As I look outside, tiny snowflakes slowly form a beautiful white blanket over the landscape. I take a sip of my coffee while the bungalow's underfloor heating keeps me nice and warm. 'Nice, because with snow you don't go cycling, right?' I hear you thinking now. Nothing could be further from the truth. Our 'vehicle fleet' is adjusted to the conditions and the white world outside screams for attention. The small sand dune created by the pond is too beautiful. We have to cross it by bike. Where are we? Landal GreenParks Sallandse Heuvelrug, in the Twente countryside, just outside Wierden in the hamlet (that's what I can call it, right?) of Hoge Hexel. A cycling destination par excellence, do you want to know why? Then read on quickly!
(text continues after photo)
Text: Sander Kolsloot, photos; Sander Kolsloot, Aniek Rooderkerken, Mark Heij
Through a white, crisp landscape
If you pick up the map of the Netherlands and look for Hoge Hexel, you soon see that it is almost perfectly situated for exploring Twente and especially the region's unpaved paths. As the crow flies, you are also not that far from the German border, which increases the possibilities by a factor of three. The observant cyclist will also see the Sallandse Heuvelrug National Park. That is beautiful. And if you look really closely, one of the MTB routes runs right through the park. If that's not beautiful already, I don't know what is.
The white snow under my fat tyres crunches and crunches as I make my way through the Sallandse Heuvelrug on Monday afternoon. Because one thing is for sure, when the conditions are this beautiful (sunshine AND snow) I have to get out there. It waves delightfully up and down. From Nijverdal, this nature park is at your feet and I pick up a few nice stretches of unpaved road on the eastern side. The ground is sometimes frozen, but often I ride over nice fresh snow. The deeper I go into the park, the more beautiful the views. Especially in spring and summer, when the purple heather is in bloom, you just want to be here. Meandering among the low bushes, along wide paths into the forest. Then ploughing through the sand, then through the snow. This won't leave me anytime soon!
Falling and getting up
A small skid at the bottom of the hill is something I have to recover from. Freezing up has made it slippery, but when I get home, I am still smiling from ear to ear. This route of over 40 kilometres starts and ends at the park, with a run-up over the 'bicycle highway F35'. A top start to the week. The weather always plays a role in making great trips. So too here, when on Tuesday, snow, freezing temperatures and the combination of them briefly threw a spanner in the works. Although, put a spanner in the works? We get a nice invitation from Bram Schots, of local bike shop 'Herman beleef Fietsen'. Coffee is ready, if we are in the area...?
Once the snow has stopped a bit and it looks to be around 0 degrees for a while, we head out. Mark Heij, my travel companion for the day, and I grab our bikes and go for it.
'Who is Herman?'
If you are staying at the park, Nijverdal is actually the best place to start routes. Especially at Herbert Korblet and Jeroen van der Heide's Scott Experience Centre. Herman Experience Cycling sits literally a stone's throw from the Park Sallandse Heuvelrug and when we enter, we are warmly welcomed. With local tongues, we get the main question: 'cup of coffee men?'
We quickly feel at home and from the shop we take a scenic route north towards Hellendoorn. Before we actually jump on our bikes, I still have to ask: 'Who is Herman', the person the shop is named after.
Herbert's father Herman died relatively young and, as Herbert tells it, that is one of the reasons he started cycling. Herman hangs prominently in the shop with a beautiful photo. A wonderful tribute. And as it turns out, there is another positive: in the area, it is soon 'let's go and see Herman'.
To govern is to foresee
As we plan for our 12 provinces, 12 parks, 12 months series, we cannot fathom that January will surprise us with a thick layer of snow. In fact, by New Year's Eve, it is still almost spring-like and the days after that too will see rain, or more rain. The rayon chiefs don't need to get together. The dyke chiefs, on the other hand, are working overtime. However, King Winter is still knocking at the door and lo and behold! A nice dusting of snow. Now that doesn't matter much for graveling, although cycling in the sun is preferable. As we approach the day of check-in, it suddenly gets itchy: it's going to snow! That will be nice pictures.
