order to avoid Volendam, which is too crowdy
- I return to the dike after Edam and proceed to Hoorn
- In Hoorn you can get to the dike faster, taking a bicycle road
- I proceed to Enkhuizen avoiding the city and ending up on the road to Andijk. This is a built-up area section almost to Medemblik, but no jams and a nice scenery.
- After Medemblik the road is perfectly straight; you can ride more then a 100 kms/hr
- On the Afsluitdijk I speed up to 130 to get done with it as fast as possible
- In Friesland I keep as close to the shore as possible. The road gets very nice between Stavoren and Lemmer. There are even some dunes here, as it used to be a seashore. The road is nicely curvy and narrow; beware of people on bicycles...
- After Lemmer I choose the route through the Kuiderbos, as it is the most beautiful way to get to Kuinre
- After Kuinre I follow the old sea dike all the way to Kampen
- After Kampen I prefer not to stay on the mainland, because the road to Elburg/Hardewijk is, although quite scenic, very slow and partly very crowdy. Above that it is in a bad shape. At the end of a long day I prefer the coastal road in Flevoland and to get there I head for Lelystad.
- In Lelystad the coastal road begins. This route can be surrealisticly beautiful depending on the weather. On your left hand there is the national park Oostvaarders plassen, on your right the IJsselmeer. Both seem to be endless, with you on your bike right in the middle of it (speeding up to 110 kms/hr? I do...).
- At the end, I get on the A6, leading me back to Amsterdam the shortest way

That is it. I am especially interested in other alternatives, so please let me know your version of this route!