My First Bikepacking Race :: RACE AROUND THE NETHERLANDS :: What Did I Learn?
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- Опубліковано 2 чер 2022
- The Race Around the Netherlands is a 2000km bicycle race around the coasts and borders of The Netherlands.
Race around the Netherlands is a fully self-supported bike packing race. The RatN is a do-it-yourself challenge. You are your own ride organizer. Understand that this is a personal challenge against the clock. Not against others!
The Route:
The start and finish is in the village of Amerongen, located at the Utrechtse Heuvelrug at the famous cycling cafe De Proloog. The route takes you first along the rivers Neder-Rijn and the Waal to the historic cities of Nijmegen and Arnhem (known from the film “A Bridge Too Far” about the Operation Market Garden). Next you leave the beautiful river landscape and the historic cities behind and the route takes you through the National Park Veluwezoom. The National Park is known for its endless heath fields, imposing country estates and of course one of the most famous hills in the Netherlands, the Posbank.
You will pass through the heart of Enschede and along the Dolmens in the province of Drenthe, prehistoric burial chambers where the cycle route passes by. After which the route leads you through the city of Groningen.
The wind starts to get stronger along the coastline. Instead of crossing the Ijsselmeer overone of the icons of the Dutch flood defense, the Afsluitdijk, riders will ride around the Ijsselmeer and will pass scenic harbors in the towns of Enkhuizen and Hoorn.
den Header the route takes you south along the Dutch coast. Beautiful beaches and dunes with little to no buildings, towards the port of Rotterdam, the largest port in Europe. First you will cycle through the city of Rotterdam and across the Erasmus bridge towards the Maasvlakte.
The route takes you further south over the Delta Park Neeltje Jans, which is part of the Dutch flood defense, in the direction of Vlissingen. A historic city due to its strategic location. In the Eighty Years’ War between the Netherlands and Spain, the city was in Spanish hands for a while.
You cycle along the Belgian border towards the hills in the province of Limburg. Where you hit one of the iconic Dutch hills, the Keutenberg with a maximum gradient of 22%.
If you have conquered the hills you cycle back through the beautiful river landscape of the Maas towards Nijmegen. Via the southern side of the rivers over the dikes you will finish at the cafe De Proloog.
Race Around the Netherlands will be returning again in 2024 so if you want to join the race look out for further updates in the second half of 2023. Keep on training!
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Thanks for the info Richard, debating to enter the RatN for 2024, will be my first ever bikepacking trip. But it would be a nice way to see my homeland (living in UK since 2006).
You total elbow richard.. is what I was thinking yesterday. I know exactly what food is in my carradice, 2 powerbars, a protein bar a cereal bar.. why is it so hard for you?? Anyway stopped and discovered 2 gels and another 60ml liquid gel.. on the way back I wanted an isotonic drink, but the shops didn't have them, drank a litre of lemon tonic.
Today I'm just sorting my stuff out. There's a hat that got missed for the laundry.. oh and a tube of isobar tablets!!
Why is life so hard?. Lol great stuff richard, probably none of it I take on-board.
Good tips 😊. Probably all second nature to you now but I never stop tinkering my set up! Congrats
Awesome! Thank you! Without watching it right now - from memory - not so much a tip but an experience was - taking overshoe off whilst still riding. 😅
@@BikepackingAdventures that would be a tad high up my risk assessment chart! Rolling done leg warmers and tucking them in so as to not get caught in the chain is not easy for me 🙈. Enjoyed the vid and triggered a idea to enter next year
Thanks for your compliments for our little country 😊
Hi, thanks for the informative chat. I was listening to an episode of Breakfast with Boz (Ian Boswell) and he said that wind tunnel testing showed if you have aero bars you need to be using them a lot to mitigate the drag they otherwise create. I guess if they are for positional comfort that is one thing but aero ‘gains’ might be harder on an ultra?
Thanks for watching and listening Martin. Yeah strategy as you can no doubt tell, I use the bars extensively for hanging stuff, they do get a bit cluttered for their original intended purpose!
I’m the same as you I haven’t used the drops since I stopped racing 20 years ago but I love riding on the hoods
Hi Richard, thanks for sharing your lessons learned. How much hours of cycling did you do each day and what waa your average speed? I'm taking part in the 2024 race, it will be my first long distance race.
Hiya. This was my first long distance race as well, hours wise I'd say about 18-19 hours each day. I always made sure to have sleep, my goal was always to aim for 300km each day and for the most part this was achieved. Not sure about average speed, it is never fast at this events, its more about time spent on the bike moving as much as possible. Good luck!
Omg when I eat a pizza people passing the house get splattered 😀
Just been watching your RATN videos and they are really interesting and informative. I'll be doing to my first RATN this year and was wondering, how many nights did you wildcamp throughout the race? Were there any challenges/issues with wildcamping in the Netherlands? Also, was the tent you used sufficient or would you consider downsizing the accomodation to a bivvy? I've got both the Big Anges Copper Spur 1 man tent and an Alpkit hooped bivvy and unsure which one to take for the duration. Cheers and keep those legs spinning.
I finished in 6 and a bit days, only twice was I indoors. I travelled only with a bivvy bag, sleeping bag and mat setup. With clothing over the top. Knowing what I know now would have definitely taken a fleece lined jacket and warmer leg coverings it was really cold overnight at times. As for places, second sleep along the Northern coastline was the most awkward place to find somewhere to bivvy up - far too open for how cold it was. Really depends on the weather, how picky and stealthy you want to be.
What went wrong with the exorail? Did it come loose? I'm thinking about getting one - would you recommend?
Highly recommended. Yes it came loose. My fault, I did a 200km gravel event a week early it clearly wobbled loose. After being on the bike for nearly two-years now, it's been faultless. As a "thing", its brilliant at holding your saddlebag rock steady.
@@BikepackingAdventures Thanks. Will go get one!
@@BikepackingAdventures BTW, rude of me not to say, but your RaTN series and this vid have been brilliant. Epic adventure and one for my list now. Good luck in the prep for TCR.
@@marksorsa-leslie701 thank you very much Mark. 😀
How long did it take you to recover from the race?
I took 2 solid weeks off the bike, and still probably not enough when I rode a 600km in Wales!
Did you take any kit that you did not use or even need?
Oooo I'll have to have a good think and get back to you. Good question.
What was your elevation gain?
Without looking at exact numbers from memory it was advertised as 6,500 metres. So I would imagine somewhere more than that!
Thanks for rhe question.