It is really beautiful here
'Wow, how beautiful it is here.' I catch myself saying this for the fourth time. Rightly so? Yes indeed. With my travelling companion, I am out on the local trails around the park. It must be the combination of rolling roads, beautiful views and then another beautiful dirt track through the forests. Each route we drive gives us a different insight. Whereas on Tuesday we still head towards Hellendoorn and take parts of the MTB trail in that direction, on Wednesday we head 'south'. Towards Rijssen this time, where we let the landscape pass us by. Some roads are very hard, frozen and therefore a bit less passable. But most of it is lovely to ride, but in these conditions some caution is called for.
If you look at this side of the Heuvelrug, you also see a different landscape than around Hellendoorn. This is also rolling, but here there are more fields. More roads you can really 'plough' through. The farmers here will agree. The mill in Rijssen is a nice spot for a photo, but then quickly on again. A little south of Rijssen, we stop at a hotel. It doesn't come highly recommended near the Koerbelt. The coffee will do, shall we say. Travel companion Aniek, who, on behalf of partner SideWheelrent with it, also shakes his head dubiously. Later, when we talk to Maarten, mastermind behind the Pedaleurs podcast and local hero talk, we are almost laughed at. If we had wanted a nice 'coffee round', he knew some nice places. But not 'over there, among the wrinkle-sauriers'. Duly noted.
MTB routes - suitable for gravel!
What makes the Twente region extra beautiful is the extensive network of MTB routes. Literally right across the park runs the Wierden MTB route. You can follow this entirely and in the meantime pick up a few nice, rural gravel strips. Cart tracks on which you can gravel to your heart's content. Here you head up towards villages like Vroomshoop and Vriezenveen. Villages that still have the typical characteristic of the past: a church, a pub and in some even a Rabobank!
Enjoyment on return
To my left, travelling companion Mark sits working on his laptop. To my right, other travel companion Aniek is enjoying a cup of tea. I take a seat on the couch myself. This is actually quite manageable, a few days enjoying the Twente countryside, here in Hoge Hexel. Our 6-person accommodation is quite something!
Accommodation
At Landal GreenParks Sallandse Heuvelrug, you can find different accommodation. We have a 6-person house, type 6B, at our disposal. A lovely space where you can spend a long weekend, mid-week or week with a group of friends. Our variant has 1 bathroom, and 3 bedrooms and a nice space for dining and relaxing in the evening. Especially in summer, there is also a nice space outside to watch the sun go down. On the park you will also find a number of handy amenities:
- A swimming pool (with slide!)
- A bowling alley
- A restaurant, coffee shop and lunch spot all in one. The menu is classic but solid.
- A pond you can also swim in (in summer then)
- Some playground equipment for the kids
- Electric car charging station
- If you don't have a washing machine but want to do some laundry, you can drop off your stuff at reception for a small fee and get it back clean!
At the house, there was enough space to clean the bikes for a while, but then again, there was no rinse-off area. In the house itself, we could safely store the bikes. It is true that with 6 people and 6 bikes you do get a bit limited in space. Then it is advisable to book a 6-person luxury variant. More info on the park, the facilities or to book can be found at this link!
Handy in the neighbourhood
- The supermarket is in Wierden. there you have a choice of options, for every wallet
- In Nijverdal, you will find some good bike shops, the aforementioned Herman Beleef Fietsen and also Bike Superior.
- Tasty Italian lunch can be had at Milano in Wierden
- Restaurant and Hotel Hoog Holten is an ideal place for a stop after climbing Holterberg.
- For dinner, we mainly used our house's kitchen. It was fully equipped.
Bicycle routes Landal GreenParks 12 provinces - 12 parks
We have put all the routes into a collection that you can view and download via Komoot. Do you have any questions or tips? Then let us know as soon as possible!
