Cycling back and forth over the Afsluitdijk. Tineke Slagter and her husband Jan from Hellum in Groningen have always wanted to agree. And that new, extra cycle path on the side of the Wadden Sea was a great opportunity to properly charge their e-bikes.
“A bit of an island feeling”, Tineke got when she pedaled over the asphalted five meter wide path. They stop for a moment at the Breezanddijk working port. “I feel like I’m on Ameland,” she says, looking at the vast distances. “Cycling along the sea and with the sounds of birds.”
The brand new cycling and walking path right along the Wadden Sea was opened once during the entire weekend. That was a wish of, among others, the Fietsersbond. Rijkswaterstaat wanted to accommodate this.
The old bicycle path, along the highway, has been closed for four years. The reason is a radical reinforcement of the Afsluitdijk. The flood defenses will be higher, new locks and pumping stations will be built and a ‘fish migration river’ will be constructed, through which fish can go back and forth. Only next year will the cycle path (partially) open permanently. The work is likely to take several years.
A strong breeze
More than two thousand cyclists and about 250 walkers braved the rain and strong wind on Saturday for their trip over the 32-kilometre-long dike. Lonely bent over the handlebars or in groups, they pedaled from Friesland to North Holland. Or vice versa.
The opening this weekend is a fairly complicated undertaking, says Johan de Boer of Rijkswaterstaat. Part of the route crosses construction sites. Fences therefore enclose the construction pits. Safety above all. Here and there road plates cover the sand and mud. And they got wet from the rain. Getting off was recommended. But a number of cyclists continued and crashed.
The route has been deliberately laid out along the Wad. As an extra way to let tourists and holidaymakers experience the peace and vastness of it. “And of course to show them how beautiful the Wad is,” says De Boer. A feeling that avid long-distance hiker Tim van de Kruijs (36) from Soest also has. “Isn’t this fantastic!” he exclaims, turning and staring at the almost empty space. “Rarely do you have such a wide view as here. Walking along the seafront is something very special.”
The cycle path is located on the ‘outside’ of the dike, which gives a wide view.Image Sjaak Verboom
With the wind at his back, he continues towards Zurich. That’s where the Broesveld couple came from on their bicycles. With a strong headwind they cycle – “without support” – towards Den Oever. “Spicy yes”, Hennie Broesveld nods, “but we have the time”.
The seventies find the trip across the Afsluitdijk quite an experience. “The good thing is that you can now cycle nicely next to each other, because the cycle path is nice and wide.” Especially yes, her husband Geert adds. Although he does want to say that it is “a bare, straight piece”. “I’m a motorcyclist and then you prefer a corner now and then.” Kaat Van Orshoven (66), colorful cycling shirt, cycling helmet on, recognizes something in that. “It is actually a boring route, straight forward. But better than the other bike path, past all those cars.”
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Renovation of the Afsluitdijk considerably more expensive: the setbacks of Rijkswaterstaat can hardly be a coincidence anymore
Ninety years of the Afsluitdijk is ‘celebrated’ with an overrun of the renovation budget. Such setbacks happen quite often to Rijkswaterstaat, and that does not seem to be a coincidence.
2023-07-02 12:54:39
#sea #side #Afsluitdijk #Ameland
